A Strange Request

[Charles Skinner]

Even though I have been writing with fountain pens since Adam and Eve were teenagers, -----I never knew that there was such a following, and such a "love-hate" relationship with Sailor inks. Now, I have at least two inks of each of the BASIC colors, blue, green, purple, etc. of other brands, and I would like to have just one bottle of Sailor ink so I can feel a little like I have "joined the club." I have absolutely no interest at all it trying to find and buy the expensive and hard to find Sailor inks. Just a Sailor ink priced somewhere around the common price for a bottle of ink, AND, the biggest problem is ----- what color? As I have said, I have at least two bottles of all of the basic colors, ------ so, can you suggest a " color" in the basic line of Sailor inks that would "compliment" the basic colors that I already have? C. S.

[FPFan]

I don't know what you mean by the basic line of Sailor inks. Most of those have been discontinued leaving the Four Seasons line of ink. Of these inks there are two sets, one that has been available for a couple of years and a newer one released in the last few months. Of these inks, I would highly recommend the Tokwa Matsu green, Yama Dori blue-black from the first Four Seasons group. The Doyou brown is nice also. There is one drawback to these inks for myself personally, is that they have absolutely no waterproof tenancies at all. A spill of water will erase them immediately. As has happened to me.

 

From the newer released group, which I have not tried, would be the Rikyu-Cha. An ink I admired when it was more difficult to obtain but have not yet acquired. The other ink I might try just out of personal preference would be the Kin-Mokusei, which I would buy for a fall use ink. I am fond of some oranges.

 

These inks are available through John Mottishaw at NIBS.COM. (no affiliation! happy customer)

 

These inks are very well behaved inks with excellent flow, almost bordering on juicy in a wet writer. They dry relatively fast and look very nice on the page. I do prefer an ivory paper with them as opposed to stark white. I think you may enjoy them and the color selection.

[martinbir]

I have and greatly enjoy Yama Dori. Rather than blue-black, I would call it teal-black. An unusual ink with excellent flow, shading and even a bit of sheen.

[lapis]

Take a look at the octet/octagon of the Sailor inks mentioned above. This has been shown for years here and the last time was a few days ago. I'm sure you'll find something there to complement your basics. Also check out the ink reviews here on the forum. The one ink named "Doyou" is probably something uncommon enough for you.

[webgeckos]

I don't think you can go wrong trying Yama-Dori. It has lovely sheen and great shading.

[Erik Dalton]

These are my favorites. The samples are all written with a sailor broad nib, on Rhodia Dot Paper. I'm especially fond of the Yama-dori (teal) , but I usually have a pen inked up with each.

Unlike other purples, sailor purple seems to be a blue based rather than the more common shades of reds. Nice dark purple with no sheen.

Sailor blue is my everyday blue. With a very wet pen on a Rhodia type paper can have a redish sheen. All of them dry fairly quick, feather and bleed through less frequently on lower grades of paper.

I've found that sailor inks don't play well with other inks. I had some bad reactions in my pens. Now I have pens that are dedicated to sailor ink only. That solved the problem... Just works for me.

I've found Goldspot a reasonable source for these inks, but there are others also.

Hope this helps. Enjoy.

[chromantic]

Miruai, the "really dark green/almost black". Or Yama-dori (see Old Salt's photo). ($14 and $13 on Amazon.)

Everyone loves Yama-dori. For me, Miruai's air of mystery gives it a slight edge.

Edited September 27, 2016 by chromantic

[lgsoltek]

Tokiwa-matsu and Rikyu-cha. Look at the sheen and the colour change.

I wanted to mention Yama-dori too but anyway Iro Ku-jaku is close enough.

[AndyYNWA]

From the current lineup I would say Yama-dori (teal with fantastic red sheen), Oku-yama (dark red with green sheen) and Tokiwa-matsu (green with red sheen). All these three are great.
From the additional inks that will be available to us in the west from mid next month, Rikyu-cha (olive green/brown) and Irori (red) are the ones that have caught my attention.

Edited September 28, 2016 by AndyYNWA

[Mew]

Red - Irori

Blue - Souten

Green - Miruai or tokiwa-matsu

Purple - Shigure (a very dark purple)

 

These are the basic colours that I know of. Rikyu-Cha is not a basic colour.

[deacondavid]

Setting aside the two pigmented inks (Kiwa-Guro (black) and Sei-Boku (blue-black)) which are both permanent inks that are always in at least one pen for me, the other Sailor-branded inks that I frequently use are Oku-Yama (a burgundy color that has some very nice shading) and Miruai (a lovely deep dark green). If you're looking for something to compliment the other colors, Oku-Yama would probably be the one I would recommend.

[amberleadavis]

CS, if you like blue blacks, then Sei-Boku is quite beautiful. If I were only to have one, and this was my first Sailor ink - Yama Dori. I'm not even a fan of teal inks, but it pretty magical.

[Joe in Seattle]

Yama -Dori

[Erik Dalton]

I forgot my other favorite, Sailor Jentile Souten. Here' a new pic.

[Erik Dalton]

All Four of my personal faves. As you can see, many are fans of Yama-Dori. After that, it's a personal choice. That are all great inks.

[Chrissy]

If I could only have two colours from the Sailor Jentle 8 bottle range, they would be Oku Yama and Souten.

 

If I was choosing from the latest new Sailor Jentle range, they would be Kin Mokusei and Rikyu Cha.

[chromantic]

I forgot my other favorite, Sailor Jentile Souten. Here' a new pic.

 

Ooh, I like that! Looks somewhat like Clear Candy Sky Blue and Bleu Pervenche.

 

If I was choosing from the latest new Sailor Jentle range, they would be Kin Mokusei and Rikyu Cha.

 

I wonder how quickly those two are going to sell out. Lot of interest in them being expressed here. Hurry up, October 14th!