Yesterday, 16:05. The moment my way of writing would change forever. Or at least for the coming weeks.
It was just over a week after I bought the Sailor 1911 Standard from the eBay seller pisuke2005 and though the pen had already made the trip from Japan to the Netherlands, it had been stuck at customs for the past few days. Customs can take up to four weeks, so I didn't have my hopes up that it would arrive as soon as six days after it had been send. However, I guess because the seller had filled in the right forms that they didn't need to hold it that long. Of course, with EMS you can track your package, but your also bound to pay taxes. I didn't care so much about the taxes (I still saved some €30 and got some tea) when the package arrived, I just payed the delivery guy and there it was... My first Sailor fountain pen (and it will probably not be my last).
So, some first impressions after a day of writing.
First up, the looks. Of course, we all know it's what's on the inside that counts, however one just can't ignore the fact that this pen looks magnificent. It's the classic combination of black and gold and it works for the Sailor 1911. The black is really black, other than the black of my Waterman Kultur which is a lot more greyish. The golden band on the cap contains the words 'Sailor Japan Founded 1911' and it stands out real nice as to the other gold (plated) elements. Of course the nib is worth mentioning as well, shining gold and nicely decorated with the Sailor logo. A classy writer.
Then the writing itself, not fully irrelevant. With some help from the kind people of Fountainpennetwork.com and those the the Akkerman store in Den Haag I decided on a F nib in favour of the EF, which seemed really, really thin when I tried it at Akkerman. Being on a student budget I didn't buy it at the store, because the seller from eBay was a lot cheaper and supplied a converter. Since I prefer ink from a bottle to cartridges, that was not unimportant.
Anyway, the writing. As readers who are familiar with brands like Sailor and Pilot know, the nibs of these Asian brands usually lay down a line that is thinner than that of their European counterparts. This is also the case with my Sailor 1911. Though the Waterman Laureat comes close, the Sailor F is much smaller than the F of my Waterman Perspective and Exclusive. The latter fountain pens are also quite wet writers, while the Laureat and the Sailor 1911 are less so, which suits me better. My handwriting isn't that neat, so it helps to have a little feedback when writing, though of course not so much that you feel like you're writing with a inked needle. Sailor's (as well as for example Pilot FP's) are known to be fine, yet pretty smooth writers and I have to agree: it's everything I would expect from a fountain pen that writes this fine. While my Perspective flies over the paper making it very easy for me to write jibberish (at least that's what other people say, I can read it perfectly fine), writing with the Sailor 1911 gives me more control yet still writes very nice.
A small example comparing the Sailor 1911, the Waterman Laureat, Waterman Exclusive and the Waterman Perspective.
So that's my first impression of my new Sailor 1911. Of course, this is only day one and it will take at least a few weeks to get fully used to it and to be able to write a good review. However, after the first 28 hours I am very happy with this new addition to my pen collection. :)
More pictures here.
It was just over a week after I bought the Sailor 1911 Standard from the eBay seller pisuke2005 and though the pen had already made the trip from Japan to the Netherlands, it had been stuck at customs for the past few days. Customs can take up to four weeks, so I didn't have my hopes up that it would arrive as soon as six days after it had been send. However, I guess because the seller had filled in the right forms that they didn't need to hold it that long. Of course, with EMS you can track your package, but your also bound to pay taxes. I didn't care so much about the taxes (I still saved some €30 and got some tea) when the package arrived, I just payed the delivery guy and there it was... My first Sailor fountain pen (and it will probably not be my last).
So, some first impressions after a day of writing.
First up, the looks. Of course, we all know it's what's on the inside that counts, however one just can't ignore the fact that this pen looks magnificent. It's the classic combination of black and gold and it works for the Sailor 1911. The black is really black, other than the black of my Waterman Kultur which is a lot more greyish. The golden band on the cap contains the words 'Sailor Japan Founded 1911' and it stands out real nice as to the other gold (plated) elements. Of course the nib is worth mentioning as well, shining gold and nicely decorated with the Sailor logo. A classy writer.
Then the writing itself, not fully irrelevant. With some help from the kind people of Fountainpennetwork.com and those the the Akkerman store in Den Haag I decided on a F nib in favour of the EF, which seemed really, really thin when I tried it at Akkerman. Being on a student budget I didn't buy it at the store, because the seller from eBay was a lot cheaper and supplied a converter. Since I prefer ink from a bottle to cartridges, that was not unimportant.
Anyway, the writing. As readers who are familiar with brands like Sailor and Pilot know, the nibs of these Asian brands usually lay down a line that is thinner than that of their European counterparts. This is also the case with my Sailor 1911. Though the Waterman Laureat comes close, the Sailor F is much smaller than the F of my Waterman Perspective and Exclusive. The latter fountain pens are also quite wet writers, while the Laureat and the Sailor 1911 are less so, which suits me better. My handwriting isn't that neat, so it helps to have a little feedback when writing, though of course not so much that you feel like you're writing with a inked needle. Sailor's (as well as for example Pilot FP's) are known to be fine, yet pretty smooth writers and I have to agree: it's everything I would expect from a fountain pen that writes this fine. While my Perspective flies over the paper making it very easy for me to write jibberish (at least that's what other people say, I can read it perfectly fine), writing with the Sailor 1911 gives me more control yet still writes very nice.
A small example comparing the Sailor 1911, the Waterman Laureat, Waterman Exclusive and the Waterman Perspective.
So that's my first impression of my new Sailor 1911. Of course, this is only day one and it will take at least a few weeks to get fully used to it and to be able to write a good review. However, after the first 28 hours I am very happy with this new addition to my pen collection. :)
More pictures here.
