Fountain Pens Stores In Sydney, Australia

[Axia_]

Hello all!

 

Having recently 'gotten into' Fountain pens, I was naturally interested in any brick and mortar retailers in my own city for the beloved stationary. I found this wonderful guide here on the forum (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/12113-fountain-pens-in-sydney-australia/), but as it was written in 2006, I though I would give it a bit of an update, after about 6 months experience. In a semiparticular order

 

• Dymocks - The Sydney CBD store (Dymocks Sydney) has a specific fountain pen section, with a very wide variety of pens, inks and parts. They have too many to list, but I would suggest that if you are looking for anything this would probably be your best stop. They also sell Clairefontaine and Rhodia books, and at a very decent price - about RRP, which is a nice change. (424-430 George Street, Sydney 2000, https://www.dymocks.com.au/ - the website is ... not amazing for stationary)
• Pen Ultimate, also known as Pen De Luxe - I have only visited the QVB shop, and when you are looking for it, the sign out front says Montblac, not Pen De Luxe, so keep that in mind. Again, a very wide variety of pen paraphernalia (penaphernalia!), and other stationary items. They do also do repairs, as I understand. (QVB, Level 2, Queen Victoria Building, Sydney, 2000, http://www.pensdeluxe.ashop.com.au/ - They also have an online shop)
• Officeworks - They sell a variety of good paper brands, including Rhodia, Quink (at about $10!), and a limited selection of pens, including the Lamy Safari, Vpens, and some calligraphy sets. Watch out for mark-ups though - the Lamy I saw was $50. Again, the bigger stores will have the most. (http://www.officeworks.com.au/)
• David Jones/Myer - Two major general retailers, they do have some fountain pen materials, including Waterman ink. You will need to go to one of the larger stores, I would recommend either in the CBD or at Bondi Juction, and ask after them in the stationary departments. (www.davidjones.com.au/http://www.myer.com.au/)
• Newsagents - Varied, you'll just have to have a look. Also varied is the pricing...
• Kinokuniya - In the GV, they do have a collection of stationary, including fountain pens. Mainly focused on Japanese calligraphy, but can still be helpful. (The Galeries, George St, Sydney 2000, http://www.kinokuniya.com.au/)
• Smiggle - You'll feel silly going in, but they have a couple of pens which could be of interest to a beginner. (http://www.smiggle.com.au/)

 

I hope this helps!

[MBFan]

Thank you for this update. I'm going to be stopping off there soon, and was wondering about the local B+M situation.

[MCWB]

MBFan, the local B+M situation is basically dire. You can indeed purchase most things you want, but they will be extremely expensive compared to buying online overseas.

[rudyhou]

thanks so much for sharing. i'm heading to sydney this july and this post would certainly come in handy.

[Tack]

Really appreciate this. Was thinking it needed to be done. Melbourne too! We really are in a bit of a pen desert locally. Thank heavens for so many online shops ...

[tenney]

When I was there 2-3 years ago I enjoyed browsing at Pen De Luxe (actually enjoyed browsing throughout the shops at QVB). Also, there were two Montblanc Boutiques in town, a few blocks from each other.

[fireofspring]

Dymocks in the CBD seems to be expanding its FP range, which is great! I also second Kinokuniya - it's the only place in Sydney I've been able to find the full range of Pilot converters. Don't buy from their web stores, because they don't show the full range.

 

Also:

• Peters of Kensington's has a limited range of fountain pens at very reasonable (often discounted) prices. Their descriptions on the web store are very sparse, so do your research.
• Kadmium in Broadway and Newtown, for Leuchtturm1917, calligraphy supplies, tracing paper, drawing paper, Caran d'Ache ink/pens, etc. They stock Fabriano writing paper (85/100 gsm), which is fountain pen friendly and much cheaper than Rhodia/Leuchtturm1917.

Online only:

• Pen & Ink has no Sydney store, but their online shop has a good range - keep an eye on their specials!
• Notemaker.com.au, another online stationery store, sells Lamy, Diplomat, Tombow, Kaweco and a huge range of premium paper/notebooks.
• Paper Trader has one of the biggest notebook ranges I've seen in Australia.
• Pen City has a big range of fountain pen and inks, including Diamine Ink.
• I also want to give a plug to Rodger Bamford at PenClassicsNZ who sells new/used FP and inks from his website. Rodger's in NZ but shipping price is very reasonable, if slow. He stocks some ink brands I haven't seen much in Australia, like Rohrer & Klingner, Private Reserve and Diamine. The site isn't a webstore, so you need to email him to order, but I've had only good experiences with him so far. Rodger will also customise nibs before shipping on request.

Edited August 3, 2015 by fireofspring

[RedScarves]

Thank you! this is an awesome resource for a newbie like me.

 

I tend to want to buy local to support but, as a poor uni student, only if the prices are comparable to online including shipping charges (i tend to think the shipping can be additional profit for them instead of being given to the courier )

[aawhite]

+1 Peters of Kensington.