Thoughtful Pen Gifts for Every Holiday and Milestone

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I have always been into pens. I am an avid long-hand writer and note taker, and having the right pen, the right paper, the right highlighter, even, can make all the difference when I'm working. Buying a pen gift for someone like me is a no-brainer. There's so much cool stuff out there right now, and so many people like me who are deeply, deeply into them. (Seriously, there's a very large and active Reddit pen community that will rock your world.)

There are more pen enthusiasts than ever before, with whole camps of people lining up behind their favorite pen brands, even narrowing it down to nib size and ink color. Needless to say, pen gifts are a booming business. In the digital age it feels a bit like a rebellion, even a bit hipster if I'm being honest, but who cares? Writing with a well-made pen on a high-quality notebook is a tangible and satisfying thing. Science tells us that writing things down the old fashioned way is the best way for our brains to connect with the material and enhances our recall. It's quicker, and when you add in different colors and action points, it gives your brain a visualization latching point that helps organize information.

A good pen gift is thoughtful, useful, and strikes the right balance for the occasion. For instance, if someone is graduating with an MBA, law school, or college, a nice, heavy pen that is good to pull out to sign documents, and that has a feeling of gravitas with it makes sense. A pen case, on the other hand, is a good pen gift for people like me who already love pens. Things like notebooks and less-expensive pen sets are great gifts for younger people, and they're a great way to round out a gift, or to add along with a gift card. (They're also great for teachers at any time!) There are gifts at a ton of price points, for myriad recipients.

Recently, I spoke with Margaret Moraskie, the CEO of Levenger, a pen store and stationer, and the nerdy writing and stationery website of my dreams. She tells Best Products that she sees it, too. "In spite of the digital revolution, pens and paper still live on. My colleagues and our customers regularly rely on both digital and heritage technologies—the best of both worlds." She adds that "A great pen is more than just a writing tool, it’s a writing companion." As someone who names her favorite pens, I couldn't agree more. (They have a personality, I swear.) Moraskie tells Best Products that "A beautiful pen is like an accessory—inspiration at the tip of your fingers; literally."

Finding the right inspiration and accessories isn't always the easiest thing to do when buying for others, but as a lifelong pen devotee, I have you covered.

Levenger 35th Anniversary Pen

Someone graduating? They need a high-quality pen for their signatures and their desk.

I use this pen every single day. It is not only a joy to write with, heavy in the hand, with ink that flows at just the right speed, but it also just makes me feel fancy.

This pen comes in a gorgeous box with a cartridge full of night black ink, and a converter for any ink you'd like to use. It's a German-made, two-tone, gold-plated nib that gives a fine line with thickening swoops where needed.

More: Gifts for Taureans Just Like Me

Leather Pen Case

If you're gifting a pen to a real pen enthusiast, look no further.

I love that I can store my fountain pens in this case, along with a to-do list, and throw it in my bag. Would die-hard pen snobs faint over the fact that I carry a Sharpie highlighter along with my Levenger? Probably, but I am a woman who likes to write in the margins and highlight all of the things. I also keep tab post-its in the kit.

It's buttery leather and has space to hold three pens with a sleeve on the opposite side. It feels so nice in the hand.

20 Pack Kraft Notebooks

20 notebooks for a bit more than a dollar a piece? 20 notebooks that are perfect for traveling, for stashing in a purse, or for everyday jotting of notes? Every pen enthusiast, school teacher, journal writer, and note taker will appreciate these. Plus, the bindings are cute, which I love.

18 Color Pen Set

I color code my notebooks, my planners, and even my meal plans. The LePen micros are some of my favorites to use. They're an ultra-fine tip felt pen with bold colors and zero marker smell. They work well on notecards, thin paper, and regular notebooks.

These are also a favorite among hobby letterers like myself, not dragging along the page, and making sharp, defined lines.

Colored Fountain Pens

I love my refillable fountain pens, but they're not always the right tool for the job, especially because I don't always have a variety of colorful pots of ink. The EyeEye set allow me to create fun letters or address envelopes without worrying about having to load a new cartridge or converter into one of my fountain pens.

I love this gift for someone who is either just getting into pens, or perhaps they lean towards the more eccentric or artistic. They're pens with flair.

Retro 51 Tornado Vintage Metalsmith Teddy Roosevelt Rollerball Pen

Somehow, I, a dyed-in-the-wool fountain, gel, and felt pen fan, married a hardcore rollerball fan. He carries a different version of this pen in his pocket everyday. It's definitely a "Dad" pen.

He loves the weight of the pen as well as how "smooth it writes. It has no drag and doesn't smear." It's a knurled twist mechanism pen and holds regular rollerball refills. It's packaged in a beautiful cylinder that doubles as a holder for your pen.

Precise V7 Stick Liquid Ink

I am putting this on here purely because everyone else loves this pen. It comes up on Reddit all of the time, and people rave about it. I think that they're OK. The tiny artistic human that I created with my very own body, loves these pens and uses them to ink art. They are bright and bold, and if you love a roller gel, you'll love these.

Polka Dots

I love a personalized notebook, and this one is my favorite. It's a hardcover notebook, in letter size, ready for all of the ideas that could flow through a person's head. I use my hardcover notebooks for fiction that I write, dedicating several of them per each novel.

This is a gift you can give someone who you know loves to write long hand, and will notice its customization every time they go to use it.

Jotter Originals Ballpoint Pen Collection

More than a few college professors that I know are big fans of Parker ballpoint pens, and they write more than just about anyone else I know. They are a striking combination of design, utility, and value. These are black ink that doesn't bleed or smear easily. They are lighter than a typical refillable, but still feel really nice in the hand.

S-Note Duo Dual-Ended Creative Markers

These are my favorite markers for notes and organization. They have a thin side and a fat side, perfect for art, scrapbooks, and notecards. My daughter loves them for school projects, and my son loves them for note taking different code skills. They're useful and inexpensive, and the set is simple and lovely.

12 Black Fountain Pen Case

You really need a place to store your best pens that doesn't have them on top of each other. You don't want the bodies of the pens to get scratched or damaged. A pen case like this one, lined in soft fabric keeps the pens separate and safe, and in the unlikely event of a leak, it protects your desk.

Ballpoint Pen, Hemisphere French Riviera Collection

The Waterman ballpoint is an absolute classic. It will always be a favorite of pen enthusiasts, so it makes a wonderful pen gift. It's a heavier pen, and this one has a nice, medium line. The pen itself is stainless steel and the ink included is blue.

Notebook B5 6mm Rule

These are my personal favorite everyday notebooks. I stash them all over the house, my desk at my office, and in the car. The paper in these feels buttery smooth and there is zero bleed-through even when I use a heavier fountain pen. They're lined in a college rule, but the lines are light, allowing the words to have primacy.

Felt Tip Pens Flair Marker Pens

Before I found the LePen pens, I was a Paper Mate girlie all the way. I still keep several dozen in the house when I want a thicker line. The ink lasts forever in these, and they're such a comfort to use. They're as close as you can get to a universally-loved felt tip.

Several school teachers told me that they love these almost as much as their beloved dry-erase markers and highlighters because they're so useful for grading papers.

Ink Remover Kit

If you have a pen lover in your life, they need this. At some point they're going to have an ink stain show up on their clothes, their sofa, bed, somewhere. Amodex is the only stain remover that I've used that gets the ink out. My sofa had an unfortunate run in with my fountain pen, and it took all of it out.

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