The Well-Appointed Desk

I recently reviewed my collection of gel pens, felt tips, markers and highlighters to see if I could fill in any gaps in my collection. I started sorting my various pens by color last year to make choosing pens for my monthly planner set-up faster and easier. I used random jars, cans and mugs to hold the various color collections. I have the least number of reds so they are mixed in with my browns.

Overall, when shopping for non-fountain pens, I am looking for interesting colors — not just standard red, blue, green or black. The non-fountain pens I find useful, when combined with my fountain pen and ink collection,  provide different writing experiences and provide me with variety of pens for different kinds of papers (you know, the printouts on tissue paper that you need to write notes on, that grocery store list on the back of an envelope or for hightlighting, headers and fancy additions).

I was looking for unique colors from some of my favorite brands: Zebra Sarasa, Marvy LePen, and Sakura BallSign plus adding to some of my new collections like Iconic Mild Gels.

Here’s a list of the new pens I grabbed:

• Iconic Un Jour de Rêve Gel Pen – 0.38 mm – Plum
• Iconic Un Jour de Rêve Gel Pen – 0.38 mm – Blue Green
• Marvy Le Pen Marker Pen – Fine Point – Teal
• Marvy Le Pen Marker Pen – Fine Point – Lavender Purple
• Marvy Le Pen Marker Pen – Fine Point – Oriental Blue
• Sakura Ballsign iD Gel Pen – 0.4 mm – Mysterious Black (Purple Black)
• Sakura Ballsign iD Gel Pen – 0.4 mm – Forest Black (Green Black)
• Zebra Sarasa Clip Gel Pen – 0.3 mm – Gray
• Zebra Sarasa Nano Gel Pen – 0.3 mm – Blue Gray
• Zebra Sarasa Nano Gel Pen – 0.3 mm – Bordeaux Purple
• Zebra Sarasa Nano Gel Pen – 0.38 mm – Sepia Black
• Zebra Sarasa Nano Gel Pen – 0.3 mm – Brown Gray
• Zebra Sarasa Nano Gel Pen – 0.3 mm – Camel Yellow

I purchased a Iconic Mild Gel Pen awhile back and liked the ink color and ink quality. The Iconic Mild Gel ink walks a line between gel inks, felt tip and rollerball — its a wet, dense ink so I definitely wanted to try a few additional colors. So, after getting the brown pen, I decided to get a couple more.

I went ahead and pulled all the other colors for the brand/style pen and did quick little swatches to compare the colors.

Marvy LePens were my gateway into the pen world when I was a grade schooler and spending my birthday money at the local stationery shop (probably a Hallmark store) that kept a cardboard display on the counter with all the colors. I still love these felt tips. Even though they only come in one tip size (plus the Flex brush pens now), they are still a go-to for me. So for this comparison, I only pulled the blues and purples in the LePen line to compare the various hues. In coloring, Lavender and Amethyst look quite similar but in writing, the Amethyst is a little lighter. Wisteria is pinkier and much lighter. The Amethyst is probably my favorite of the three purples.

The Teal and Oriental Blue might appear similar but the Oriental Blue is more blue and darker and the Teal is greener, if you’re trying to choose between the two, I love them both and I am not the person to ask. You need both.

The Zebra Sarasa NANO retractable pens are newer to the market and rocketing to the top of gel pen recommendations. The color options are really good and even the standard $3 version feels solid and sturdy and has a squishy grip section that collects cat hair and dust but feels nice in the hand. The new Blue Grey color is super unique and I love the range of dark toned colors like the Bordeaux Purple and Sepia Black. If you haven’t tried the “NANO” version of the Sarasa pens, I recommend trying the dark colors which will be super usable with a little flair. If you want to experiment, try the Camel Yellow, Blue Gray or Bordeaux Purple. The standard Sarasa Gray is a light color but a great option if you’re looking for a neutral grey color.

And one of my favorite gel pens is the Sakura BallSign ID. I think this is a seriously under-appreciated line. The ink is smooth and the color options are great if you’re looking for a black+color option. They make a plain black, brown black, green black, blue black and purple black. I have already acquired three of the five colors.

I’m really happy with all the colors I picked up in this batch. How do you store your non-fountain pens? By color, by brand, by tip size, or type of pen?

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.