Sailor - Reglus/industrial Revolution Review (M, Blue)

[NibSandwich]

Sailor – Reglus/Industrial Revolution (Medium, Blue)

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Specifications:

Length (capped): 138mm

Length (uncapped) 122mm

Length (posted): 153mm

Width at grip: 9mm

Widest width: 11mm

Nib material: Stainless Steel

Nib length x width: 20mm x 7mm

Introduction

Sailor are one of the big three pen manufacturers of Japan along with Pilot and Platinum. Of the three, Sailor is the smallest and the oldest. I'd say Sailor is at the higher end of the price spectrum in comparison, and more willing to experiment with their pens than Platinum is – they are slowly introducing piston filling models in their range, and they have demonstrator versions in much of their range. On the other hand, Pilot has the greater range of interesting filling systems and models in general.

The Reglus/Industrial Revolution (The name varies by region, here I will refer to it as the “Reglus”), while not at the very bottom of their range, is a lower-tier Sailor pen with a stainless steel nib. The Reglus itself was my very first Sailor (my next was a Professional Gear Demonstrator), and was purchased because I wanted to see in general how the pen wrote before I plonked down a great deal of cash for a higher end model. I chose it because unlike much of Sailor's relatively samey-samey-looking pens, the Reglus series stood out and wasn't super short - a genuine issue for my large hands, not helped by Sailor's generally stumpy selection.

Presentation

The Reglus came in Sailor's normal blue box. The box is solid feeling, soft to touch and has a professional-looking grey interior.

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Inside you get a small cartridge converter supplied (unlike some western and Italian pen companies I could name), a tiny multi-language booklet, and two ink catridges. From the smell, definitely Sailor ink.

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Overall it's well presented - I wouldn't have any qualms about giving this pen as a gift – there is no mistaking this for a cheap pen.

Appearance

Not that I would directly accuse sailor of churning out dozens of boring looking pens, but the strong family resemblance that runs through many of their models is undeniable. The Reglus is a pleasant change and actually, coming from Sailor, I would call it surprisingly modern:

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The finish is a nice touch. If you've ever seen a car with a faint metallic sheen, then you'll be close to the mark on the finish of this pen. The metallic look is not noticeable unless you look at it directly - it's the sort of thing that Sailor could have just used a plain Jane blue finish on and no one would have cared, but they didn't. It's subtle, and it's nice.

There are two immediately noticeable aspects of this pen appearance wise, the cap band and the clip:

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The clip is supposed to be reminiscent of a bronze age arrowhead. Personally, I don't think I'd have much success trying to take down a tasty animal with a two-and-a-half-inch blunt arrow, but your mileage may vary. Conversely, I don't know what the cap band is supposed to represent, a cog perhaps? (These are advanced bronze age people we are talking about here). Around the body band (which matches up nicely to the cap band) is the usual “Sailor Since 1911”. I guess you could say it's nicer than a plain cap band, but nothing spectacular. The body end is plain grey, and the cap end has the usual Sailor logo that begins to loose its surrounding black after a few months.

Regarding the rest of the range, all models look equally alluring, in fact even the black one with it's dark accents looks great, and I usually dislike black pens (I try to avoid people associating my pen with “The pen my grandpa used to use!”). The only part I don't like is the end of the body, which is unfortunately grey on every model. It's not particularly noticeable on my blue one, but it was a large part of the reason why I chose it over the orange one, where it is definitely noticeable. Aside from that, this is one elegant looking pen.

Build quality

The build quality is generally good. The cap band and grip band/feed collar are both metal, the plastics are thick with no give when pressed or twisted, and the clip is firm but not difficult to use. There are not enough screw threads on the grip though – after a few times of removing and replacing the cap, the body would slowly begin to unscrew from the grip. I found myself unconsciously re-tightening the pair. While not a big issue yet, be aware that screw on parts get loser over time.

The cap is an extremely firm snap on style, and has an inner cup that depresses when you push the cap onto the body - slip and seal anyone? Strangely, the noise the pen produces when closing the cap is astronomically loud. I stopped capping/uncapping my pen when I tried to take it to uni due to the looks of death I was starting to get in the middle of lectures. I guess it's screw-on pens from now on.

Like Platinum, Sailor has a special place in its heart for low capacity, cheap plasticky converters (Aside: Why aren't these things wider if they can't be longer? The amount of space left in my Professional Gear and Prera is astonishing). The Reglus is no exception to this. What mystifies me however, is the design of the feed insert:

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The feed collar is gigantic, and it obscures the vast majority of the ink window on the converter.

The plastic of the converter also gives rise to another issue – unlike Lamy converters, the plastic of the converter wall does not appear to be particularly repellent of liquids. This means that on top of being difficult to ascertain the remaining ink you have, you must hold the pen and wait a few moments for the ink to slowly run down the walls of the converter. Combined with the tiny amount of ink window that pokes up past the feed collar, and having to unscrew the body and grip to check, it's all together annoying.

Nib

I can't quite explain why, but the feed ribbing that is exposed looks precisely made and just.. impressive. The sides of the nib do not flare out like a normal nib, the exposed section of the feed snugly fits against the sides. Once again difficult to explain, but it contributes to the overall impressively-made look of the nib.

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When I first got the pen out of the box, the nib itself was extraordinarily dry and scratchy (think of the nibs that originally came with the TWSBI Vacs). Upon closer inspection, there was actually a blob of solder stuck between the tines - not an auspicious start. Even after the blob was flossed out however, the nib was generally dry and unsatisfactory. This necessitated a large amount of flossing between the tines with brass shims – and trust me, getting the nib out of the Reglus is not an easy task (Or wasn't on mine at least).

Writing with the nib after it was adjusted to be wetter was generally good, but if you're after a taste of what a higher end Sailor can offer you, then I'm afraid you need to look elsewhere. While generally good, the nib is not a patch on my Professional Gear's nib. That's not to say it's a bad nib – the nib never skips of has hard starts, and while not glass smooth, is nonetheless pleasant enough to write with. Like most stainless steel nibs, it's fairly stiff, but its certainly not nail stiff like a Lamy Safari nib.

Drag/Writing test

Passes:

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Overall – 3/5

In some ways I'm conflicted about this pen- it's produced by a company that prides itself on its writing experience, looks good while not being too flashy and is solidly made - yet what's the point in placing so much emphasis and detail on your nibs when you're going to let the lower end models run around with anything less than great nibs too?

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It's by no stretch of the term a bad pen, but it is difficult to recommend - with a street price of around $90, the Reglus simply isn't competitive against an entry level Pelikan (I may have an inappropriate relationship with my blue M205 demonstrator...) or even a TWSBI Vac. And for a little more, you can pick up Sailor's own Sopporo/1911, which have nibs that leave the Reglus in the dust.

But the most important question – will it wake your sleeping dog? Nope:

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The Good:

+ Looks modern, something you can't say about many Sailor pens.

+ Good quality.

+ After some adjusting, nib is wet and consistent.

+ Finish looks good.

+ Comes in a variety of colours and trims (The orange one nearly stole my heart).

+ Conservative enough for a work environment (As long as you don't annoy people with the cap noise)

The Bad:

- Nib needed adjustment out of the box, from a company that supposedly has the best nibs going.

- Tiny converter, with an ink window that is obscured when inserted into the grip.

- Grip may be too narrow for some.

- Cap noise may irritate others.

The Ugly:

- RRP of $140? Puh-lease. I know a $60 pen when I use one.

Comparison

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[proton007]

Nice Review!

 

I'm thinking of getting the brown Reglus with black trims... Its one of the few pens which stands on its own in the mid-tier steel nib department.

[mikehodgman]

I have a couple with fine nibs (and I'm selling one) and, in my opinion, they are the nicest fine steel nibs I have ever used. Very nice. Buy them straight from Japan though, the US price is insane.

[Pickwick]

I bought one over two years ago and found it to be a reliable and consistent writer. It cost me $60. Avery well made pen.

[NibSandwich]

I bought one over two years ago and found it to be a reliable and consistent writer. It cost me $60. Avery well made pen.

 

If it was $60 normally I would have given 4/5 in a heartbeat

[mohan]

Well written. Nice pics. Thanks.

[Leftytoo]

Thanks. A well written, informative review with all the pros and cons.

[NibSandwich]

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I hope I don't come across as overly negative in my thoughts - I only want my reviews to be helpful, and not "I GOT THIS PEN YESTERDAY AND I LOVE IT 10/10!!!" , so I'm reviewing pens that I've owned and used for a period of time first :] Not every pen can be a 10/10, and that's certainly my experience, and if I can help someone make an informed purchase then that's exactly what I'm aiming for!

[proton007]

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I hope I don't come across as overly negative in my thoughts - I only want my reviews to be helpful, and not "I GOT THIS PEN YESTERDAY AND I LOVE IT 10/10!!!" , so I'm reviewing pens that I've owned and used for a period of time first :] Not every pen can be a 10/10, and that's certainly my experience, and if I can help someone make an informed purchase then that's exactly what I'm aiming for!

 

Exactly.

If every pen is 10/10 then I don't think there's any point to reviews.

[Pickwick]

 

If it was $60 normally I would have given 4/5 in a heartbeat

You did a very good review, when I look at the asking price for this pen now, I was very surprised how it had increased so dramatically. I bought this pen on eBay when it first came out and it was up for bids from Engeika. I got the impression Sailor was testing out to see what ones were prepared to pay at that time.