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The original Gelly Roll pen
Gelly Roll Moonlight Pen 1.0mm Tip
From
£2.00
Ink glows under UV light
Pentel Oh! Gel Rollerball Pen K497
From
£1.80
Everyday gel retractable
Pentel EnerGel 0.7 Rollerball Pen Refill
From
£1.70
Frixion retractable - click, write, erase, rewrite, click!
Utterly brilliant erasable rollerball pen - makes all others obsolete.
Pentel Slicci Metallic 0.8mm
From
£2.70
Metallic ink Slicci range in 8 colours
Pilot P500 Gel Ink Rollerball Pen BLP50
From
£3.40
Classic needle-tip gel pen
Funky gel roller made from recycled plastic bottles!
Pentel EnerGel Xm Medium Rollerball Pen BL57
From
£3.20
Refillable hybrid ink roller
Gelly Roll Souffle Pen
From
£2.00
Super 3D effect!
Best-selling pen in soft pastel shades
Pilot G2 Neon Retractable Gel Rollerball Pen
From
£3.10
Neon ink for Pilot's best-selling G2 retractable rollerball
Pilot G3 Gel Ink Rollerball Pen BLG3-7
From
£2.90
Simple gel-ink pen with grip
8 metallic colours in this fine gel pen
Zebra Sarasa Clip Gel Pen 0.7
From
£2.10
Gel pen with fast-drying vivid ink
BIC Gel-ocity Illusion Gel Pen
From
£2.10
Gelly Roll Mixed Set of 24
£40.00
Smooth-writing, fast-drying, rubber grip
Utterly brilliant erasable rollerball pen - makes all others obsolete
BIC Gel-ocity Gel Pen
From
£2.90
Set of all 10 colours of this superb ultra-fine gel roller
Frixion retractable - click, write, erase, rewrite, click!
Zebra J-Roller Gel Pen RX 07 Medium
From
£1.70
Great value gel rollerball in 10 colour
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Gel Pens FAQ
What’s the difference between a gel pen and a rollerball?
The difference is the ink - and a gel pen is really a specific type of rollerball. So a gel pen could be described as a gel-ink rollerball, while the term ‘rollerball’ on its own will *usually* refer to a rollerball with liquid ink.
Gel ink is thicker than liquid ink, and it’s *thixotropic* - fairly solid at rest, but more like a liquid when force is applied to it. Think of ketchup, staying put in the bottle until you shake it, then far too much falls out at once. Or solid emulsion paint - rolls on, but then stays put while it dries.
The result is ink that feels nice and smooth to write with, but without the tendency to leak out if left touching paper, and because it’s thick when its at rest, it can suspend all sorts of particles in it for special effects.
What sort of ink does a gel pen use?
Gel ink - thick at rest, but flows easily when it’s moved. That’s ‘thixotropic’ if you want to get fancy. It makes for very stable ink that will sit in place without moving, but flows nicely when you start writing. And it can suspend particles of pigment or glitter, or various other things.
This all means the ink can quite easily be pigmented and opaque, so pale inks can write on dark surfaces. Artists often use white gel pens to add tiny highlight details.
Why were gel pens so popular in the 90s?
Sometimes it’s best not to think too hard about what was popular in the 90s, but gel pens were pretty understandable. For one, they were new, and new things are always exciting. But because gel ink can hold suspended particles, we suddenly had pens that could write in white on black paper; pens that could write sparkly, glittery lines. Even fluorescent inks, or inks that would puff up with a 3D effect. Such excite!
Like many things, they had their time of being super-popular, when they seemed to be everywhere. But they didn’t really disappear. They aren’t *everywhere* any more, but like the yo-yo and the hacky sack, they still exist, and still have their fans.