Sailor Professional Gear

September 23, 2012

Introduction: I had always heard of this pen but never really paid much attention until I saw a used specimen at a reasonable price in the classifieds. In other words, a true spur of the moment buy with no research at all involved. So with no expectations one way or another I received my little Sailor in the mail last week and have used it for a week now.

Appearance & Design: Black and silver with a little rope of gold on the nib. An exceedingly sober and classy design. Three bands of silver on the cap and two on the pen body. The design reminds me of a Pelikan. Not a copy just similar. I really like the look of this pen...a lot. The resin is beautiful and glossy, however, it does collect fingerprints like crazy. On the cap is the Sailor logo. I love looking down at the logo. The Pelikan logo has always seemed a bit goofy to me and the Montblanc snowflake is eh, but the Sailor logo is actually pretty cool. I like it. Around the cap band is "Sailor Japan Professional Gear 1911". Everything on the pen looks good. It came in a box. Better than some not as good as others. I may start taking all these fancy pen boxes that I don't use and sell them to cigar afficianados.

Construction & Quality: Very high quality. This pen is not just a holder for their famously smooth nibs. This pen can hang with the Pelikans and Montblancs at the big boys club.

Weight & Dimensions: This is small pen. Small by today's standards. It's a teeny bit smaller than a Nakaya Piccolo. I can write just fine with this pen unposted. This pen posts really well. The cap sits well down of the barrel. Posted this is one of the more comfortable pens to use. Unposted it's usable. At work I sign a lot of documents and not having to post the pen every time I use it is nice. I do post it for more extended writing periods. The section has metal threads. This causes the weight to be distributed more towards the nib. This makes the pen more comfortable for me. The cap is light enough that posting doesn't affect weight distribution one way or another.

Nib & Performance: This is where this pen really shines. Yes, I am going to repeat what has been repeated over and over. My pen came with a medium nib and it is one of the smoothest nibs I have ever used. It still does have feedback. I've always treasured my Montblanc 149s nib in that it is smooth but I can still feel what the nib is doing. This nib is better. Yup, I just said that. Awesome feed as well. keeps the nib nice a juicy all the time no matter how fast I write. This nib can sit for extended periods un-capped without drying out. I really look for this quality in a nib and this one has it in gobs. One of the, if not the best, nib I've ever used.

Filling System & Maintenance: Cartridge or converter. The pen doesn't skip so the converter and cartridges must be good. I'm actually starting to prefer cartridge/converters these day. Easy to maintain.

Cost & Value: MSRP is $248 from nibs.com. I'm sure you can get it cheaper from ebay or the classifieds here. I did. It's an expensive pen. It's a nice pen. I paid well under $200. I'm happy with my purchase. Would I buy it again for $248? I don't know, maybe.

Conclusion: I like this pen. It has made me want to search out other Sailors. I don't see myself getting rid of this pen any time soon. It just writes too well. It just looks and feels too nice. I'm happy with this pen. It has one of the best nibs I've ever used and is a good size for every day carry to work.

*I don't do photos but there are more than enough glam shots of this pen on the 'net. Thanks.

Edited September 23, 2012 by heraclitus682

November 28, 2012

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/399224_496352913742491_852226474_n.jpg

November 28, 2012

Great write up and a lovely picture added by the moderator...thanks for taking a moment to add this review!

M

November 28, 2012

and a lovely picture added by the moderator...thanks for taking a moment to add this review!

Watch_art's photo is of an older Sailor. The current Professional Gear has flat end caps rather than rounded end caps. The full-size Professional Gears use the same barrel, cap, and grip parts as the full-size 1911's, but the rounded end caps of the 1911 somehow makes the pen feel larger. Of course it is marginally longer because of the end cap shapes, but that doesn't come into play when writing, at least not when posted. It shouldn't feel any different, so I guess that is a case in point on the power of the mind over perceptions. I could use my Pro Gear un-posted for a brief time but I hate doing so because the end sits slightly in front of rather than on top of the highest point of the webbing of my thumb where pens normally rest. I have the distinct perception that it is in danger of falling through (though I think it is not--another example of perception trumping objectively verifiable facts ).

Edited November 29, 2012 by mhosea

November 28, 2012

Actually not my photo at all. It's his. I just took it from him.

November 28, 2012

Actually not my photo at all. It's his. I just took it from him.

Ah. I'm confused. Seems to be the wrong pen (vis-a-vis the lack of any mention of orange and the lack of a Sailor logo where discussed in the review). How about these pictures?

Edited November 28, 2012 by mhosea