Peter's Picks
Peter Laywine
Founder
Peter opened Laywine’s in 1987 and has been championing fountain pens, notebooks, and all things analogue ever since. He’s the person people turn to when they want to find the right pen—or when they’re not quite sure what they’re looking for. He believes that good tools make everyday writing a little more enjoyable, and that there’s always room for another ink colour. These days he’s in the shop a little less, but his love of great pens—and great jazz—still shapes everything we do.
Writing Instrument
"I'll admit. I was a bit skeptical at first. I liked the tortoiseshell look of the torpedo shaped Estie, but wasn't bowled over by it. Then I tried the Journaler nib, a medium stub, for (what else) writing in my journal. Wow! I was really impressed. The smooth nib, the great line widths and the retro look sold me. The specialty nibs are an upcharge, but to me it made the difference between a nice pen and one that makes into the starting rotation"
Paper
"I continue by crusade to convince all and sundry that the B5 size is the perfect notebook. The paper on the CD has a lot of sizing (even for Japanese paper) which makes it super smooth. I love that the books are colour-coded and squared notebooks only come with a red cover!"
Ink
"For me, a blue ink must be deep, intense and dark. It has to flow well, even through finicky feeds. And I like an interesting bottle. The Cobalt Blue checks all those boxes!"
Other
"This charming calendar, when assembled, creates the skylines of London, Paris and New York. Each city presents 4 months, so you can connect them all or 'build' each city separately. There are several other titles from this Japanese company, with animals or plants for the months, but the City calendar was the one that made me want to bring in the range."
