Choice Between Pilot, Platinum Or Sailor

[rutherfordr]

Go with what intrigues you.

 

In my experience, the Pilot Custom 74 is one of the best pens ever made, but that's only because it fits my hand so well, and I love the way the nibs feel.

 

Your mileage may vary!

[Margana]

Hard to go wrong with any of the pens mentioned. My preference is the Platinum Century with a medium nib that is always in rotation. It hasn't met an ink or paper it didn't like. There is nothing finicky about it. It's a workhorse and a very attractive one at that.

 

My Sailors seldom get inked and I sold the Custom 74s years ago. Nothing wrong with them, but they just don't suit my hand as well as the Century. However, that's subjective. All three manufacturers make good pens. Sure there can be a stinker from time to time, but that in my experience is rare. Go with what appeals to you. If you wind up hating your acquisition, sell it and buy something else. Or put it in your pen drawer for a future date when it morphs into the perfect pen. Amazingly, some of my worst pens became terrific ones as my taste in pens evolved.

 

Is there a pen group in your area? If so, attending a meeting might be a workable way to get your hands on the pens in question.

[ThrawnsPen]

Wow thank you guys for so many really great posts. There is a group, so I can poke around there and see if anyone could let me try one! These are all common pens I take it? I do really like the sailor nib design as an aside.

[mke]

Just to water your mouth.

Sailor Profit Standard

Sailor Profit Standard

Platinum 3776 (not Century)

Pilot Custom 74

[essayfaire]

My only fear is a pen that's too dry. Platinum runs on the finer side right?

 

My Sailor F is a bit scratchy relative to my Platinum F. But it is perfectly weighted (I write posted).

[minddance]

My only fear is a pen that's too dry. Platinum runs on the finer side right?

More often than not, I am happier looking away from Japanese pens, especially the finer nibs. YMMV, of course.

Edited October 31, 2017 by minddance

[mke]

After upgrading from the pens shown earlier to

 

Pilot Custom 743, 823 and 845

and

Sailor Profit21 (full size 1911 with 21K), Sailor Professional Gear 21 and 21 Sigma, Sailor ProGear Realo and two Sailor KingProfit (1911 KoP)

nib sizes EF to M and one Custom 74 size B

 

you can guess, to which direction I am leaning.

 

My personal choice among the Big3 of Japan is clearly Sailor (nib size F and M).

Pilot: I am at the moment retiring all pens (at least for the moment being).

I didn't upgrade Platinum for the lack of a used Izumo with a reasonable price.

 

It is the shape of Sailor pens which my hand prefers and the nibs with which I like writing.

[alwayssunnyalwaysreal]

Currently my favourite models are Sailor 1911L and the Pilot Vanishing Point, and they are the only two models that I plan to keep right now.

 

I have a Sailor 1911S with Fine nib, but I find that too small, also I prefer Sailor M or B nibs. So I'm selling this pen.

 

I haven't tried enough Pilot gold nib pens, other than the Vanishing Point and Falcon, but I don't find the design of the Pilot Custom 74 interesting. For its price I will consider getting Pelikan pens.

 

I have a Platinum 3776 Century with a M nib. And that's one of the least used pens that I probably will sell eventually.

Edited November 3, 2017 by alwayssunnyalwaysreal

[minddance]

Platinum Medium and below are very dry and extremely feedbacky, to the extent that they might scratch despite a perfectly aligned nib. Broad and Cosu ease up in the feedback department and write 'more normally' with decent ink flow, certainly not what I would consider wet.

 

Pilot 74 generally has a blobbier nib shape than Platinum and Sailor, more polished than Platinum pens and a different feedback, probably due to the finishing polish/buff. Depending on your luck, the inner tines are not very well taken care of by Pilot. Flow is adequate, if it does at all, but nibs are certainly not wet. However, 74sfm and sm can be pretty wet if pressured is exerted when writing. BB makes my Alt Goldgrun slightly more legible. Music nib tines are quite readily spreadable to lay quite abit of ink onto paper.

 

Sailor MF and below are fairly rounded nib grind. However my 14k fine has a very slight hint of an architect's grind in that vertical lines are thinner than horizontal lines. M and B are real footy and have an extremely specific sweet spot (which isn't the sweetest of spots), which I call an 'angle police'. Lamy Safari has a grip police in the triangular grip, Sailor M and B nibs do that in the nib grind. Sharp cornered and very unpleasant if not micromeshed. Flow can be pretty wet with Sailor if the tines parted. I cannot say the same for Platinum because the Platinum feed is too regulative and prohibitive.

 

Due to the problems that each of these Japanese makers have, higher-end Japanese pens, Urushi (especially when they share the same nib, feed, converter system as lower end models) or King of Pen will not make me part with money.

[tinta]

Customization can bring out the best in Sailor's14K nibs. I cannot speak for Sailor factory grinds but I have had a 1.15mm MS (music) nib reduced to a smaller sized italic.

Here Mr Masuyama had reground my MS nib to one of his signature grinds, a 0.6 mm round-nose cursive italic. This Sailor nib works like a charm.

 

 

Sailor's 14K size feed systems seem to have an efficient design. While I've had occasional flow issues with both #6 JoWo & Bock 060 feeds, my Sailor feeds have never let me down.

 

[Nyanzilla]

My favourite is the Pilot Custom 74. I like the nib. I like the size of the pen. And I like the Con-50 converter which has the largest ink capacity of all three.

Sailor has the smallest ink capacity. Some Sailor nibs feel very hard and not smooth as I like. But my 1911 is a nice writer.

The Platinum Century 3776 is a bit small. I got two of them. One has a nice writing B nib, the other a very dry and a bit scratchy and quite unpleasant SF nib which I had to work on to make it smoother and wetter.

The Century has got the so called slip + seal cap, which should prevent the nib from drying for two years. This is ideal for people who don't use their pens often, or are using a pigment or permanent ink.

[Mew]

Pilot or sailor, with Pilot being slightly ahead of Sailor.

Platinum is absolutely terrible. Their finer nibs are so dry and scratchy. Absolutely abstaining myself from buying another Platinum or any of it's derivatives like Nakaya. Just sold my Nakaya too.

[Inkyways]

I have all three Pens. They are good writers. Sailor Fine nibs are fantastic and platinum SF nib is special. Pilot fine and medium have a big difference for me. Pilot 74 pen has a fine nib and it is not perfect and my nib has a problem. My other pilot Met F is very fine and I am happy with that. I have an Elite with EXF which is short and handy. I love that pen.

All of my pens are Fine nibs except I have a pilot Falcon SEF and custom 912 FA Pilot Custom 92 SFM they all have a different appeal to how one want to use.

[Mech-for-i]

For most who do want to and might be needing to write in Latin based language , especially in casual cursive fashion; most Japanese pens in Fine or finer grade could become a challenge; they are just not designed for that. Medium is a good compromise and every one of them feel different. Once you go to Broad or anything wider, its by the physical nature that the nib would be smooth enough and often quite smooth for the purpose. Again each of them three feel different, and once off the normal grind range, the characters varies a whole lot. Actually for good line variation and smooth writing, one cannot beat the Fude nib, but then it require a totally different set of writing technique. It just do not get the line variation by pressing on it.

[Drawing61]

I wish to respectfully disagree with Mew. My absolute best nibs are Nakaya. The smoothest of writers, the most fun to draw with. This might be because I've ordered almost all of my Nakayas from John Mottishaw and they have had the benefit of being tweaked by his team of nibmeisters.

[langere]

I cannot add anything at all, except to say that you really can't go wrong with any of the pens you have chosen. I do hope you get all of them - eventually at least!

 

All of these brands are slightly different in feel and writing. But the difference is actually minimal. The other good thing is that all of the brands you are considering have some of the best quality control around.

 

Please let us know what you decide!

 

Erick

[sdbruder]

Im still buying in a well lower range, my most expensive pens are in the $60-$70 and most of my pens are the really inexpensive Chinese ones.

 

My grail pen actually is a Sailor Realo. I plan to buy one when I have the chance.

[siamackz]

My 3776 Fine is super wet. In spite of how thin the line is it is smooth and fantastic as a writer.

I have not enjoyed my experience with a Sailor nib. They front itnwith strange facets. I dont get it. I finally ground it to a cursive italic myself.

 

I would own all three for sure.

[ENewton]

My Pilot, Platinum, and Sailor pens all write very differently.

 

Both of my Pilot pens have steel nibs, which might make a big difference, but I would characterize them as smooth, dry enough to allow writing on a variety of papers, and sturdy enough that I would not hesitate to recommend them to people who have never before used fountain pens. I have a colleague who has, to my mind, quite a heavy hand. She loves Pilots, and I can understand why.

 

I have two Platinum pens, a Balance and 3776. The Balance has some bounce and will produce a bit of line variation with pressure. The 3776 is extremely smooth and wet, nice for showcasing an ink.

 

The Sailor is very intriguing. It is certainly not scratchy but offers a degree of feedback that makes me exquisitely aware of its contact with the page. And it feels somehow fragile, as if a person with a heavy hand might do violence to it.

[MuddyWaters]

Let me sum up the opinions in this thread for those needing advice:

 

Pilot is the wettest and the dryest

Sailor is the wettest and the dryest

Platinum is the wettest and the dryest

 

Pilot is the smoothest and the scratchiest

Sailor is the smoothest and the scratchiest

Platinum is the smoothest and the scratchiest

 

Edited December 4, 2017 by MuddyWaters