After picking up a Stipula Etruria Nuda a little while ago I developed an interest in clear demonstrators. There’s a bunch to be had out there, but right now it has to be made from a clear material to make it into my collection, not from a transparent colored resin. I’ve found there are a lot of nice, high quality demonstrators out there made by a variety of manufacturers.

This review is for the Sailor 1911 (full size) clear demonstrator. A pen that’s pretty much exactly like it’s counterparts except that, well, it’s clear resin.

First Impression
There were no surprises here. The transparent pen was laying on a gray, velveteen bed inside a standard blue Sailor presentation box. The box had its white shipping protector sleeve over it. What’s a little odd is the box is not marked on the outside as to what was inside. I expect to see this on pen boxes and of course this doesn’t affect the performance of the pen, but it’s the little details I like and want to see on a pen selling sometimes north of $200.

When I picked it up for the first time, my eye went right to the mould marks on the section. I was wondering why they were so pronounced. I could feel them with no trouble as well. I’m use to seeing mould marks sometimes but just not so visible. The rest of the pen is flawless and put together with care. I carefully went over the pen to see if there were any visible marks, scratches, or blemishes and there were none. With the exception of the heavy mould lines, the pen was perfect.


Appearance
I like the traditional look of the 1911, that cigar shape. It’s always been a favorite of mine. This pen has rhodium fixtures, which gives the pen a clean look. The gold trim would have given the pen a warmer feel, but the silver gives my 1911 demo a sleek appearance but not gaudy, it works just fine. A classic Sailor 1911, what more could I ask? This is a tried and true design, why fix it. The trim ring on the cap is a little stark and of the new style. It has “ Sailor Japan Founded 1911” written on it. I prefer the older style ring just because it’s more traditional looking. Nothing wrong with this new one though.

Inside the cap is a frosted, transparent sleeve. I think this is used inside the cap to have the section bottom out on when the cap is screwed on. Something has to stop it from being screwed down all the way so the nib doesn’t jam itself into the cap top. I’ve seen some on other demonstrators that were a solid color and you couldn’t see the nib inside the cap. This pen you can see the nib with the cap on and even though the sleeve is frosted, it doesn’t impair the view.

There is a thin silver colored trim ring just beneath the blind cap and then there is the standard Sailor pocket clip

I mentioned the mould marks on the section in the opening of this review. A little disappointing but nothing to get upset over. The whole pen is put together perfectly. This was the only flaw. The cap screws on in 2.5 turns. This pen makes a nice appearance in your hand.


Filling system
The filling system is a converter/cartridge type. We’ve heard the rumors that Sailor was going to introduce the piston fill on these pens. I don’t know the details, but it would be a welcome change to this pen. But for now, the C/C fill here on the 1911, while nothing out of the ordinary, is well behaved and works wonderfully. My supplied converter is a press fit type that is, of all things, a tight press fit. How often do we see a converter of this type that’s loose? One that could be a suspect for sucking in air and giving the pen flow problems. No issues like that here. Two thumbs up.

I also tried one of the supplied cartridges and the pen didn’t miss a beat. I didn’t have to shake the pen, squeeze the cartridge, or prime the nib and feed to initiate an ink flow. It started right up.

I wanted to mention that after I stuck the nib into the ink bottle up to the section, there was no ink bleed into the area where the nib joins the body. I hate this in a demonstrator, it’s the nature of the beast. The fit is so precise you get none of that. I’ve had my tried and true Diamine WES Imperial blue and Noodlers Tianamen loaded into the converter and it was a pleasure to not see remnants of this ink in the section. Well done Sailor!


Nib
The 21K nib is rhodium plated. Typical Sailor markings, a nice floral border, the anchor, 21K, 875, and of course the nib size, H-F, on the right side of the nib. I ordered a fine nib for this pen. The first thing that struck me was how stiff the nib was when I started writing. Nail stiff. I had to look and see if it was indeed marked 21K. It was. Although the stiffness doesn’t bother me or effect my decision about using this pen, I was surprised. I had a 21K Profit at one time and don’t remember it being like this. My pen isn’t a wet writer and I’m OK with that too. I am enjoying the nice fine line it’s putting down. I judge fountain pen fine nibs by comparing them to Lamy nibs. Their Fines and Extra Fines are true, in my opinion, and serve as my benchmark. This Sailor nib is one of the truest fine nibs I’ve written with on a fountain pen and I absolutely love it. I’ve run 3 converters through it in a week’s time, flushed it, and put in a cartridge, and it worked without so much as an eye blink. Surprise, a pen that does what it suppose to do, write.


Conclusion
I’m happy with everything about this pen. Frankly, I tend to stray into the Italian celluloid camp a lot, but I see me using this pen. It works super on those darn Moleskines and newsprint crosswords because of the fine nib. It’s a fairly light pen in hand so I don’t anticipate fatigue in long writing session.

I bought this Sailor 1911 demonstrator from Pam Braun (Oscar Braun Pens) for $163. This was a hard pen to find right now, I don’t know why. When I contacted some of my other fountain pen retailers, they were out of stock. And I don’t know what the status is with them. This 1911 demonstrator was suppose to be a limited edition fountain pen but there seems to be plenty to go around. I think you could do a lot worse for your money. And, of course, a demonstrator is not for everyone. But if you have a desire for one, look at this. It might be a good fit.

NOTE: The photo used in this review was taken from the Internet and is not a photo of my actual pen. My apologies because I can’t remember where I got it from.

Sailor makes great demos. If it wasn't for those fine nibs.... I would be madly in love with them. I find it even more attractive than the Ogiva Vision. (Forgive me, Deirdre).

I love my Sailors, especially my yellow 1911, but I will have to gently disagree over the Ogiva. At the very least, the Ogiva has a build-in filler that can actually be demonstrated by way of the clear barrel, unlike the 1911 that is demonstrated every time anyway.

I think the H-F refers to Hard Fine, which is why the nib is so stiff.

The 21k Sailor 1911s are, in my experience, pretty stiff. I tried one at Fahrneys and then later purchased one elsewhere (when I was at Fahrneys I bought a Visconti instead) Both Sailors 1911 I've tried were (are) quite stiff - the 21 k does not make it flexible, as the Fahrneys salesperson explained to me. A bit disconcerting at first, but I love my Sailor 1911 because it is the most precise nib I own.

Erick

This very well could be, I thought the same thing regarding the H-F marking.

Precise, that's the word. Right now I agree and stiff doesn't make it a bad thing. I've found the nib that works on Moleskines, finally I can use the ones I have on hand. I do a lot of my writing with Stipula's and Omas', so this is really a different feel. Not better or worse, just different.

Nice pen at a nice price....

So happy to hear of another who has come to the Sailor side. I was just at a Sailor only show that Bertram's Inkwell held and Karen M was there with lots of beautiful "stuff". I picked up my first Sailor, the Green Professional Gear Mosaic and have had much the same reaction as you. My nib is an EF and it is a bit stiff - although, truth be told, I do have stiffer nibs. What I discovered is the CC isn't so bad when it works as well as the Sailor system. I have been using this pen daily for 1 week and it is dead on. No skips, no wacky features, just a dead on exact line - I love it.

I hope your brings you as much joy as mine!!

Andy W.

Shhh, I don't want my friends in the Italian forum to know, Andy.

Glad you are enjoying your Green Professional Gear Mosaic. Like yourself, I've been using this for maybe a full week with no issues. I can finally use my Moleskine notebooks, this nib is perfect for them. But, I'm still using my Omas Paragon (new style) for the majority of my writing. I can see myself getting a nicer Sailor sometime in the future though.

nice sailor I will wait when they introduce a piston filled king of pen then I would buy it.

Thanks for this very detailed review! It was part of the reason I just ordered one from Pam Braun.

Very nice looking pen. Must get one for my collection.