Sailor Reglus Fountain Pen Review

Outside of the Sailor Clear Candy there are not many opportunities to own a Sailor fountain pen under $150. Granted, the more expensive models come with 14k gold nibs, but the Sailor Reglus can hold its own with some of the pricier Sailor options on the market.

As with any Sailor I have ever used, the nib is the standout. The Reglus comes stock with a steel fine nib that is smooth, clean and enjoyable to write with. I loaded mine up with Sailor Nano Ultra Black ink cartridges and they are a perfect match. The cartridges desrve a review of their own one day but they are spectacular and have me not even considering using a converter in the Reglus. It's a perfect combination.

The barrel design of the Reglus is excellent as well. The shape is slightly narrower than many fountain pens but it is by no means skinny. Think of it around the size of a larger gel ink pen barrel like the Pentel Energel and narrower than more common fountain pens like the Lamy Safari. The cap snaps on and off both ends of the barrel, and that leads to one minor issue: Unthreaded metal on metal cap connections allow for rotation. I didn't find it to be a nuisance when writing but you will get some spin movement if you are looking for it.

It was a no-brainer for me to go with the orange barrel, but after receiving it I think I would have preferred one of the darker barrels. The shade is a little light and and the pearlescent sheen a little too sparkly. The blue, black, and gray all look like great choices instead. The clip is a big win though. Very tight and the dagger design is spot on.

As I review the Sailor Reglus I cannot help but think of the Pelikan M205. They both hold a similar place in their respective product lines, and both offer a high quality entry into their brands. If you force me to pick one I'll take the M205 for the piston filling mechanism but the Reglus gets heavy use in my rotation.

(JetPens is an advertiser on The Pen Addict and I received this product at no charge.)

Lamy Studio Fountain Pen Review

I've had Lamy Studio envy since I saw Office Supply Geek's lovely Instagram photo of his blue barrel model back in December. I decided this was it and headed over to JetPens to pick up the exact same steel nib model. Who am I to argue with good taste? I hit the page, then had a "Squirrel!" moment. 14k nib? Yes please.

The only other 14k Lamy nib I own is on my Lamy 2000, and it is of the hooded variety. I thought I would give the full-sized 14k nib in the Lamy Studio a shot to see if there was any difference. If you recall my experience with the 2000 I felt it needed some nib work to get it where I wanted it. As fate would have it, I had to go the same route with the Studio.

There was nothing wrong with the Studio's performance right out of the box except the EF line was too wide and too wet. Much more than I expected from an EF nib, even a German one. One of the reasons may be that the 14k Studio nib has some flex to it. I'm used to stiff Japanese nibs and this one is very different. I liked it a lot, but something had to be done about the line width.

Enter Shawn Newton.

My enabler Thomas has a few of Shawn's pens, and recently has used Shawn for some nib work and spoke very highly of his talents. When Thomas says "Jump!" I say "How high?" so a week or two later I had my Studio headed Shawn's way to turn the German EF nib into a Japanese F nib. Not a huge change but more in my wheelhouse. The results were fantastic. The line is clean and smooth and right where I wanted it to be. I can't recommend Shawn's services higly enough. Contact him if you are in the market for nib work. (Full disclosure: Shawn provided his services at no charge for this pen as a trial run and I paid full freight for a second I had him work on.)

Back to the Studio itself...it is a fantastic pen. The barrel design is what originally sold me, and as usual, Lamy nailed this one. The stainless steel grey-lacquered barrel is sleek with slight tapers on each end with a chrome clip, grip, and end caps. I was curious how slick the grip would be and I found it to not be an issue. The slight natural tackiness of my fingers held well, although I left plenty of fingerprints behind. Not crime scene friendly.

And that clip - wow. Sometimes the simplest little feature grabs me and won't let go and with the Studio it is the clip. The paddle design is unique even among Lamy's other highly engineered offereings, and might be their best.

So after all of the praise I have heaped would I recommend this pen? I'm 0-for-2 with Lamy's gold nibs. Whether that is the manufacturers fault or my pickiness (I think it is one of each in my case) you should understand that the nib may not be perfection when you first ink it up. Some will argue that for a pen this price it should perfect out the gate, and that is fair. For me, a little extra work gave me a pen even more suited to me than when it first arrived.

(JetPens is an advertiser on The Pen Addict and I received this product at no charge.)

Sailor Maki-e Fountain Pen Identification Help!

A reader sent me these pictures of a Sailor Maki-e fountain pen he received from a Japanese businessman over 20 years ago. He would love to know more about this particular model, and I am unable to come up with a match to the artwork and barrel color. As best as I can tell, it is a Sailor Young Profit (or Somiko in some markets) with a titanium gold plated nib (TIGP), but that's all I have.

If anyone can help nail down the remaining specs of this pen let me know.