Sailor 1911 M Review

[RyanM]

I've never been one for Japanese pens. I've always prefered the European styling more, and this, up until recently has influenced my purchases. Until last week, my only Japanese pen was a Pilot Metropolitan, which I was told was similar to a Lamy Safari. I was disappointed to find it was nothing like a Lamy Safari. Anyway, recently the Sailor 1911 has come onto my radar. The fantastic nibs which sailor produces seemed too hard to pass up, and I had to give on a go. After a fruitless search on Ebay, I eventually bought a Sailor 1911 M off an member on FPN (Ego Id Veto) - I'd check him out if you live in Australia, he was fantastic in both the before and after sale.

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1470799487__dsc06080.jpg

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1470799513__dsc06081.jpg

The first thing I noticed about this pen was the size. It was very small. Even smaller in real life than in the pictures. The length wasn't too bad, but the width was very narrow, making it seem like a very, very small pen. I have very big hands, and thought this might be an issue, but soon found that it was not. Posted, this pen is as large as most other standard size fountain pens, and is very nicely weighted. You forget how small it really is. The fantastic build quality of this pen helped this also, and made the pen sit nicely in your hand as you wrote.

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1470799537__dsc06082.jpg

Now the nib. The nib is the real selling point of this pen. I'd heard many great things about Sailor's nibs, and this pen had a 21k Extra Fine nib. It worked on first touch on the paper. A good sign. And it kept going. It had quite a lot of feedback, but for an Extra fine, that is to be expected I guess. The line produced from this nib is a true Extra Fine. It is really really fine. It was really impressive.

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1470799684__dsc06083o.jpg

So a very impressive pen. To conclude I have lined it up with another similarly priced pen from Italy, the Visconti Rembrandt, to give a comparative idea of size. This pen is small, but for some reason that dosen't matter. The way it is made seems to make up for this, and posted it seems like a pen twice its length.

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1470799722__dsc06084.jpg

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1470799748__dsc06085.jpg

 

I hope you enjoyed my review today, and feel free to post any comments below!

[tinta]

These are really great pens.

Currently I have three 1911-Ms, one in black/gold as in your images & two in burgundy/gold.

You'll be pleased with this quality instrument.

 

I'm curious about the 21K nib, though.

Here in Canada the mid-size 1911, AKA the Sailor 1911 Standard, AKA the 1911-M comes with Sailor's smaller sized 14K nibs. Classic Fountain Pens in the US has a couple versions of this pen (called the Bespoke Collection) with similarly small sized, but 21K nibs. These nibs however are not the regular round-tip nibs, the MS or the Zoom, but specialized Naginata Togi nibs.

 

Could you possibly have the larger 1911 L pen instead (which comes standard with larger sized, 21K nibs)?

Does Sailor release mid-sized 1911 pens with 21K nibs as standard for markets other than North America, (like parts of Asia or Australia or NZ.)?

Sometimes what Sailor releases in Asia is a mystery here in North America.

Edited August 10, 2016 by tinta

[RyanM]

These are really great pens.

Currently I have three 1911-Ms, one in black/gold as in your images & two in burgundy/gold.

You'll be pleased with this quality instrument.

 

I'm curious about the 21K nib, though.

Here in Canada the mid-size 1911, AKA the Sailor 1911 Standard, AKA the 1911-M comes with Sailor's smaller sized 14K nibs. Classic Fountain Pens in the US has a couple versions of this pen (called the Bespoke Collection) with similarly small sized, but 21K nibs. These nibs however are not the regular round-tip nibs, the MS or the Zoom, but specialized Naginata Togi nibs.

 

Could you possibly have the larger 1911 L pen instead (which comes standard with larger sized, 21K nibs)?

Does Sailor release mid-sized 1911 pens with 21K nibs as standard for markets other than North America, (like parts of Asia or Australia or NZ.)?

Sometimes what Sailor releases in Asia is a mystery here in North America.

Hmm. I don't really know. I assumed it was the smaller size, but I couldn't say. Are there any defining features which would help me distinguish between the two??

[jmccarty3]

The 1911 M (mid-size) is 5 inches long. The 1911 L (large size) is 5.5 inches long.

[tinta]

The L model is a little fatter too (all round) with a wider section, which makes it nigh impossible for my very small hands to grip. As far as the torpedo shaped (Meisterstuck) style, the number & size of the cap bands, the converter are concerned, the M & L are similar. The physically larger 21K nib is usually on the L.

This chart has the approximate measurements of the two 1911s:

http://www.nibs.com/pen_measures/

(not associated with this business,... just a satisfied customer)

 

Every time I'm at a B&M store I try out the Sailor 1911 L & the (similar section diameter) Professional Gear model. Sadly they & a lot of other pens are just not comfortable.

Edited August 11, 2016 by tinta

[zchen]

These are really great pens.

Currently I have three 1911-Ms, one in black/gold as in your images & two in burgundy/gold.

You'll be pleased with this quality instrument.

 

I'm curious about the 21K nib, though.

Here in Canada the mid-size 1911, AKA the Sailor 1911 Standard, AKA the 1911-M comes with Sailor's smaller sized 14K nibs. Classic Fountain Pens in the US has a couple versions of this pen (called the Bespoke Collection) with similarly small sized, but 21K nibs. These nibs however are not the regular round-tip nibs, the MS or the Zoom, but specialized Naginata Togi nibs.

 

Could you possibly have the larger 1911 L pen instead (which comes standard with larger sized, 21K nibs)?

Does Sailor release mid-sized 1911 pens with 21K nibs as standard for markets other than North America, (like parts of Asia or Australia or NZ.)?

Sometimes what Sailor releases in Asia is a mystery here in North America.

 

 

The Sailor Profit Standard 21 (1911M size with 21K nib) is a standard catalog item in Japan.

See this handy reference chart (traslation by Koofle)

[RyanM]

Thank you very much for your replies!

I measured my Sailor 1911, and (as you can see in the photo) it came out at 13.5cm long.

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1471000731__dsc06086.jpg

I guess this means it's a 1911 Standard 21k.

Good to know! Who knew?

 

 

[tinta]

 

 

The Sailor Profit Standard 21 (1911M size with 21K nib) is a standard catalog item in Japan.

See this handy reference chart (traslation by Koofle)

Thanks Zchen, I have seen (& actually bookmarked) this same chart (in Japanese), but could only figure out some of its contents by using the graphics & numbers. This link with a translation really helps.

 

The point I made in my last post was that there may be some Sailor products that are not distributed to North America. I for one would love to be able to get the smaller Profit sized 1911 with a 21K MS nib.

Edited August 12, 2016 by tinta