Though it’s unlikely to be at the top of your travel itinerary, visiting a stationery shop is an excellent way to get to know a city’s local artisans, its signature materials, and retail landscape. Plus, there’s something to be said about owning a pencil you can’t find anywhere else…⁠ ⁠ And at choosingkeeping in London, products undergo a rigorous selection process favoring small, mostly family-owned businesses. As a shopkeeper, owner Julia Jeuvell spends time visiting factories and family-owned businesses across the world: Germany for kitschy Christmas paraphernalia; Osaka for nearly-extinct celluloid fountain pens; and Paris for Antoinette Poisson dominoté decorative papers.⁠ ⁠ There's also a class of customers that Jeuvell likes to call the “stationery nerds”– those who are on a chase for perfectionism, people who like things just so—how the pen feels on the page, how one notebook will feel fine, but the other won’t. “It's sensual as well. That's the nice thing about stationery,” sh...