Sailor Desk Fountain Pen - Extra Fine Nib

[Tumbleweedtoo]

Having found an old family desk pen holder (pictured below) a couple of years ago, and not having the pen for it, I decided to buy a fountain pen for it and put it on my desk. After reading several positive reviews (but none on FPN, as yet), I chose to buy the Sailor Desk Fountain Pen - Extra Fine Nib from Jetpens, which I bought in December of 2010, and which was much less expensive than buying the pen directly from Japan and paying the $13.00 shipping charges to the USA. Jetpens currently sells this pen for $16.50. The pen nib I have has “F-9 EF Sailor 002” engraved in cursive on the nib. I have seen some Sailor Desk Pens on ebay with “Made in Taiwan” also engraved on the nib, so I believe my pen and nib may be made in Japan (I did not keep the packaging). The pen has a steel, gold plated nib. The Sailor Desk Fountain Pen pictured below has a very light tan colored cap that I keep on the pen when I put the pen in the pen holder. Without the cap, the pen flops around in the pen holder (which may have been for a desk ballpoint pen originally), but the lack of pleasing aesthetics of the pen and pen holder together does not bother me. The pen holder has the sentimental value for me. Warning: if someone just “pops” the cap off without carefully pulling and twisting the cap off, ink can be splattered onto surrounding areas. This pen should not be confused with the Sailor Recycled Material Desk Fountain Pen also from Jetpens. You can distinguish the two pens because the Recycled pen comes with a more pleasing colored black cap, and currently sells for $11.50; it is highly rated in the reviews on the Jetpens website. A Sailor Super Air Desk Pen has been reviewed on FPN, but I have not found that pen recently for sale on ebay or elsewhere (though it was for sale at a higher price on ebay when I bought my Sailor Desk Fountain Pen).

 

For comparisons, in the pictures below I have the Sailor Desk Fountain Pen both inside and outside of the pen holder and cap. The pen size can be compared vistually to the Lamy Vista, which I also got from Jetpens. I use this Sailor Desk Fountain Pen almost exclusively to write and sign checks and make notations in a pocket calendar using Sailor Kiwaguro “nano” carbon black ink, which has been reviewed here on the FPN website. As you can see from the writing example below, the pen writes a very fine line on both sugarcane based notebook paper and nice white inkjet copy paper. The pen tends to write a little more scratchy on the sugarcane paper than on nicer copy paper; however, I have not cleaned the pen in more than two years and it does need to be cleaned. Even dirty, the pen writes without a problem every time and never skips. The pen is slim in diameter, and I prefer to write with pens at least the diameter of the Lamy Vista and most comfortably using a pen the size of the Pelikan M800. Therefore, as I have said, this Sailor Desk Pen is used mainly for short notations and check writing. Having found desk pens to have a practical application, and this pen very practical for my purposes, I will probably add a few more to my small collection and desk space. It is very difficult to judge numerically a pen as inexpensive as this Sailor desk pen, but I can recommended it without any reservations.

 

 

 

 

[Spector]

Very nice! I dont have use for a desk pen but I have always thought the one my grandfather has (but doesnt use) is very pretty.

[nicholasyeo]

Wow, nice handwriting! That "cap" on the desk pen is kinda strange and unsightly...

Perhaps it was because the pen was made for the Sailor desk pen holder...

[jandrese]

Fantasic, thanks for sharing. Makes me want to get the Nakaya holder that will fit my long cigar pen.

[Uncle Red]

Thanks for the review. Desk pens are handy, I have one on my desk at work.

[Tumbleweedtoo]

After looking at the desk set more and more, and reading your replies, I may want to try to find a vintage fountain pen to put in the holder and find a Sailor desk set holder for the Sailor pen. I got the Sailor desk pen very early in my return to interest in fountain pens, and I do use the Sailor pen everyday because it is so handy and reliable, but I now think I ought to explore what type of vintage pen will fit in the desk set. I have an Esterbrook desk fountain pen, but it too is loose in the pen holder and fits one of the eight-ball type pen holders (but it is less loose than the Sailor without the tan colored cap on it). I have no idea what type of pen originally fit in the desk set I have; I just remember seeing it while I was growing up and wanted to use it, and there is no one to ask what pen was in it. Thank you for your kind replies and suggestions!

 

All the best,

T

[raging.dragon]

Does the pen fit in the stand's tulip without the cap?

[Tumbleweedtoo]

  On 4/11/2012 at 1:12 AM, raging.dragon said:

Does the pen fit in the stand's tulip without the cap?

 

I guess I had forgotten that "tulip" was the right word to describe what I should have been writing about! Thanks! Without the cap on it, the Sailor pen fits exceedingly loose in the tulip, and I am afraid that the pen would dry out pretty fast without it. This morning, I tried once again the Esterbrook lever desk pen that I have, and it did fit a lot better (though loosely), perhaps a good fit, because as I have thought about it more, if the Esterbrook fit too tightly it might always suck ink out of the pen each time I removed it and make a mess inside the tulip. The Esterbrook being larger in diameter also fits my hand better than the Sailor. I do think I will look for a Sailor desk pen holder. Now that I have a better understanding of pens, I will look for a vintage pen to fit the vintage no-name pen holder, or try the Esterbrook in it for awhile and see what happens. I wish I knew more than I remember about this family desk pen holder! I am open to any suggestions and any ideas about who made a desk pen holder such as the one pictured here!

 

All the best,

T

[ubuntolaio]

is it possible to swap the upper section of the pen with a sailor 1911M