Is Sailor Maki-E Series (Maiko) Screen Or Hand-Painted?

April 20, 2016

Hi!! I'm new to this forum and this is my first post. If I make any mistakes, please forgive me. Hehe

I just would like to know whether or not the Maiko version of the Sailor's Maki-E series is hand-painted or not. The seller in my country said that it was hand-painted and took a long time from start to finish, and that's why the price is higher than other model; the price is even higher than the professional and 1911 models. Is it worth the money? I like the design very much and I think it has value to it. I would like to purchase this as a gift to my love one, but I have to make sure first that it has the value it's worth.

Thank you very much.

April 20, 2016

First, welcome home. Pull up a stump and set a spell. It is very likely screen printed and hand finished but that does not mean it is not worth the price. It appears to require at least four screens and then the hand finishing.

Don't get too down on Screen Printing since it really is a complex and difficult operation particularly on an object with as many planes as a fountain pen. But it is that feature that allows Sailor to sell the pen at such a low price; fully hand dome maki-e generally runs from around a $1000.00 US up to many tens of thousands of dollars.

April 20, 2016

Ohhhh.. Thank you very much for your fast response and information Jar.

By low price you mean relatively compared to fully hand-painted maki, right? Because the absolute price is really high. But anyway, if you say the screen printing and hand finishing process is worth the price and value done by the Sailor (and I feel that the design, branding, and quality are superb by the way), I will just buy this.

April 20, 2016

Ohhhh.. Thank you very much for your fast response and information Jar.

By low price you mean relatively compared to fully hand-painted maki, right? Because the absolute price is really high. But anyway, if you say the screen printing and hand finishing process is worth the price and value done by the Sailor (and I feel that the design, branding, and quality are superb by the way), I will just buy this.

The two things are simply different and so really shouldn't be compared.

The entry level Maki-e pens like those you are looking at are great value and because they can be done in higher volume the costs are significantly lower. Here are several such examples with the second from the bottom another Sailor with a design by Mr. Kosen Oshita who also did the one you are considering.

http://www.fototime.com/F0CEADE6FD41861/xlarge.jpg

In many cases the Hira Maki-e pens at that price point are absolutely beautiful and often more colorful than the fully hand done maki-e.