Surprised at how little this gorgeous Sailor is mentioned here:

http://www.sailor.co.jp/BUNGU/kanreki/index.html

http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?d...TrUrl=Translate

I have one coming. Beautiful red, red and red (yes there're actually 3 shades of red! subtle, eh?). One of the most beautiful red pen IMO and definitely one of the best looking Sailor PG SE.

Can't wait (shaking with excitement)~

It *is* very beautiful - mine has an exquisite EF nib, and I have been meaning to write a review... but work has been hectic.

The KAN is a gorgeous edition indeed - I love red pens, and I lusted for awhile after this one - I'm very, very glad I have it.

Oooooooooooooo it arrived!!!!! What a BEAUTY!!!!

wondering what ink to fill in. The Sailor blue-black ink included with the package look nice enough but i have too many pens with blue black ink already. Might try it with Omas Return to the Motherland red - should be a good combo.

O man what a smooth nib............

Congrats, the Kanreki is a beauty. I picked up Taki's earlier idea of clashing pen and ink colors, so mine is loaded with MB Racing Green. Have fun !

Great idea indeed............though what I've finally decided fill it with, the MB 06 cinnamon scented brown ink, seems to pair up with the Kan really well too!

Green is the next~

the 21K nib's performance is jawdroppingly good........

Ooo, that sounds like a beautiful combo!! It's kind if like layering kimono...a bit of opposing color showing at the edges of sleeves

Taki, that's a wonderful analogy - I'm seeing colorful images of beautiful kimono splattered with inks! Just joking, you put it poetically

Always happy to see someone enjoying their fountain pen !

I guess it's kind of hard for me to describe Kan as "sexy" because Kanreki is 60th-year birthday, and it's made for one of the Sailor "pen doctors," Mr. Kawaguchi's 60th birthday It's not that people in their 60's are un-sexy, but celebrations of Kanreki in Japan is a family celebration. Kan means "circulate" or "comes around." Chinese zodiac makes a full cycle in 60 years, and one's Chinese zodiac comes back to the same one as the birth year. Therefore, one is considered to have made a "full circle" on the 60th birthday, and often have a big family celebration. The birthday boy/girl is often given a red cap and a red vest for the occasion. I think it's getting not as important as before because people live longer now, but it was a big deal when average life expectancy was shorter

BUT the pen is very very nice!!

EDIT: Here's a typical Kanreki regalia (borrowed from here)

Taki, thanks so much for the explanation of "Kanreki." The Kanreki seems to give new meaning to the term "second childhood."

The pen looks great, and I do have a 60th birthday coming soon. But the pen looks small for my hand. Can one of you who has an example give us some idea of the pen's size by analogy (dimensions do not do me too much good), e.g. Pelikan M-400 size, M-600 size, etc. ?

Exactly!


It's based on the full-size Professional Gear, so I think it's close to M600. But members who actually have the pen can tell you more (Laura? Bananafish? Erlkonig?)

Oh this is beautiful. Where did you order this? From the web link above?

Wow. I'd buy one in an instant if I could. If I'm doing the conversion correctly, is it around US $325?

FrankB, as Taki mentioned the Kan is based on the full-sized PG model. It's a bit taller than a M400, shorter than a M600, but chunkier than both mainly in the middle due to its tapering shape. I'm currently out of town but will try to take a few shots in comparison to the Pels when I got back. I took a couple of shots earlier in comparison with a Sapporo and Phileas if you wanna have a look:

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=66230

P.S. Taki, great explanation! Hasn't it been said that 60 is the new 40?!

60th birthday pen....hmmm. I don't think I can wait that long for that beautiful pen.

(I'm 54 )

I really like the black & red motif; it reminds me of the Marlen Basilia--a beautiful Italian pen that is unfortunately a fixed converter filler (not piston). I've seen the Profit model in the black & red motif on the Sailor website, but not the Sapporo. Were they a limited a run?

Yes, the KAN is a LE. Not red and black, either - three reds that graduate from light to dark, making a nice effect when the pen is capped: Light red body, dark red barrel-end, medium red cap, dark red cap-end.

Always get a birthday gift in advance so you'll never be late !

FrankB, here's a quick shot of the Kan for size comparison with the Pelikans. I don't have any regular 400 or 600 but I think the white tortoise and the city series are similar in sizes. The PG has comparable length to the 600, but its girth is actually quite close to the 800 I'm surprised.

Click to view attachment

Beautiful, exquisite, and about everything else you could say about it!

The pictures help too, thanks.

Now, how does one purchase....

Must have...

Well, you know.

Actually, a serious question...

I'm wondering about how to translate the nib sizes:



super fine = extra fine Sailor nib?

small characters = fine or medium fine Sailor Nib? which?

medium characters = medium Sailor Nib?

I have 1 PG EF, 1 1911 EF, and 1 1911M EF (all a little different in flex)
I also have 1 1911 Fine and a 1911 (pre 2006) MF.

This time I'd like a Fine or maybe an EF but I'm not sure which of these sizes listed in the web site for the SE is equivalent. The little pictures don't help much.

Can anyone help?

thanks

It's difficult to answer your questions without knowing how fine you mean by "super-fine", etc.. I'd think Sailors are quite consistent in their nibs so you probably should have some ideas already from your own stable. If you need anything finer there’s the Saibi-togi; for real gushers try the Nagiharas. Seeing the nib sizes you already have I'd get a B or M tho, but then I like to have different nibs for variety

PS. I don't know of where to get the Kan except from Japan directly.

Actually, when I went out to the site posted in the orignal post here, they list 3 categories (translated from the Japanese). "They are the super fine characters, small characters, and medium characters." They also list numbers which I took to be millimeters describing the width of the line or nib, for example one was 13 something. So, I thought maybe the smallest size they are listing could be a really fine nib (not what I would want). Something is lost in the translation, I guess.

About the variety in nibs, I have 1911's in EF, F, and MG, PG's in EF and F, and a 1911M in EF. Interestingly, they are all slightly different. The 1911 EF's are a touch longer and flexier than the PG EF's and the lines are a touch wider than the PG EF's. The 19llM has a 14K nib and it also lays down a slightly larger line. Of course, different inks and different papers also have different effects. However, I agree that on the whole the Sailor nibs are consistently smooth and only slightly different (unless I'm imagining all this!)

Thanks.