A big thank you to @kaweco_mike and all who attended our Q&A last night. It was an insightful evening covering all things pens, business and Kaweco. One particularly fun tidbit: Kaweco’s fire blue Liliput was developed after Michael Gutberlet took a crème brûlée torch to a regular steel model!
We still have a few vintage propelling pencils from Michael’s personal collection, including these ultra-rare Kaweco Special 187s, with a matching lead and cone tip. Available in the shop while supplies last.
Next to the till, a space for some of our most practical and, contrastingly, most fun items. We like the juxtaposition of a faux Turkish delight candle next to a serious leather pencil case!
We moved to Tower Street in 2018, when we had outgrown our Columbia Road shop. The move to Central London made the shop more accessible to Londoners from all neighbourhoods.
On Tower Street we found the stage we had been looking for – more space to display and the life of Soho at our door, a place where London gathers and where our shop could become both part of the crowd and apart from it.
A close up on the current shop display highlighting Japanese Chiyogami papers, rendered in boxes, notebooks and to adorn Choosing Keepings Gansai paint boxes, here is the Spring set.
Chiyogami paper is a special craft from the Kyoto area, it is endlessly versatile, thousands of patterns exist and we have sourced some older styles in more subtle shades for what I believe to be a fairly exceptional collection of papers unseen even in Japan
Come to Choosing Keeping next Thursday, 14 May, from 5 to 6 pm, for a chance to meet Michael Gutberlet! Spaces are limited, so reserve your free ticket at the link in our bio.
Some companies are led by a brilliant product, others by a brilliant leader – Kaweco has both. We are honoured to welcome the infamous, charismatic and vivacious owner of German pen maker Kaweco, Michael Gutbertlet, for a Q&A covering topics including the passion of pen collecting, the future of German pen making, and more importantly, how he created and grew, more than a pen brand, a global lifestyle design cult object.
To mark the event, 50 original 1940s deadstock Special propelling pencils in good vintage condition – from Michael’s personal collection – will be available for sale. Don’t miss the opportunity to acquire a piece of pen design history!
Hot off the press: the Choosing Keeping 2026 catalogue! In this edition, our first outside of the Christmas season, find interviews, all-year classics and inspiration for your creative endeavours.
When you’ve finished reading, use it in your scrapbooking or place it on a shelf alongside your CK composition ledgers.
Available in store and with all online purchases.
Election special❗️The Lime bike bay is gone !!
For anyone interested, our beloved e-bike bay has made a 15m sojourn back to its original position up the road after three years of complaining. The writing erased from the road is how the council chose to inform us rather than deigning to let us know a human way and despite their promise to give consultation.
Yes ladies and gentlemen this is what keeps Camden’s Labour transport team busy : meeting American companies at their offices for cosy lunches, giving them subsidies and moving ebike bays around a few meters at a time because no one wants them !! What about actually engaging with the job of improving transport ? Don’t be silly!
I should be dancing a jig on its grave in celebration, but I can’t help but still feel angry for the wasted hard earned tax money, how our business was treated, despite absorbing increased business rates now nearly as high as our actual rent. If you’re a resident voting today in Camden and beyond , think carefully about re-electing a party (Labour) which has councillors siting in seats for decades in London boroughs, unchallenged, unable to listen, respect and work for the people who they have been elected to serve and who pay their wages through hard work. We certainly drew the short straw sitting on the literal boundary with Westminster.
Also update : Camden blocks who can tag them hence why I wasn’t able to tag this post as I did before to Camden council - three cheers for democracy !
I’m reposting an image that has stuck with me when Magma books lefts its long term premises in clerkenwell, it felt strongly enough that it printed a poster to tell Camden its home truth. I feel 100% the same as a business owner. It’s been a total insult to my work and dignity dealing with the council.
It’s no secret that Choosing Keeping is a bit cat crazy. New to our feline offerings is the much anticipated Catnip, Vol. II – whimsical, informative, appealing to cat lovers of all varieties. Find it in store and online.
In this week’s edition of Correspondence, Choosing Keeping’s fortnightly newsletter, we instruct our readers how to use the beautiful mineral pigments indispensable to Japanese art for a thousand years.
These pigments form the basis of nihonga, a style of painting that developed in the 19th century as a way to push back against the Westernisation creeping into Japanese art.
For over 100 years, Saiun-do has produced these pigments by hand, distilling them from plants and minerals, mixing and grinding them down to a fine powder.
Notebook drop - We’ve gone plaid crazy ! Here are the many variations on a Clueless classic.
Made using Japanese chiyogami paper, a hand decorated paper made in Kyoto utilising the same artisans skills as for kimono fabric dyeing. Choosing keeping is committed to supporting this fragile craft and in buying a notebook you are keeping it alive for the future.
These patterns are avaiable in store and many more online
New extra-thick composition ledgers arrived this week, all handmade and covered in Japanese silkscreen paper featuring stripes, checks, even fish. Part of the Choosing Keeping standard series, we hope they will be consistently available, but good things can sometimes be ephemeral. Find them in the shop, or stay tuned for their online release.
