Sailor 1911 Large

[Recursion]

This pen was ordered for me by a friend as a gift. It took almost 3 months to get to me as La Couronne du Comte (Dutch retailer) lists a lot of products on their site without actually having it in stock. But that aside as this is not a store review. I already had a Sailor Pro Gear Slim (the blue/green nebula) with a 14kt fine nib, this nib writes lovely and has the famous pencil like feedback. But alas this pen is way too small and finicky for my hands and writing style. So, I was curious how the bigger brother of the Pro Gear Slim would write, and I was lucky enough to be able to select this pen as a gift. 

 

So, the facts:

Manufacturer:         Sailor

Model:                     1911 Large Rhodium trim

Material:                  Black acrylic (injection molded)

Nib:                          Sailor 21kt Gold (H-MF)

Filling system:        Cartridge/converter

Capped:                  141 mm

Uncapped:              123 mm

Posted:                    153 mm

Section:                   10 - 11 mm

______________________________________________________________________

Appearance & Design - Classic cigar-shaped design

The pen has the same classic cigar-shaped design as so many others. I went for the rhodium trims as this fits a black pen better, in my opinion. The engraving on the cap band is crisp and unintrusive (unlike the engraving of e.g., the Platinum #3776). The clip has a nice 3 stepped design, and this gives it quite a classical look. The clip is quite springy and effortlessly slides in a shirt pocket. The nib has beautiful scrollwork and is a bit on the small site for this pen (more on this in the nib section). A good, understated design for in a business environment.

 

 

Construction & Quality – Well build but has improving opportunities

The threading on this pen (cap as well as barrel) is smooth. The glossy injection molded acrylic is a real fingerprint magnet and is surprisingly easily scratched.  The pen posts very securely and is not back weighted. Writing with this pen posted for me it’s more balanced than unposted.  The cap comes off with just over 2 full turns, which is not that great for quick note taking.

 

 

Weight & Dimensions – Lightweight and on the smaller side.

This pen is on the smaller side of things and unposted it’s almost too small for my hands. It’s ok to take a view quick notes with it unposted, but for longer writing I really need to post the pen. As I said before the pen has a very good balance when posted. The section could do with a bit more girth for my taste, but is not uncomfortably small (like e.g. a Pro Gear Slim). Although it has quite a view metal parts it’s still relatively light. 

 

 

 

Nib & Performance – Lovely and precise 

The 21kt gold hard medium-fine (H-MF) nib writes lovely and has the (in)famous pencil like feedback. It performs well, never had a hard start or any skipping. It is fitted with a plastic feed but still lays down a good amount of ink. The nib is not flexible but has enough bounce to it. The nib is decorated with lovely scrollwork and the Sailor anker logo. The nib is smaller than a standard #6 nib from let’s say Jowo or Bock. But still in proportion to the rest of the pen. But for my personal preferences it could be a bit bigger. 

 

 

Filling System & Maintenance – Cartridge/convertor??

This pen is fitted with a proprietary convertor (or cartridges if you want), the convertor is quite small and only holds a measly 0,45 ml of ink (if you fill it to the brim). That makes that I need to fill this pen quite often and it’s not ideal if I have a lot of meetings in a day. I can’t understand that a pen in this price class does not have a piston filling system of at least a convertor with a higher capacity. The nib lays down a decent amount of ink and this drains the pen quite quickly in my case. Maintaining this pen is as easy and quick as any other convertor fitted pen, the nib is friction fitted so you can disassemble the pen easily (even the convertor if you want). 

Here is the convertor compared to that of a Leonardo Momento Zero:

 

Cost & Value – Well, it’s not cheap

This pen retails for around € 295,- in the Netherlands and considering the size of the pen and the capacity of the convertor this is not a bang for your buck pen in my book. But then there is the quality of the nib that writes precise, reliable and with a smooth pencil like feeling. So yeah, there’s that. Would I replace this pen if it would break? Well, that is a mindboggling question but as I feel now I probably would not. 

 

Conclusion – Still one of my favourites

The small size and measly ink capacity of this pen aside I really love how this pen writes. Especially on Tomoe River paper this nib really shines for me. Somehow that makes me overlook the “small” problems (pun intended) with this pen and focus on the joy of writing a long letter to a dear friend. And let’s be honest, that is what a writing instrument is for 😉

[Harish N V]

Quite a precise review there. Nice one. I like the smootheness of the pilot nib. Particularly the 823.but for me the 823 was very picky with inks and would perform well with pilot inks. 

 

As I did not like this, I shifted to a platinum 3776 in fine and the bb nib and fell in love with the bb nib particularly. I found it very reliable and more accomodative of inks. 

 

I feel that after reading your review that the sailor and platinum are quite close to each other in terms of the nib and reliability of writing. 

[Recursion]

14 minutes ago, Harish N V said:

I feel that after reading your review that the sailor and platinum are quite close to each other in terms of the nib and reliability of writing.

Well, I can only compare it to the platinum #3776 I have. That one has a soft fine nib and has a whole different character than the hard medium-fine nib on this Sailor. Both have a pencil like feedback. But the writing experience is quite different. In my opinion the soft fine from Platinum is very precise and offers a nice amount of line variation as it bounces on and off the paper, the feedback is that of a hard pencil (2H). The Sailor is much stiffer and has the feedback of a soft pencil (2B). For longer writing sessions and notetaking at work I would prefer the Sailor, but for pleasure writing and doodling I prefer the Platinum.

[TheDutchGuy]

Congrats! Fine pen! A Sailor nib that really suits you is a daily joy.

[TSherbs]

Great review. And I always appreciate the comparative remarks to other pens. 

[langere]

Yes, I love the feel of precision I get with a Sailor nib;  it is like no other.

 

Nice review!  

 

Erick