What Happened To Bottled Sailor Ink?

[welch]

Fountain Pen Hospital lists many Sailor inks, from the "ordinary" $12 Sailor Jentle inks to $25 luxury inks to pigmented inks.

 

https://www.fountainpenhospital.com/

[Maurizio]

I bought my last four bottles of Sailor Jentle at the Fountain Pen Hospital. Haven't been in there in a while. Are the Jentle inks still $12.00? If so, I'll have to run in there a scoop up a few more bottles.

 

Thanks Welch.

[TheDutchGuy]

Jentle Blue is just the standard blue dye ink Sailor makes.https://andersonpens.com/sailor-jentle-blue-ink-50ml-bottle/ (product code 13-1000-240)is nowhttp://www.sailor.co.jp/lineup/fountainpen-others/13-1007 (specifically, the ink with product code 13-1007-240)with the new marketing and packaging Sailor has adopted.The -240 part is the colour. Souten is -205. Sky High was -241, if I'm not mistaken.

I got a rectangular 50mL bottle of what used to be "Jentle Blue" and is now "Ink Blue". The -240 colour code that Smug Dill referred to is printed on the (incredibly ugly) box but not on the bottle's label. But then again it wasn't printed on the old bottle's label either, at least not as far as I can tell, given that reading Japanese is not in my skill set.

 

 

Anyway, the good news is that Blue and Blue Black are still there and they're still as awesome as ever. I adore these inks and would have a hard time adjusting to a life without them. Souten is a lovely ink, especially in wet pens or stubs, but sadly it went bad it one of my pens and changed into a slimey goo. I still have the bottle and it's fine; it went bad in the pen and I've seen similar reports from at least one other person here on FPN.

Edited January 5, 2019 by TheDutchGuy

[icevic]

Sailor makes great ink for sure, but there is so much ink out there now and it is so easy to buy! Even if they pulled out completely I don't think anyone would be starved for choice. It's hard to complain when you remember 10 years ago when there were only a few online retailers with a selection of brands, or 20 years ago when you had to make special trip to find a store that stocked more than one or two bottles.

 

I'll miss Sailor too but honestly, it will take me many years to get through the five bottles I have.

 

Still, an interesting discussion. Why pull out of a huge market when you have a terrific product?

[Driften]

 

Still, an interesting discussion. Why pull out of a huge market when you have a terrific product?

I don’t think they have. Just because after Christmas some dealers are out of some colors doesn’t mean they pulled out of the market. Ink seems to be a big business for Sailor, at least in Japan. I don’t think they would pull their products out of some markets.

[A Smug Dill]

Why pull out of a huge market when you have a terrific product?

All sixteen Sailor inks formerly in the Shikisai line of the Jentle range continue to be produced and sold – in 20ml retail bottles in the new design with a square footprint, now marketed (along with four new colours) as the Shikiori line. Sailor (formerly Jentle) Blue, Blue-Black and Black dye inks continue to be produced and sold. Who's pulling out?

[Bookman]

I've bought seven jars and one bottle of Sailor (Jentle) Blue in the past nine and half years. If Sailor were pulling out of the US market, I think somebody would've called.

[inkstainedruth]

Yeah, isn't Souten the retread of Sky High? One I haven't acquired yet, sadly!

 

Yes it is. It's not quite the same, IMO -- even though some people say the chromatography seems to be the same for both inks. I have a bottle of "original" Sky High, and a sample of Souten. And they are very similar -- but just marginally different. Have not tried the reboot of Sky High (it will take me awhile to get through my bottle of it), so I don't know how it compares (but scans of "new" Epinard seem to be somewhat different from "old" Epinard (which I never got to try, so I don't know how the new version compares to either the old formula or to Tokiwa-matsu (which I liked okay but there are green inks I like a little better -- some of which are less expensive).

And I'm not sure who was calling the old bottle "stupid" -- personally, I really like the insert and haven't had any trouble with it. Of course I also don't have any pens with big honking #8 nibs, so YMMV.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Aquaria]

Noodler's is not cheaper than Diamine, though, in terms of prices at which the respective manufacturers want to sell their inks. Diamine is a great deal everywhere, especially when retailers such as Cult Pens and La Couronne du Comte offer free international shipping (past certain minimum spend thresholds), and fountainfeder.eu and Bureau Direct offer reasonable shipping rates (including to the US) if you don't want to buy that much in one go.

 

Some of the best prices for Diamine ink are from the company's own site. Buying directly is routinely cheaper than buying from retailers here in the States, especially when buying multiple bottles.

 

Here are the US prices at today's exchange rate (1/9), after VAT deduction:

 

Registrar's Ink, 100 ml bottle: $13.84

 

Shimmertastic ink: $10.56.

 

150th Anniversary ink: $8.23

 

Registrar's Ink, 30 ml: $7.76

 

Standard Ink, 80 ml bottle: $7.21

 

Standard Ink, 30 ml bottle: $2.83

 

These are literal STEALS for US buyers!

If that's not enough, shipping is usually around $6.37 (£5) to the US for four or so bottles. That's cheaper than what Goulet charges, by far. You can also get tracking with your shipment for an additional $4.50. Takes about 5-10 business days to get to the US. They pack the (bleep) out of their boxes as well. When I cut a recent box open, popcorn thingies literally burst out all over the place.

Bonus: If you spend £10 ($12.74), you get a free 5 ml of any of their standard ink colors.

 

As long as the pound remains weak, I won't buy Diamine ink anywhere but through them directly.

[amateriat]

Meanwhile, somewhere n New Jersey...

 

(A pen meetup last night at a new brewpub in Red Bank, put on by Gold Spot Pens...who apparently received a recent shipment of Jentile ink [50ml]. SkyHigh looked rather nice.)

Edited January 9, 2019 by amateriat

[cattar]

Yes! If only the bottles really were larger than hands. I think I see some miruai and shigure there too.

[Bo Bo Olson]

The prices of inks have jumped tremendously within the last couple of years. About the only ink that has remained stable is the Pelikan 4001....at E 4.50. Lamy's 30ml ink is now E.7, it's 50 ml bottle E10 (from 4.50).

 

Kaweco that was E3.50 in my B&M the year before last is E8.99 on line.

R&K is now dirt cheap for E8.50 still for 50ml....DA is same as it was , from E10-15. ...a E2 jump in price a few years ago moved it to me into the expensive ink category.

 

MB jumped from E15 to 19 for a normal shoe. LE is now out of my range. (I do have enough MB ink to last till the end. R&K Verdura is a much cheaper and better match for MB Irish.)

Herbin is suddenly expensive at @ E10 for 30ml....doubled in price since I last bought.

 

 

Got to check out the price of that Polish ink K something. Could be it is suddenly so popular in it has a fair price.

 

Grav von too rich for my blood ink, and C'dA are too $$$$.

Japanese ink is running E22....over my limit, but much cheaper than the E70 it cost before Amazon. (Can understand it being so popular in the stages at a cheap $12.00)

 

My MB White Forest has fallen to being worthless only E35 a bottle................should have sold it for the fortune two years ago......hopefully that's the after Christmas price....not the coming Depression price.

Edited January 9, 2019 by Bo Bo Olson