No. 1 With a Bullet Journal

Originally a straightforward system of organizing your how-to lists (and life) on pages with small points arranged as a grid, bullet journaling has become almost an art form. And it is one that is enhanced by a fountain pen, or so Kara Benz (a.k.a., Boho Berry) demonstrated at the Lamy event, where she was a host. The journaling is perfect for a form of faux calligraphy that involves fattening every down stroke, the rudiments of which anyone can learn in an hour or two.

Ms. Benz, who lives in New Jersey and has electric-violet hair, uses shelves of different writing implements to create her impossibly artful rainbow pages of lists that include items like “declutter X or Y” or “book a spa day,” and never “spend all day making this page.”

But the company’s customers are not all such obvious free spirits. “A lot of people are administrative professionals who just have normal cubicle office jobs, and they just want interesting tools to make their day more their own,” Mr. Goulet said.

“I got into fountain pens about three months ago,” said Jeremy Whelchel, a young man in a puffer jacket during a holiday event at the Manhattan Fountain Pen Hospital downtown. The store is one of the few general pen shops that has survived, because it has the Wall Street crowd’s business.

Most of the people piling up to the counters there looked like the sort of 50-and-ups who would of course love a fancy, fusty fountain pen. The old-guard pen scene, like the cigar aficionados, appreciates a certain gaudiness. “Encrusted” might be the defining adjective to apply to the pricey, themed wares (“Game of Thrones,” Samurai) of Montegrappa, an Italian brand.

But dotted among the blur of boomers were next-gen fellows like Mr. Whelchel, the sort who comfortably use terms like “EDC” (everyday carry).