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Sailor Hanzi


troglokev

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I'm not usually much of a box guy, however the box of the Sailor Hanzi is quite nice. It has 文字 written in four different styles of script on the top, illustrating the evolution of the characters from bone script through to modern: a nice touch. Opening the box there's a warranty certificate and a pamphlet of information about the characters, Mr Nagahara and the naginata togi nib. Further in, we find the pen itself, together with a bottle of Sailor Jentle Black. Under the pen, there's a couple of carts and a polishing cloth, so it's a fairly complete package.

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3230/3117844698_137b0daf48.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3081/3117845886_d108783ab8.jpg

 

And now to the pen, itself:

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3229/3110608363_8f1a03bf4f_b.jpg

 

The design is based on the 1911 cigar shaped pens, with examples of the Oracle bone script on the cap, and the Bronze script on the body of the pen. The Oracle bone script is the earliest known chinese script, dating back 4800 years. The writing is etched into the silver of the pen, so it certainly won't rub off with normal use. The overall effect of the black writing on shiny silver is quite striking, though if I were designing the pen there would be a little less blank space around the clip, on the cap: a quibble, really.

 

The pen itself is nicely sized, if a little heavy. Its body is much the same size as a Sailor 1911, however the cap is thicker and larger than the 1911's. It's one I'd definitely set aside the cap for, rather than posting it, even though it posts securely enough. I'd be worrying about scratching up the silverware.

 

Now to the nib: the nib on mine is a naginata togi medium fine. The nib is based on an old design, specifically for writing Kanji and provides some attractive variation. It's not too bad for western characters either, in my view. The line width gets much broader at low writing angles, but for my hand, the nib is pretty close to the designated MF (writing sample below).

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3236/3115838232_1288b8cf76.jpg

 

A little bit of nib shunga for you:

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3053/3112897604_9615658f10.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3278/3112898510_5e8a4d70f1.jpg

 

The curvature of the blade-shaped tipping material changes along the nib, providing the variation in width characteristic of this nib.

 

The filling system is Sailor's proprietary cartridges, or the Sailer converter. It would be nice to have had a piston fill on this pen, but there you have it.

 

If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it (or you don't want it badly enough). I had to ask the price, but the pen shop had lay-by available (lay-away to all the Americans out there). Lay-by is a good way to go, because it's not immediate gratification with a hangover as with a credit card. Paying for a pen over time also has the effect of reducing the effect of other temptation, having a bill to pay before getting the pen.

 

The Hanzi is a very nice limited edition pen, with an interesting design from the cultural point of view, and a beautifully smooth nib made by one of the master craftsmen of the fountain pen world.

 

(FPNer alexanderino sold me this pen, BTW :thumbup: )

Edited by troglokev
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oooooh I want one!!

 

Nice cartography too....

do the swastikas represent temples on the map?

So I'm opinionated - get over it!!.......No, really - get over it!!

Hmmmm I was going to put up a WANTS list - but that's too long as well ......

 

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/606/letterji9.png

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Nice review. GREAT Pen!

"I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.” - Robert McClosky
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Nice cartography too....

do the swastikas represent temples on the map?

The swastikas represent the Buddhist temples. The tori gate symbol that you can see near the breather hole in the first nib photo is the symbol for the Shinto shrines. The map itself is of Kyoto: the background of the main pen picture is the area around Ryouanji and Kinkakuji, and the nib photos use the area around the Imperial Palace.

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Thanks for the review and excellent photographs! Do you have a translation of what is written on the pen?

According to the pamphlet that came with the pen, the Oracle bone script depicts divinations used by fortune tellers of the time:they don't provide an exact translation. The bronze script tells the story of one of the politicians of the time: "When King Xuan of Zhou succeeded the throne - he entrusted Duke Mao with the political responsibilities - and revival of the nation's prosperity. The king praises him because Duke Mao served diligently and without any self-benefit. Duke Mao commissioned the brass tripod to pass his achievements down to his descendents."

Edited by troglokev
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Oh my... Kevin, you didn't. Did you. You got the holy grail of Sailor pens. I'm... so... well, I was going to say jealous but I really mean happy. You deserve it! :D

 

Is it of the same form factor as the full size 1911? If not, what is the length, thickness, and weight of the pen? Can you feel the texture of the characters on the cap and barrel? I'll be curious to hear how the silver holds up over time. Some silver pens will tarnish faster than others, and depending upon the chemical makeup of your skin oils. I just wonder though if this one will show fingerprints easily.

 

And naturally, your review photos impeccably done. Very nice and professional! But lets see a photo of that box you mentioned. ;)

 

~Gary

 

--> Hey Siv, you've got one of these too, right? Let us know what you think of yours at this point.

 

[MYU's Pen Review Corner] | "The Common Ground" -- Jeffrey Small

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BEAUTIFUL! Is this pen still in production?

skyppere

 

 

John Mottishaw still offers it on his nibs.com site under Sailor LEs.

 

 

 

(edited for typo. Duh!)

Edited by Pengrump
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Oh my... Kevin, you didn't. Did you. You got the holy grail of Sailor pens. I'm... so... well, I was going to say jealous but I really mean happy. You deserve it! :D

 

I did, I did :D It took a while to pay for it, but I did!

 

And naturally, your review photos impeccably done. Very nice and professional! But lets see a photo of that box you mentioned. ;)

 

Thanks for your very kind comments, Gary. I've modified the original post to include a couple of photos of the box. Enjoy!

Edited by troglokev
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My, my, my, isn't that a beauty! Congratulations on a fine acquisition. Just to get a sense of the nib flow, would you mind posting the inks used in the writing comparison? Thanks!

A certified Inkophile

inkophile on tumblr,theinkophile on instagram,inkophile on twitter

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My, my, my, isn't that a beauty! Congratulations on a fine acquisition. Just to get a sense of the nib flow, would you mind posting the inks used in the writing comparison? Thanks!

Not at all! The inks were:

Rotring 600 - Sailor Jentle Black

Sailor Hanzi - Visconti turquoise

Pilot M90 ---- Pilot iroshizuku syoryou

 

The paper is Moleskine.

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  • 9 years later...

The wonderful gentleman that I bought my MB 146 from had one of these. I tried to buy it. He didn't want to sell it (a wise decision). I'm extremely pleased with the old 146 I acquired from him, yet I've never wanted a pen more than this Sailor.

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Talk about the grail pen, I am quite sad that this is not produced anymore. I would buy 1 in a hearbeat!

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Even though I only own one gold-nib sailor pen and five platinum 3776's and 5 gold nib pilot's, I think I'm more of a sailor fan than either of the other two. I just can't afford their more premium stuff.

One day I'll have a nagahara king eagle emperor nibbed pen. One day.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/SAILOR-NAGAHARA-NIB-SET-22-NIBS-Cross-Concord-Emperor-Fude-Concord-Emperor/222606864653?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D44039%26meid%3D723dd4ab20ba4971a5d3d5be3e0a0924%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D232432145204%26itm%3D222606864653&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

 

Someone want to load me 40 grand?

Edited by Honeybadgers

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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