Sky High Vs. Souten Vs. Kon-Peki

[SNAK]

I happened to have these three similar coloured inks so I did a quick comparison showing you some writing samples, sheen shots, and colour density. I hope it is helpful.

 

My conclusion:

1. Sky High and Souten are very similar in regular writing, but I can see more reddish dye in Sky High which shows up as more sheen.

2. Sky High and Souten flows from the nib just about the same.

3. Kon-Peki is slightly greener than the other two, leaning more cerulean in colour. Difference is noticeable in regular writing.

4. Kon-Peki feels more fluid/watery coming out of the nib. As it is an Iroshizuku ink, known for their extraordinary flow characteristics, I consider it in line with other Iro inks in the great flow. This doesn't mean the two sailor inks (Sky High and Souten) are less flowy, they are well lubricated and has good flow but it's just that Kon-peki has more watery flow.

 

Now on to the photos:

 

Writing sample shows Kon-peki is lighter and slightly greener in colour.

 

Writing sample from a different angle.

 

Painted with watercolour brush, thin lines, thick lines, and words with flexy nib.

 

2 drops of ink from syringe spread out with blunt needle to roughly 2.5cm (1 inch) diameter. Words are in Noodler's Bulletproof Black. Photo is taken straight on.

 

Same as above, but photo is taken from shallower angle to enhance the appearance of sheen.

 

[Fabienne]

Great! That is pretty much the sort of thing I got. Sky High was much more sheeny. I like Souten but once you have tried Sky High...

[UDog]

Great work. Lovely blues.

[lgsoltek]

Great comparison. I love my Souten.

[Lovely_Pen]

Wonderful review SNAK! You've convinced me that I need a bottle of Souten now--like I really needed an excuse to buy another bottle of ink haha.

 

What other Sailor Jentle inks do you like for their sheen? I now Yama-dori has beautiful sheen, but I'm curious about the others? Have any experience?

Edited April 15, 2015 by Lovely_Pen

[sakayume]

Thank you! I think Sky High and Souten are really aptly named, they really do remind me of the sky on a brilliant, cloudless day.

[Occipital Lobe]

Great comparison - thanks Snak

[SNAK]

Great! That is pretty much the sort of thing I got. Sky High was much more sheeny. I like Souten but once you have tried Sky High...

I know, I have hoarded up on Sky High so by my calculations, I should be okay for about 7 years , but I am hoping that Sailor will bring back Sky High in 4 or 5 years time like they did with Tokiwamatsu, Okuyama and Yamadori.

[SNAK]

Wonderful review SNAK! You've convinced me that I need a bottle of Souten now--like I really needed an excuse to buy another bottle of ink haha.

 

What other Sailor Jentle inks do you like for their sheen? I now Yama-dori has beautiful sheen, but I'm curious about the others? Have any experience?

I also have Tamadori, as well as Okuyama and Tokiwamatsu. They all sheen wonderfully. In addition to the regular Sailor inks, I love the various Japanese stores original Sailor inks like the Kobe, Kingdom Note, Nagoya, etc. lines. I just ordered Pen & Message Cigar now that they are back in stock. I love Sailor inks in general.

[migo984]

I also have Tamadori, as well as Okuyama and Tokiwamatsu. They all sheen wonderfully. In addition to the regular Sailor inks, I love the various Japanese stores original Sailor inks like the Kobe, Kingdom Note, Nagoya, etc. lines. I just ordered Pen & Message Cigar now that they are back in stock. I love Sailor inks in general.

 

Agree - Sailor really are exceptional inks. I love Sky High; Souten doesn't have quite the same pizzaz, although it is still a great ink. My very favourite Sailor-made inks are BungBox Sweet Potato Purple and Writing Lab Vintage Denim.

[visvamitra]

Sky High looks best.

[mhosea]

Does it seem possible that Sailor just reduced the saturation of Sky High a little to arrive at Souten? I remember seeing some nearly identical chromatography results.

[SNAK]

I guess it is possible that Sailor has just dropped the red/pink dye component percentage slightly, but kept the blue side of the dye combination and concentration the same, thereby keeping the regular writing colour very similar or same. But you can still tell the difference if you look carefully, because the pink sheen you get is less with Souten.

 

I am not sure how the chromatography works so I can't attempt it but it would be interesting to see. Mike, do you happen to remember where you saw the chroma results between Souten and Sky High?

[lgsoltek]

I guess it is possible that Sailor has just dropped the red/pink dye component percentage slightly, but kept the blue side of the dye combination and concentration the same, thereby keeping the regular writing colour very similar or same. But you can still tell the difference if you look carefully, because the pink sheen you get is less with Souten.

 

I am not sure how the chromatography works so I can't attempt it but it would be interesting to see. Mike, do you happen to remember where you saw the chroma results between Souten and Sky High?

I think the chroma is here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/194535-sailor-sky-high-vs-summer-sky-vs-kon-peki-chromatography/?do=findComment&comment=1967014

[SNAK]

Oh thanks for that link Lysoltek. In his comparison linked above, SamCapote calls Souten "Summer Sky" but he did the comparison of the exact three inks I did, and his was back in 2011. So his Souten was from the previous release, not the Souten we have now. The interesting thing is, in his opinion, back in 2011 with different release of Souten, his Souten had more red sheen than his Sky High (which would be the same release as mine in my comparison here). Quite interesting results. Assuming that both mine and SamCapote's reading of our test results were accurate (but there could always be error, its a non-scientific comparison test we both did), we could maybe consider that perhaps Sailor is slowly reducing the sheeny dye content in the Souten and Sky High inks in each new release? (It's a big hypothesis, totally non-scientific, but.) I don't want to get too geeky so I'll just have to leave it at that.

 

It seems Sailor is bringing back older series as re-release routinely, so lets hope they will bring back the now discontinued Sky High again in the future. Then I can compare the older Sky High and the future Sky High directly. I wonder how chromatography tests are done. I will do some reading and may decide to do the test myself (no promises) with the three inks I used here, if I think its easily doable in my environment and equipment. It will be an additional data point that might be useful for some.

Edited April 16, 2015 by SNAK

[mhosea]

I guess it is possible that Sailor has just dropped the red/pink dye component percentage slightly

 

I suspect what you are interpreting as a red/pink dye component is not a component at all, rather an optical effect due to sheen, only partially present at most angles (as opposed to what you see when you adjust the angle just so to get the maximal effect).

[SNAK]

Does it seem possible that Sailor just reduced the saturation of Sky High a little to arrive at Souten? I remember seeing some nearly identical chromatography results.

 

I suspect what you are interpreting as a red/pink dye component is not a component at all, rather an optical effect due to sheen, only partially present at most angles (as opposed to what you see when you adjust the angle just so to get the maximal effect).

It does seem possible that they are gradually reducing the dye saturation at each release of Souten - Sky High - Souten, and if it were true it kind of explains both SamCapote's and my findings.

 

But then again, the test results could be easily affected by little things like insufficient mixing of the ink before taking a sample to test, if the ink bottle has been sitting idle for months, something in the ink may settle to the bottom of the bottle. (FYI I made sure to mix the ink before taking my samples).

 

Edit: I meant to say that all the reviews and comparisons are affected (to various degrees) by the reviewer's environment, opinion, preference, test sample condition etc. These are not precise scientific experiments.

Edited April 16, 2015 by SNAK

[mhosea]

Well, I didn't mean to suggest anything like a progressive change. I'm always looking for the simplest explanation that fits the facts, all the facts, and a progressive change sounds rather implausible. I was, rather, suggesting that they took the successful Sky High formula and just tweaked it a little once, just once, reducing saturation in order to bring out the sky blue a little better, as Sky High could often appear rather too dark, IMHO, to be described as such. Please note that a red sheen from a blue ink does not suggest the presence of a red dye. It is a common property of blue dyes, rather. Why this is so, I'm not certain, but it is. Blue ballpoint ink and the nano-pigmented Sailor Sei Boku both produce ruddy sheens.

 

This is not to say that it would be unusual for a blue ink to contain a pinkish or reddish dye. It might, indeed. It is even common, I think, but OTOH, it also seems to shows up readily in a chromatography test (mixing or no mixing), and I doubt there would ever be enough of it to affect the color of the sheen very much.

Edited April 16, 2015 by mhosea

[SNAK]

I agree that progressive change sounds rather implausible. More likely are the sample variations due to concentrated/older ink, minor difference in ink volume used, etc. I wish we knew exactly what goes into the inks we use, like the food ingredients labels, that would be very interesting.

 

I think the takeaway message would be that if someone likes the look of Sky High (which is now discontinued), they could get Souten and happily benefit from the sheen and the look as they are very similar. The difference between Kon-peki and the two Sailor inks (Sky High and Souten) are noticeable enough that it may be worthwhile getting both the Iroshizuku ink and the Sailor ink. I personally like the slightly deeper bluer colour of the Sky High/Souten over Kon-peki if I had to choose, but all three are among my favourites that I regularly rotate in my pens.

[mhosea]

Indeed, I would purchase Sky High if I could find it anymore, on the price difference alone. However, your review makes me think that Souten would satisfy me on color, as my pens tend to be somewhat wet writing (my preference). For now I am using Diamine Mediterranean Blue in this vicinity of hue.