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Sailor Jentle Blue Black


carpedavid

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http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YP-iyF-anic/Tb_YH2YhEII/AAAAAAAAAR0/wNiG2xQ1tLk/s1600/sailor+blue+black.jpg

 

Sailor Jentle Blue Black is a very pleasant, easy to use, blue-black ink. It is a dark blue with tinges of black - exactly what I would expect from a blue-black ink, and exactly unlike the Parker Quink Blue Black I reviewed previously. It is a moderately wet ink, compared to the Parker Quink, and therefore writes with a bolder line. It is highly saturated and exhibits a medium level of shading in a fine-nibbed pen.

 

As with all of my recent reviews, I tested the ink on a variety of paper using a fine-nib: cheap office copier paper, Staples bagasse, an Ecosystem notebook, and the high-quality Rhodia webbie. On all of the paper, the ink performed equally well.

 

I noticed no feathering on any of the samples, which impressed me right off the bat. The ink is dark and saturated, so I did notice a medium level of show-through across the board, and no bleed-through on any of the samples except for a very minor amount on the cheap copier paper.

 

Dry time faired quite well compared to other inks, as well. On the copier paper and Ecosystem notebook, it was dry to the touch in three seconds. On the bagasse, it dried in eight seconds, and on the Rhodia in ten.

 

My only complaint about the ink is that it has a very sharp chemical solvent smell to it. Some inks possess a mild odor that is only noticeable up close, but this scent is more powerful. It is similar to the smell of some permanent markers. If you're sensitive to odors in general, or specifically to that type of scent, I'd recommend steering clear, or at least evaluating it in person before buying.

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wpM65kYeFh0/Tb_YHO9lvaI/AAAAAAAAARw/91d3pDgRT24/s1600/sailor+blue+black+water+test.jpg

 

Sailor Blue Black did better than I expected on the water tests. It showed the worst behavior on the smear test, in which I dragged a wet finger across the page and got a nice blue-black smear for my effort. While the lines on the page were not destroyed, the smeared ink is dark and saturated enough to make it hard to read.

 

On the drip test, in which I let droplets of water soak on the page for a minute before blotting, I noticed a lightening of the lines on the page, but that was all. They remained fully legible. The soak test, in which I run the paper under a faucet for a minute, resulted in similar behavior. The lines lightened as the surface ink was washed away, but what remained was entirely intelligible.

 

My conclusion is that Sailor Jentle Blue Black has an appreciable degree of water resistance. You're unlikely to lose your work if it gets wet, though it might not be as pleasant to read as if it hadn't.

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p-5H06MUeII/Tb_X9xSQ8-I/AAAAAAAAARs/wOCPb_iSHb8/s1600/sailor+blue+black+bottle.JPG

 

Sailor inks come in a bottle that looks like a cold-cream jar – though I suspect the water-resistant blue-black ink would make a poor cosmetic substitute for anyone but zombies. More interesting, perhaps, than the bottle's outward appearance, though, is the mechanism it has built-in for facilitating the filling of pens.

 

A plastic funnel of sorts sits inside the bottle. Prior to filling a pen, turn the bottle upside down (leave the lid on for this step, of course), and ink will fill the funnel. Then turn the bottle back over, and the ink will remain in the funnel for long enough to allow you to easily fill the pen. This is especially handy once the ink falls below a certain level in the bottle; it makes it very easy to get to every last drop.

 

As with most blue-black inks, Sailor Jentle is tailor-made for business use. It's a conservative color, provides very good contrast on the page, and is generally well behaved. It's an ink that would also work well for journaling or correspondence, and, aside from the previously mentioned odor, one I have no qualms recommending.

 

Review materials: For the wide strokes, I used three calligraphy pens: Pilot Parallel 6.0mm and 3.8mm pens, and a 2.0mm Pelikan Script. All three have steel nibs. For the fine strokes, I used a TWSBI EF steel nib on a TWSBI Diamond 530. The paper is Rhodia 80g from a No. 18 notepad.

seize the dave - a little bit about a lot of stuff: ink reviews, poetry, short fiction, and more
my ink reviews
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I really enjoy this ink as well. I use it regularly in my fine-nibbed Sheaffer Touchdown. It performs well on the terrible copy paper we use at work and on my Rhodia notebooks, I love the reliability. I was very attracted to the bottle from pictures online and was not disappointed, the reservoir is awesome.

 

I'm a little weird but I like the smell...

You know the particularly strong "chemically" smelling Noodler's, I like those too. The Sailor ink has a sweetness to it.

 

I spend to much time with my nose really close to ink bottles I guess. B)

Best,

Mike Truppi

 

<img src="http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/5673/inkdz2.png" border="0" class="linked-sig-image" height="60"/><img src="http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/606/letterji9.png" border="0" class="linked-sig-image" height="60"/><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qVJOiluU9_4/THoFdqPGYOI/AAAAAAAAA1w/gmV637q-HZA/s1600/InkDropLogoFPN.jpg" border="0" class="linked-sig-image" height="60" /> 8/24/10

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Hi,

 

Many thanks! :thumbup:

 

It does have excellent manners - typical for a Sailor ink. (I hope we do not take that for granted.)

 

Your samples match the colour of what's in my bottle, yet I would describe the colour more as a Charcoal Grey with a hint of Blue. Ah, in the direction of Sheaffer BlBk at high density; as you indicate - away from Quink BlBk.

 

To add: I have found there is an unexpected difference between the perceived Blue:Black balance of written samples and swabs - swabs depict a greater Blue aspect.

 

Bye,

S1

Edited by Sandy1

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

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Nice and very useful review - thank you for that. Also, congratulations on your calligraphic skills.

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Excellent look at one of my old standbys. If I had to pick one and only one blue-black, this would be it. Fortunately, such dire straits are not upon me, and I have the luxury of choice. As such, it's been too long since I've filled a pen with this. Hmmm...

 

Ryan.

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This is quite odd.

 

I picked up a bottle of the Sailor when I first joined FPN, after reading some good reviews (this was 5-6 weeks ago). Having only two pens, and having written for years with Quink Blue/Black, I thought it would be nice to have an alternative B/B.

 

What was strange was that my results came out the opposite: the Quink was darker and more saturated, and the Sailor was quite a bit lighter. I tried them in similar, but not identical pens. David's reviews are always so informative and well-done, this has made me rethink the test. I've now got a few identical Preppys, and at some point I'll load up two identical pen/nib combos with the two inks and see for myself.

 

Again, CarpeD: a review that was both informative AND artistic!

"When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick; and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

~ Benjamin Franklin

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Amen!

 

Great review, and... your calligraphy is stunning... as usual....

... but I must say -- and will say -- that this is my very most favourite blue-black of all. Not too blue, not too black, above all, not too chalky green-gray like Parker's or Waterman's "blue-black". Hey... that odour of creosote isn' all that bad. Otherwise I wouldn't have souped that out for my current avatar.

 

Mike

 

 

 

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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Thanks indeed! I purchased the Jentle Blue last year, and use it in a M600 -- it is a nice ink, with a luciousness that reminds me of Waterman Blue-Black -- but it too has the smell. Good to know the Jentle Blue-Black has it too.

 

I'd like to know what it is, and was searching old threads just yesterday for the info. Smells like a chlorinated organic solvent of some sort to me. Smells more hazardous than creosote! Just a hunch. Smelliest ink in my arsenal by far.

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Thanks for the great review. I always enjoy your reviews for the calligraphy and the information provided. Sailor Jentle Blue-Black is a great ink, and I use when I need an ink that is a little more free flowing than Pelikan Blue-Black, specifically in my stingy Lamy Safari.

"No one can be a great thinker who does not recognize that as a thinker it is his first duty to follow his intellect to whatever conclusions it may lead. Truth gains more even by the errors of one who, with due study, and preparation, thinks for himself, than by the true opinions of those who only hold them because they do not suffer themselves to think." -J.S. Mill, On Liberty

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Thanks for the review. I'm a sucker for blue-blacks and I always love seeing ones I haven't tried yet. It's going on my wishlist. :)

Derek's Pens and Pencils

I am always looking for new penpals! Send me a pm if you'd like to exchange correspondence. :)

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  • 1 month later...

This Blue Black gives in my opinion the write proportion of the Blue and Black.The review is consistent with my experience. Only issue is the pen asks it to be flushed by the end of every month (slight issue with flow develops)which is any way a good practice.

pbhat

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Dear Carpedavid,

Further to my above post I have not yet figured out the Reservoir mechanism (funnel system you are referring)in the bottle I have. I cannot find anything like that in the bottle I have apart from the plastic cap being double lined. Can you through some more light on this aspect.

pbhat

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Greetings CarpeDavid, et al,

 

Having this post brought back up today is a riot- I just put up a post in Inky Thoughts about this ink- I love it. Great flow, not bad lubrication for a blue-black, nice color, water resistant, etc., etc.

 

A great little ink. ;)

 

Thanks for the review and congratulations on your calligraphy skills.

 

All the best,

 

Sean :)

https://www.catholicscomehome.org/

 

"Every one therefore that shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father Who is in Heaven." - MT. 10:32

"Any society that will give up liberty to gain security deserves neither and will lose both." - Ben Franklin

Thank you Our Lady of Prompt Succor & St. Jude.

 

 

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Thanks for the review -- I love your handwriting! Anyway, I just made a post about having to decant half a bottle of Sailor Kiwa Guro to a small Noodler's bottle in order to be able to fill my pens. Your review mentions a plastic funnel mechanism. I wonder if that's new and if they will be implementing that on all their inks. Anyone?

 

Doug

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Dear Carpedavid,

Further to my above post I have not yet figured out the Reservoir mechanism (funnel system you are referring)in the bottle I have. I cannot find anything like that in the bottle I have apart from the plastic cap being double lined. Can you through some more light on this aspect.

pbhat

 

It's a translucent plastic sheath that starts at the mouth of thebottle and extends to the bottom. It's not immediately obvious if your bottle is still full-ish. I knew of it and still had to look closely when I opened the bottle for the first time. Here's an image of the box and bottle from Jet Pens that shows the illustrated instructions on the side. Unfortunately, my bottle is still quite full, so I can't get a picture of it without draining some of the ink.

 

http://static1.jetpens.com/images/a/000/019/19861.jpg

seize the dave - a little bit about a lot of stuff: ink reviews, poetry, short fiction, and more
my ink reviews
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It's great to know this. My bottles of Sailor ink are a few years old and don't have the funnel. I'm glad they have implemented this ingenious solution!

 

Doug

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Fabulous handwriting and great review of my favorite blue-black ink (even though I call it my favorite blue).

 

I decanted my Sailor Blue-Black to an empty Lamy ink bottle. Actually, just the other day, I poured it all into a small Nalgene bottle and carry it in my pen pouch (along with a small Nalgene bottle filled with Noodler's Black). My bottle of Sailor Rikyu Cha has the little plastic funnel, and I found that it got in the way, so I decanted THAT ink into an old Waterman bottle.

 

Anyway, I tried many blue and blue-black inks to find Sailor Blue-Black. Nice to see that so many others have also discovered it.

_________________

etherX in To Miasto

Fleekair <--French accent.

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