Sailor Jentle – Tokiwa Matsu

[crahptacular]

Sailor Jentle – Tokiwa Matsu

 

This was one of the first green inks I bought a full bottle of. I didn’t used to like greens all that much, so I was pretty picky about them. Over time my tastes have broadened, but Tokiwa Matsu is still one of my favorite greens I’ve used. It has both an interesting color and interesting properties, performs admirably, and importantly is very pleasant to look at (for me, at least).

 

The ink is a… green. It’s a little hard to describe past that because it has several different appearances. When wet, it has a clear blue undertone, like a dark emerald green. When dry, it becomes much more yellow/brown, to the point where the blue seems almost to disappear. On top of that, there is a strong iron-oxide-red sheen that is visible in regular writing, which further obfuscates the true color of the ink, making it appear more brown than it actually is. As you can see in the doodle and the water resistance test, this seems to be because the blue component of the ink gets absorbed more readily by paper (and is also more permanent), while the other dyes settle and dry on top of it. This explains why the blue appears to fade as the ink dries, but reappears when washed with water, with the added benefit of substantial water resistance. The ink is quite well-saturated, but still displays impressive amounts of shading.

 

Small side-note: I was playing around with a self-ground architect nib for this review... and I'm not particularly good at grinding nibs... so in the writing samples you'll see some letters have rough edges. These are due to the nib, not the ink.

 

Lubrication: Moderate-High

Shading: High (I think this ink shades beautifully)

Sheen: High (red, commonly seen in regular writing—even a bit on copy paper)

Water Resistance: Moderate-high (leaves a very clear, readable blue line)

Other notes: I use a white plastic sample vial cap as a makeshift watercolor palette when doing these reviews, and the blue component of this ink stained the white plastic, which was difficult to get out. However, I’ve never seen this stain the plastic of a converter or an eyedroppered pen. So while staining hasn’t been an issue for me over the years I’ve been using this ink, I’ll mention this just in case it only affects certain types of plastics, and I’ve simply gotten lucky so far.

 

The following sample was done with a Nemosine Singularity (Architect) on Tomoe River (52gsm, white, loose-leaf). Doodle was done with a size 3/0 mop and size 0 liner brush in addition to the pen. Flex writing was done with a Zebra G dip nib.

 

Bad Scanner Disclaimer: The scan is relatively accurate for color, but the contrast is too high, so the shading effects are exaggerated. It is otherwise pretty representative of what I see. Photo is better for the bottom half, not great for the top half.

 

Scan:

 

Photo:

 

Comparison inks from left to right (big smear is the featured ink):

Papier Plume Forest Green, Sailor Bungbox Norwegian Wood, Robert Oster River of Fire, Robert Oster Jade, L’Artisan Callifolio Olivastre

 

Writing Samples (scans, no color correction)

 

Kokuya Campus:

 

 

 

Tsubame Fool’s University:

 

Maruman Mnemosyne:

 

edit:

Comparison of wet vs dry color (on TR):

Edited September 19, 2017 by crahptacular

[Cyber6]

LOVE IT ... LOVE IT... LOVE iT !!!!... My FAVORITE GREEN... with your FANTASTIC SKETCH!!!.,

 

I fell in love ALL OVER AGAIN!!!... :wub: :wub:

 

 

Thanks for posting...

 

 

 

C.

[AmandaW]

Great review. Thankyou. This is my favourite green too. The only thing I can add is a scan of my green inks for comparison - because they are all different - it appears the Tokiwa-Matsu is the only one we have in common. :-)

 

[crahptacular]

LOVE IT ... LOVE IT... LOVE iT !!!!... My FAVORITE GREEN... with your FANTASTIC SKETCH!!!.,

 

I fell in love ALL OVER AGAIN!!!... :wub: :wub:

 

 

Thanks for posting...

 

 

 

C.

Glad you enjoyed it! I hadn't inked this up in a while, but quickly remembered why I liked it so much to begin with.

 

 

Great review. Thankyou. This is my favourite green too. The only thing I can add is a scan of my green inks for comparison - because they are all different - it appears the Tokiwa-Matsu is the only one we have in common. :-)

 

greeninks_sm.jpg

Ooh, this is great! Even among the greens I have that I didn't include in the review, none of them overlap with yours, so your selection is perfect for me

 

 

 

 

Also, I forgot to include this in the first post (I will edit it in now): comparison shot of dry vs. wet color. Well, halfway wet at least... by the time I got the camera in focus it was partially dry already. Anyway, I love this effect (along with the red sheen) because it brings to mind the underappreciated change of colors you can see in evergreens like pines. As autumn is upon us, most of the attention goes to deciduous trees, but some evergreens also change and shed their needles, going from deep forest green to yellow-brown-green. If you ask me, whoever designed this ink at Sailor did a perfect job of capturing the essence of pine.

[catalyst]

Yes I love this ink! When I use it the sheen looks like copper, I love it! If I wasn't so obsessed with blues I would use it everyday. Oh also the color change while drying is awesome as well.

Here is the copper sheen I get on Tomoe:

[Intensity]

I am speechless from the beauty of this ink and the presentation.

*Adding this ink to my cart now*

[inkstainedruth]

I'm gonna have to pull out my sample again. I do NOT remember this amount of sheen....

Thanks for the review.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[crahptacular]

@catalyst - Yes, perhaps "copper" is a better description of the sheen. I see it as a rust-red in the most heavily pooled areas, but it is indeed coppery throughout. I would guess the exact appearance also depends on the type of lighting you have. In any case, beautiful photos! I like the penny; very appropriate for the sheen

[KaB]

impressive ink, impressive review, Thanks

[catalyst]

@catalyst - Yes, perhaps "copper" is a better description of the sheen. I see it as a rust-red in the most heavily pooled areas, but it is indeed coppery throughout. I would guess the exact appearance also depends on the type of lighting you have. In any case, beautiful photos! I like the penny; very appropriate for the sheen

 

Thank you, and yes I should say the lighting is artificial, a couple daylight LED lamps and one cfl lamp at my desk. Either way I haven't seen a sheen quite like it except when I mixed Sailor's souten with Kin-Mokusei that gave a similar color and sheen.

[The Good Captain]

I do like this ink but confess that at the moment, it's not in the rotation. Very pleasant all round.

[lgsoltek]

Yes this is one of my favourite green inks. I especially enjoy how the colour changes from pine green to yellow green, like leaves in autumn. Amazing review!

 

Now tell me what this other gorgeous ink that sheens green is!

 

 

 

[NicolausPiscator]

WOW! Incredible! One of my all time favourites! ... you showed exactly why...

[ENewton]

Exquisite. The ink and the review.

[namrehsnoom]

Beautiful presentation of a beautiful ink. Thanks so much for the impressive review.

[Jan2016]

One of my favorites. Always one of my pens is filled with it. Some more sheen:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/284069-sailor-jentle-tokiwa-matsu/page-2

[catalyst]

Yes this is one of my favourite green inks. I especially enjoy how the colour changes from pine green to yellow green, like leaves in autumn. Amazing review!

 

Now tell me what this other gorgeous ink that sheens green is!

 

 

 

 

 

Oh thats Diamine Grape! The weirdest ink I can almost never get it to sheen like that, but sometimes it just does, and its really bright. I still after a month don't know why. I have had Sailor Doyou do that to me as well, no pun intended, but it sheened this bright green on HP #32 when I first wrote with it and a dip pen, but hardly ever again. I look back at that writing sample and cant figure it out. Diamine Grape is a little easier. Some of Sailor's other like Kobe #38 and Bungubox Omotesando Azure Sea (my profile pic) also will sheen green on occasion, but the green sheen's have in general always been more difficult for me to produce.

[Intensity]

 

 

 

Oh thats Diamine Grape! The weirdest ink I can almost never get it to sheen like that, but sometimes it just does, and its really bright. I still after a month don't know why. I have had Sailor Doyou do that to me as well, no pun intended, but it sheened this bright green on HP #32 when I first wrote with it and a dip pen, but hardly ever again. I look back at that writing sample and cant figure it out. Diamine Grape is a little easier. Some of Sailor's other like Kobe #38 and Bungubox Omotesando Azure Sea (my profile pic) also will sheen green on occasion, but the green sheen's have in general always been more difficult for me to produce.

Is it possible there was another ink remaining in your pen that mixed with the Diamine Grape that caused the sheen? It would go along with you seeing it for the first time you wrote with the ink and not other times.

[cleosmama]

Such beautiful drawings and a lovely presentation of the comparisons. There should be a contest for this kind of thing!

[ENewton]

Is it possible there was another ink remaining in your pen that mixed with the Diamine Grape that caused the sheen? It would go along with you seeing it for the first time you wrote with the ink and not other times.

 

I was startled by green sheen when I first used Diamine Grape with a glass dip pen. Then when I first put it in my Prera, I didn't see green on the page, but I did see it on the feed of my pen! I have never seen it in normal writing with a fountain pen, but maybe I've never used it in a wet enough pen.