Sailor Realo Questions And Long Term Reliable And Service Concerning Japanese Bought/imported Sailor Pens.

[Penryn87]

Soo I have been on something of a japanese pen kick lately and expanded collection of Pilot pens but have always serious considered getting some more sailors as well.

Now, considering that you can import them for a materially less amount of money than you would buying them in the USA market, I am a bit worried about getting service for and the long term reliability of the realo piston filler.

I am also curious as to what exactly my options are if the piston filler ever needs a servicing... which is why I am kind of leaning towards C/C versions of the Pro-Gear 2. I know that in the past few years, Sailor has removed their product lines from a great many USA retailers and while I don't think the pen will need an in-warranty servicing, I am concerned with long term repair ... I am not buying a 200 pen for it to turn into a dip pen in 10 years because the Piston filler stopped working lol.

So to be more helpful for those who like straight to the point questions:

1 - What is the reliability of the Realo piston filler?

2 - What is the service situation like for owners of Sailor Pens that have been imported and need out of warranty servicing?

3 - Do you think the Realo is really worth it over the C/C? Ink capacity is not a big deal to me. I just enjoy the piston filler experience and own a great many of them.

[Algester]

do take note the Realo is no different from the C/C counter parts I'm not sure about KoP-fied realo though but the Realo standard is really no different from the standard line except it is a piston filler with a smaller capacity than the C/C... weird huh...

but the Realo more or less follows the lamy 2000 user maintainability

http://estilofilos.blogspot.com/2011/12/sailors-piston.html

the cartridge is 1.2ml the realo carries 1.0ml the converter... .7ml

 

for me if the piston can't be disassembled by the user tool free I won't get it so I'm more intuned with the C/C fillers

Edited January 22, 2015 by Algester

[ink-syringe]

I live in Korea and have owned several Sailor pens and have had success sending pens to Sailor for repairs with a quick turnaround. You have to pay the shipping one way. I love their pens and so far their service has been great. I would not hesitate to buy another.

 

I am a piston filler fan too but I owned a couple c/c sailors and while I like the cool looks of the Real-o and the ink window I didn't feel like it was worth the extra getus.

 

Make sure to get the nib you want the first time. Despite being high(ish) end and 21k nibs there is no nib exchange like Lamy or MB.

 

The nibs are amazing.

[Calabria]

I am a big fan of Japanese pens, and here's my experience-

I really like the Pilot Con-70 converter and think it is one of the best in the market. But I don't like their nibs - they feel like ballpoint pens to me.

 

Sailor converters are a disappointment - but their nibs (just recently I got an EF) are truly amazing.

I also think their Realo piston filler could be better - but I do like the nib which is the heart and soul of the pen and am standing in line for the 1911 silver Realo to be released in Spring 2015.

Never really had a problem with repairs - Sailors are very reliable