Sailor Jentle chu shu

[namrehsnoom]

Sailor Jentle – chu shu

 

The origins of Sailor date back to 1911 when Mr. Sakata and his brother founded the “’Sakata Manufactory” company to produce solid gold nibs. You can explore their history at https://en.sailor.co.jp/company/our-history. These guys have been around for a long time, so it comes as no surprise that they are well-known in stationery land. Over the years, Sailor has literally brought hundreds of inks to market… and till today, I never used or tested any of their inks. That's got to change.

 

Last week I went exploring in my ink room (yeah… a room… can’t call it a cabinet any more), and there at the back of the shelf, hiding in the shadows, sat a dusty little bottle. “Hello stranger … why are you hiding over there. Let’s get you inked up … Woow… You’re beautiful !”

Sailor Jentle chu shu is the perfect ink for autumn (which has arrived in my part of the world). It’s a nicely complex ink, with a colour that navigates the border between grey and purple. When used for writing, it’s more of a purple-grey, but when you draw with it, it’s definitely a grey-purple, with the purple tones dominating. A lovely colour, totally suited for the season… melancholic, subdued, stormy clouds on a rainy day. A gorgeous colour that totally fits my taste. Also a technically solid ink, with good contrast and saturation, well lubricated, with excellent water-resistance, and fairly short drying time. A superb ink that I should have tried years ago.

 

The bottle I rediscovered is from the Sailor Jentle collection – a 50 ml round bottle with a built-in ink well. I don’t think these are on the market anymore, but no worries, the same inks with the same names can be found in their Shikiori brand, with 20 ml square bottles. Same ink, different packaging.

 

To illustrate the colour span of this purple-grey beauty, I did a swab on 52 gsm Tomoe River paper, where I really saturated portions of the paper with ink. Chu shu has a very narrow colour span, with only minor differences between the light and dark-saturated parts. This narrow contrast range explains the almost complete lack of shading in this ink. If you like your shading bold and strong, this is not an ink for you.

 

On the smudge test – rubbing text with a moist Q-tip cotton swab – the ink shows only a tiny amount of smearing. The ink dries quickly in the 10 second range when writing with a Safari M-nib – even on smooth Japanese paper. So this might be a good ink for lefties. Water resistance is also remarkably good. Whether soaking the page in water for some time (15 min droplet test), or subjecting it to streaming tap water, the text remains perfectly readable. Excellent! The chromatography shows that most of the purple tones will disappear. Also some of the grey dyes move with the water, but a solid grey outline of your text remains. There is some damage, but your words will survive.

 

I’ve tested the ink on a wide variety of paper – from crappy Moleskine to high-end Tomoe River. On each scrap of paper I show you:

• An ink swab, made with a cotton Q-tip
• 1-2-3 pass swab, to show increasing saturation
• An ink scribble made with a Lamy Safari M-nib fountain pen
• The name of the paper used, written with a B-nib Safari
• A small text sample, written with the M-nib Safari
• Source of the quote, written with an Edison Collier with 1.1 stub
• Drying times of the ink on the paper (with the M-nib Safari)

The multi-paper writing test shows that Sailor Jentle chu shu works well with both white and cream paper. It also handles lower quality paper really well. Even the awful Moleskine paper could handle this ink, with only a tiny amount of see-through and bleed-through. Overall, a technically solid ink.

 

In swabs, chu shu shows its purple undertones really well. Less visible in the written text though, which appears more like a grey. That is… until you put it next to a true grey, which is when you’ll notice that purple under-the-surface complexity that gives this ink its unique character.

 

I used photos for the writing samples above to get the most accurate results. For completeness, I also add a scan of some writing samples. My scanner is incapable of capturing the ink’s complexity, and loses most of the subtle purple nuances. In this case, the photos show best what the eye sees.

 

Below you’ll find some zoomed-in parts of writing samples. This Sailor Jentle ink looks fairly consistent across the whole range of writing papers. Solid and with good contrast. Notice the almost complete lack of shading, even in the broader nibs. 

 

Writing with different nib sizes
The picture below shows the effect of nib sizes on the writing (written on Rhodia N°16 80 gsm paper). All samples were written with a Lamy Safari. I also added a couple of visiting pens: a  Pelikan M600 with an F cursive italic, a Pilot Capless with F-nib and my Edison Collier Nighthawk with 1.1 stub. This Sailor chu shu looks good in all nib sizes, with excellent contrast to the page.

In the nib-size example, the camera did a lousy job of capturing the purple undertones (as in… they seem to be gone). The text looks like a dark grey, but in reality there is a hint of purple present that adds depth and character.

 

Related inks
To compare Sailor chu shu with related inks, I use my nine-grid format with the currently reviewed ink at the center. This format shows the name of related inks, a saturation sample, a 1-2-3 swab and a water resistance test – all in a very compact format. As you can see, the ink has a rather unique colour setup and I don’t have a lot of inks that come anywhere close to it. Diamine Earl Grey is really similar though, with just a touch less purple in the mix. I might do a shoot-out of these two in the near future.

 

Inkxperiment – mining town
As a personal challenge, I try to create interesting drawings using only the ink I’m reviewing. A fun endeavour that’s always good for a couple of hours tinkering around with the ink. I simply love experimenting with inks to see how they behave in a more artistic context. 

For this grey ink, an industrial theme came to mind. Chu shu’s grey and purple colour brought back memories of the coal-mining industry in my home town. Up until 1970, there were three coal mines in operation. These are cultural sites now, but the mining terrils – mounds of geological spoil resulting from the coal mining activity – are still easily recognizable landmarks. I tried to capture the industrial gritty feel in my drawing.

 

I started with an A4 piece of 300 gsm watercolour paper and painted in the coal veins with pure chu shu. Next, I used strongly water-diluted ink to paint in the sky (using cotton swabs). I then used my fountain pen to draw the buildings and mining towers, and coloured them in with cotton Q-tips.  For the underground, I applied ink with Q-tips, and drew scribbles with my fountain pen to add some texture. The final drawing shows quite well what can be achieved with this Sailor ink in a more artistic context.

 

Inkxpired – computational art
I love experimenting with pen/ink/paper, and have added another layer as part of the hobby. I’m exploring computational art, inspired by the ink drawings I do during ink reviews. Another fun offshoot of the hobby… and all that starting with a few drops of dye-coloured water on paper.

 

I started by applying an urban art filter, and then used colour and contrast filters to obtain a more gritty feel. In this drawing, all softness is gone, and only the industrial grit remains. You can almost taste the coal-dust between your teeth.

 

Conclusion
Sailor Jentle chu shu is a gorgeous ink that I should have reviewed years ago - so glad I rediscovered it. It’s a beautiful purple-grey with tons of character, and with excellent technical execution: saturation, wetness, lubrication, water-resistance … all top-notch. Only the lack of shading might disappoint. I’m sure many of you have a bottle of it in your stash. If so… I suggest you load up a pen with it and enjoy!

Technical test results on Rhodia N° 16 notepad paper written with Lamy Safari, M-nib

 

 

Backside of writing samples on different paper types

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks as usual for the comprehensive review and really interesting art.

I don't know why I never really looked at this ink before (maybe because I don't use grey a lot).

So my wallet does NOT thank you....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[LizEF]

18 minutes ago, namrehsnoom said:

Over the years, Sailor has literally brought hundreds of inks to market… and till today, I never used or tested any of their inks. That's got to change.

Whoa!  Really?  This is your first Sailor?  That's surprising.  I think Sailor's ink-makers may be the best in the world.  (And I certainly could have guessed that this one would appeal to you.)

 

24 minutes ago, namrehsnoom said:

I might do a shoot-out of these two in the near future.

 

25 minutes ago, namrehsnoom said:

Inkxperiment – mining town

Excellent!  It really accomplishes the goal, and as you said, the color fits the subject.  I really like this one.

 

26 minutes ago, namrehsnoom said:

Inkxpired – computational art

Wow!  And this is almost like a completely different piece - it really changes the flavor.  I love them both!

 

Thanks, @namrehsnoom!  I really enjoyed this review (and yes, I really like Chu-shu as well).

[lapis]

Nice and thanks!! One more I gotta get. Are both DeA's and R&K's Aubergines even roughly similar, or just too purple ??

[Baggins]

Wow! This review is really thorough. Thank you.

A lot of work went into this! 
will start following.

[Misfit]

Thank you for another outstanding ink review. I like gray inks. Your industrial drawing is superb. 

[yazeh]

Thank you for such an inspired review @namrehsnoom. Like you, I have tested very few Sailor inks, maybe I like to go against the grain

This seems like one of those inks, I would really enjoy both writing and drawing with. I truly enjoyed your Inkxperiment and the backstory. 🙏🙏🙏

[AmandaW]

A favourite ink for me.

[SashK]

Sorry, but I have to preface this with... @namrehsnoom you've never tried Sailor inks before?! DED. 

 

Now that I'm revived, I can say, good choice! Chu shu is a wonderful ink that works so well for the rainy season. I'm lucky to have an original Jentle version in the squat bottle, but to my knowledge they never reformulated this ink for the updated Shikiori line. Writing with this ink you find yourself surprised by the purple, it sort of appears from nowhere in writing. Color is a funny thing between people. 

 

Welcome to the start of your sailor journey, it's a biiig swamp out there. 

 

Thanks for the wonderful wonderful wonderful review!

[InesF]

How could I have missed your exiting and comprehensive ink review? 😒

Thank you, @namrehsnoom, for introducing this ink to us and especially for doing so many writing samples!  Your artwork is so beautiful, it captures the mood of the industrial site so well - reminds me to many scenes in Bladerunner (the first one) - always dark, dusty and somehow wet.

 

The colour chu shu is, from the images, similar to Fritz Schimpf Gelassenheit, an ink I like a lot. I will consider chu shu if I ever run out of Gelassenheit*.  

 

Looking forward to your next ink review!

 

 

 

 

^{*) Gelassenheit means serentity - no, my statement is not word art! I do not refill my pens to reflect my mood   most of the times.}  

[PithyProlix]

Thanks for yet another great review ... and of an ink I don't have that I have been very interested in, so very useful for me. I love the color it shows in your great drawing.

 

A request, if it is not too much trouble: if you could show what it looks like next to Callifolio Cassis it would be greatly appreciated!

[namrehsnoom]

On 10/19/2024 at 2:44 PM, PithyProlix said:

A request, if it is not too much trouble: if you could show what it looks like next to Callifolio Cassis it would be greatly appreciated!

 See below - the way I see it with my eye:  chu shu is a grey-purple, cassis is a purple-grey, and earl grey is more of a purple-cool-grey.

 

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, namrehsnoom said:

 See below - the way I see it with my eye:  chu shu is a grey-purple, cassis is a purple-grey, and earl grey is more of a purple-cool-grey.

 

Looks like this is perfect for a triple shoot out  

[knarflj]

Wow, great review.  I love both versions of the drawing.  And the colour is lovely.  I never thought I'd want a grey ink, but I'm pretty sure I see at least a sample of this one in my future.  Thanks, @namrehsnoom!

[PithyProlix]

On 10/29/2024 at 2:13 AM, namrehsnoom said:

 See below - the way I see it with my eye:  chu shu is a grey-purple, cassis is a purple-grey, and earl grey is more of a purple-cool-grey.

 

 

Thank you very much! I guess chu shu stays on the want list...