Sailor 1911 Large Azure Exclusive Fountain Pen Hospital Edition: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

Anyone who knows me knows that I am absolutely obsessive about blue fountain pens. If a fountain pen is blue, I probably own it. I do not know the origin of this obsession, but blue is my favorite color for both fountain pens and inks.

Lately, the Sailor Fresca has been featured by most fountain pen dealers. It’s a North American exclusive color, and I almost bought one. But, I own a Sailor Pro Gear in robin’s egg blue (an exclusive from the Morita Pen Shop in Osaka, Japan), and it’s almost the same color as the Fresca.

So, I decided to purchase the Sailor 1911 Azure which is an exclusive Fountain Pen Hospital edition with only 100 pieces worldwide.

Packaging for this exclusive edition is indistinguishable from other Sailor editions: a clamshell box inside a cardboard sleeve. Inside, the pen is presented on faux velvet. Underneath you’ll find the converter, two cartridges, and a small pamphlet.

The 1911 Azure is the large-sized Sailor. It measures 5.5625 inches capped, 4.875 inches uncapped, and 6.125 inches posted. I would call this a medium-sized pen, and it weighs only .9 ounces. It’s certainly larger than a Pro Gear, but not as big (or weighty) as a Montblanc 149.

The pen is made of resin and has chrome-plated accents and clip.

The cap band is engraved with “Sailor Japan Founded 1911.”

This is a cartridge/converter pen. The converter is rather disappointing, holding only .5ml of ink, and I can never seem to get a complete fill with this converter.

The best part of the pen is, of course, the nib. The Sailor 1911 large comes with a 21k rhodium-plated nib. The medium writes like a western fine and is nice and wet.

Sailor nibs are stiff and exhibit distinctive feedback. I wouldn’t call this a scratchy nib, but it’s not butter smooth either. There’s definitely no bounce or flex with this nib, but it is a terrific writer. I inked the pen with KWZ Azure 3 which is a good match for the pen.

I absolutely love the color of this Sailor 1911 from Fountain Pen Hospital. There’s just not another blue quite like it. However, you do pay a premium for this exclusive color. It costs $350 as opposed to the new Sailor Fresca 1911 (large) which most retailers are offering for $288.

Pros

• The Sailor 1911 large is a pen most users will find comfortable. It is light because of the resin but well balanced. It is excellent for lengthy writing sessions.
• The azure color is exclusive to Fountain Pen Hospital, and it’s very unique. It reminds me of china blue.
• The 21k nib is an excellent writer with distinctive Sailor feedback. It’s not scratchy but it’s not butter smooth either. These nibs are definitely Japanese sizes, so if you like western fine nibs, you’ll want to order at least a medium nib.

Cons

• You will pay a premium price for this exclusive edition. $350 really is a bit much considering that this pen is unnumbered, plastic, and comes in regular packaging. But, if you’re crazy about distinctive shades of blue like me, it might be worth it.
• The converter on this pen holds only .5ml and I’m not sure it’s really even that much since you can’t get a complete fill. You’ll get better mileage out of cartridges, but I’m too lazy to refill cartridges.

Sailor Professional Gear Earth Fountain Pen Review

I am a huge Sailor fan. This is known. So when Sailor announced last year’s Sky model, I went big. I went way out of my wheelhouse and bought my first King of Pens model. And it is amazing.

At the time, the Earth model had just been announced as the second in this special edition series, but wasn’t available yet. Did I just lock myself in to buying the complete set of these pens? And what is after Earth? Wind and Fire?

I liked the visual of Earth when I first saw it, but it was a little too gold for me to commit to a King of Pens model once again. I received this Pro Gear model on loan from Goldspot to try out though, and I have to say it is pretty great.

What makes it so great? I think Sailor’s Professional Gear shape and size is one of the best all-around fountain pen models on the market. It is the perfect combination of weight, balance, quality, and choice for nearly anyone. One of the two I own is always finds it way into my rotation.

With the Earth, you get what at first looks like a brown barrel with gold hardware, but closer inspection reveals red undertones, and importantly in my book, some transparency. The body of the pen is generally solid, but the end of the cap and the grip section transition into a lighter, see-through color. It is a really nice effect.

The 21k nib is fantastic. This model is an H-MF so the firmness and line width is nearly ideal for my handwriting. Sailor nibs aren’t glassy smooth, and this one has the normal feedback I expect. It was flawless on the page, but you know the nib is there.

I did have one issue with this pen, and I wonder if it is a one-off situation, or if it appears on other units. In some areas around the gold cap band it looks like the barrel finish or coating went a little wild during manufacturing. I didn’t notice it at first, but if you look closely you can see that there is some bleed onto the gold hardware, giving it a tarnished look. I didn’t try to get it off because I don’t own this pen. If I am spending this kind of money I would ask to have mine checked before it shipped for a clean cap band. (UPDATE: Thanks to the commenters below, this is an issue Sailor caught and has since corrected.)

That bug aside, I love the Pro Gear as a daily writer. It has everything I look for in a fountain pen, Earth, Sky, or any of the dozens of other options.

My thanks to Goldspot for loaning me this pen for purposes of this review.

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Sailor Jentle Ink Kin-Mokusei: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

Kinmokusei is a small shrub known as Orange Osmanthus (Tea Olive) in the United States. The plant boasts beautiful, fragrant, orange flowers that bloom in the fall. Sailor’s ink captures the flowers’ color perfectly.

Kin-Mokusei ink is supposed to be a re-release of the beloved Sailor Jentle Apricot that has been out of production for some time. Since I don’t have any Sailor Apricot, I can’t compare the two to see if they are exactly the same. Regardless, Kin-Mokusei is a beautiful ink in its own right.

The ink is a vibrant orange with significant pink tones and a bit of yellow, as demonstrated in the chromatography.

It offers excellent shading properties, especially in wide nibs.

Like other Sailor Jentle inks, you will notice a slight odor, but it is not pronounced (nothing as strong as the KWZ inks). It is wet, and on smooth paper takes a good amount of time to dry. It is not waterproof.

The ink exhibits a tiny bit of pink sheen, as you can see in these ink spots.

Kin-Mokusei is a true orange, with a vibrant hue that is unlike any of my other orange inks. I expected Iroshizuku Yu-Yake and Kin Mokusei to be an exact match, but they aren’t. Yu-Yake is much less vibrant. Diamine Autumn Oak and Pelikan Amber aren’t close matches either.

Kin-Mokusei is a perfect ink for autumn. You can order this limited-edition ink from Vanness Pens for $18.00. It’s currently sold out, but they’ve got more on the way. You can sign up for email notification when it’s in stock. Obviously, this is already a very popular color. If you like this ink, order several bottles!

(This ink was purchased at full price with my own funds from Vanness Pens.)