Sailor Jentle Oku-yama

[jgrasty]

After blowing $50 and waiting three weeks for DHS to let me ship three bottles of ink from Japan to the good ol' USA, here is a review of the fabulous Sailor Jentle Oku-Yama, one of four Autumn 2010 Limited Edition inks.

 

For this review, I used three pens, a Conklin Endura with a really flexible Toledo nib, a Pelikan M800 Red Striped pen with a cursive italic nib created from an M nib by Mike Masuyama, and a Waterman 52-1/2V with an XXF flexible nib. I wrote the writing samples on Rhodia No 19 Dotpad. Drying time was quick with the cursive italic nib and the XXF flex nib, on the order of 3-5 seconds, but the Toledo nib is pretty wet and it took a good 30 seconds or so to dry. I didn't test whether the ink is water resistant. There was no bleed through on the Rhodia paper, and little show through.

 

I've added a few swabs of similar inks. Closest in color is probably Montblanc Bordeaux, but Oku-Yama is more saturated and slightly wetter.

 

The scan was made with a Fujitsu ScanSnap. This scanner tends to make the colors just slightly more vivid than they are in real life. I'm not very photoshop-adept, so I've not tried to adjust the color.

 

In general, this is a really nice ink. The color is quite beautiful and shows excellent shading. The ink is a little on the dry side, which helps with pens with flexible nibs. With the cursive italic nib, the ink is very smooth and lubricating and is a very pleasant writing experience.

 

http://bettygrastymd.com/jgrasty/wp-content/uploads/sailor-jentle-oku-yama.jpg

[SamCapote]

What an excellent review, demonstration of color variations by pen, superb penmanship, and great comparison inks. This gives people a wonderful understanding of this noble ink.

[pen2paper]

worth it!

 

more reviews please!

want My handwritng to look like Your handwriting.

[shaylenwilliams]

Very nice!

[SamCapote]

worth it!

 

more reviews please!

want My handwritng to look like Your handwriting.

 

Yeah! I would buy a bottle of that handwriting for $100

[dizzypen]

:notworthy1:

[nicholasyeo]

The handwriting is really beautiful. Not to mention, how incredible this ink is! :notworthy1:

Edited December 16, 2010 by nicholasyeo

[blopplop]

Excellent review! The color swab comparison puts it over the top. These comparisons are very helpful for me. My first thought when I saw the color from your handwriting was "how will this compare to D-Syrah?" And you provided the contrast. Sweet!!

 

This ink is going on my want list.

 

Dave

[inkspot]

Beautiful review! I also really appreciate the comparison of similar colours. Lovely!

[SamCapote]

Art Brown's got all their Autumn inks in stock today, and are out of stock of Yama--all they ordered was already spoken for.

[mori45]

Fantastic review--I haven't been able to get the results that I've seen with Oku-Yama, but the Yama-Dori seems to be working quite well for me. As soon as I get those flexy nibs back in hand, I'll have to give it another go.

 

Art Brown's got all their Autumn inks in stock today, and are out of stock of Yama--all they ordered was already spoken for.

 

I bought a set on Rakuten from Voice, and despite the less than desirable exchange rate, I was very happy with my purchase. For those keen on a domestic source, I believe Maido in San Francisco is getting some, although at a higher price than available at Art Brown's.

[Mauricio]

Thanks for this great review and your display of wonderful penmanship!

[Penman222]

Thanks to your outstanding review I picked up a bottle of this wonderful ink, and it is everything I hoped for. It is a shame it is only a limited edition, but I am now a Sailor ink fan and will try other limited editions as they come out if I can find them.

 

temecula53 (no relation...) has 4 bottles available on his e-Bay store for those who are interested in picking up a bottle.

[Immoteus]

Thank you for the wonderful review. How does this ink compare to MB Violet?

[Penman222]

Thank you for the wonderful review. How does this ink compare to MB Violet?

 

http://i951.photobucket.com/albums/ad351/bhbarto/photo2.jpg

[Margana]

What a fab review! I've been admiring it all evening.

[nicholasyeo]

I am again reminded of the beauty of the penmanship.

Truly deserving of the stunning pens which fill this place!

[GoldenGirl]

Looks Lovely

 

How does this compare to Sailor Jentle Granade?

[Korybas]

Very nice review!!!

 

This Oku-Yama ink looks to me exactly like Mont Blanc Bordeaux... I don't know, maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me, but still....

What do you guys think?

 

Aris

[ville900]

Also very similar to Noodler Tiananmen apparently. What would you say after using it for some time now?