EFNIR: Sailor Jentle Black

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Sailor Jentle Black

This is review #85 in my series.  Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: Cleaning was easy, a little longer than your average blue ink (which I expected).  Plain water was all it needed.

And here is a screen of the final result, for those not interested in the video:

Scan of Completed Review:

Zoomed in photo:

Absorbent Paper Closeup (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper):

Screenshots also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap

Previous Review: Pilot Mixable Colour Pink.

Want to influence the inky sequence?  Take the "next ink" poll.

Hope you enjoy.  Comments appreciated!

[yazeh]

Thanks for the review Liz. I don't like black, despite the fact I'm comparing four blacks... funny ins't it?  

 

[LizEF]

11 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Thanks for the review Liz. I don't like black, despite the fact I'm comparing four blacks... funny ins't it?  

 

You're welcome!  You won't find me buying black ink in this lifetime.   Makes me yawn.

[mizgeorge]

Thanks from me too Liz - I have a very few blacks - and along with Aurora's (which I use exclusively in my 88s, this is the one I'm most likely to use. I only really ever use them when black ink is an absolute requirement, and would choose a grey in its place pretty much every time.

 

Great review as always

[LizEF]

8 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

Thanks from me too Liz - I have a very few blacks - and along with Aurora's (which I use exclusively in my 88s, this is the one I'm most likely to use. I only really ever use them when black ink is an absolute requirement, and would choose a grey in its place pretty much every time.

 

Great review as always

Thank you!

 

Even though I have no intention of using any black ink, I will say this feels really nice in my Sailor Pro Gear Slim, F nib - almost velvety.  I don't recall any other ink feeling quite that way in this pen.

[lapis]

Thanks and ditto as re all that said above. Okay, I'm weird, 'cuz what I like most about black inks is discovering and discussing what it is in them which is not  black.

🤤

[LizEF]

6 minutes ago, lapis said:

Thanks and ditto as re all that said above. Okay, I'm weird, 'cuz what I like most about black inks is discovering and discussing what it is in them which is not  black.

🤤

You're very welcome!  I think you'd need a fairly wide, dry nib before this ink stopped looking black.

 

Meanwhile, you might want to discover Waterman Intense Black (quite a deep yellow in there) and the Pilot Varsity Black (brownish pink and turquoisish blue components) - of course, that's from chromatography tests, not writing.

[arcfide]

Yes! Glad to see this on your list. I feel like this is a seriously underrated black ink. It's among the freest flowing inks I have tested and lays down such a clean, gorgeous line, as well as having a touch of sheen, decent water behavior, and a really great tone. To me, this is one of the best black inks out there right now among the standard dye-based inks. 

[TSherbs]

6 hours ago, arcfide said:

Yes! Glad to see this on your list. I feel like this is a seriously underrated black ink. It's among the freest flowing inks I have tested and lays down such a clean, gorgeous line, as well as having a touch of sheen, decent water behavior, and a really great tone. To me, this is one of the best black inks out there right now among the standard dye-based inks. 

That's an enticing description!

[LizEF]

9 hours ago, arcfide said:

Yes! Glad to see this on your list. I feel like this is a seriously underrated black ink. It's among the freest flowing inks I have tested and lays down such a clean, gorgeous line, as well as having a touch of sheen, decent water behavior, and a really great tone. To me, this is one of the best black inks out there right now among the standard dye-based inks. 

Sailor may want to hire you...   There's a person over on reddit who only has this in cartridges - the ones that came with their pens - and claims it won't flow in any of their pens (purchased from various places and at various times).  It's hard to believe, but what they experience, they experience.  Makes me wonder about different papers and perhaps humidity or altitude.  I've only got the cartridges that came with my Pro Gear Slim, and as I said above, the combo of this ink and Sailor's pencil-like nib tuning feels velvety to me (best way I can describe it) - and that's a positive experience in my mind, in case that's not clear.  If a more interesting color (like say blue-black) did the same thing, I'd get a bottle in a heartbeat.

 

I haven't noticed any sheen from either the EF nib used in the review, or the Sailor F nib used for the rest of the cartridge.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I happen to be on a black ink kick, and have this in cartridge form, which makes me wonder whether there's a difference between the cart and bottle formula.  I haven't done a chroma.

 

Thanks again for another review.

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

which makes me wonder whether there's a difference between the cart and bottle formula

Why?  Is your cartridge not performing, or...?

[ENewton]

Thank you for this interesting review.  I have half a dozen Sailor black cartridges and have never thought to try them.  

 

 

[LizEF]

20 minutes ago, ENewton said:

Thank you for this interesting review.  I have half a dozen Sailor black cartridges and have never thought to try them.  

 

 

You're very welcome!  You might give one a try and see what you think - I'll be interested to know if it works and what you think.

[Sailor Kenshin]

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

Why?  Is your cartridge not performing, or...?

 

No, it performs just fine.  One hears that there are fprmula differences between ink cartridges and bottled.

 

The next time I have this in a pen I'll try doing a chroma.

[LizEF]

35 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

No, it performs just fine.  One hears that there are fprmula differences between ink cartridges and bottled.

 

The next time I have this in a pen I'll try doing a chroma.

Ah, got it.  Curiosity more than suspicion.  Shall I do a cartridge chroma for you?  Yes?  OK.  Please hold.......

 

Left is very old coffee filter paper which I think isn't so good for this any more - don't drink coffee, so one box has been around for years.  Right is a paper towel.  In both cases, no evidence of any color other than black.  (If you see another color, it's an artifact, not reality.)

 

PS: The one on the left clearly did better in kindergarten art class than the one on the right.  This makes me wonder if anyone has catalogued all the paper towel and coffee filter brands out there and ranked them for their artistic abilities... /snark

[Sailor Kenshin]

Some of my blacks (Quink, Waterman, Montblanc) exhibit a veritable rainbow in their chromas.  Thanks for the comparison!

[LizEF]

5 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Some of my blacks (Quink, Waterman, Montblanc) exhibit a veritable rainbow in their chromas.  Thanks for the comparison!

I've only chroma'ed Waterman and Pilot Varsity Black, and yes, the two together come close to covering the rainbow.  Apparently Sailor wanted to keep it simple...

[A Smug Dill]

Thanks for the review! This is one of those inks I keep accumulating in cartridges, as well as one never-opened bottle, that came with Sailor pens' retail packages, but never tempted to use at all until recently (only so as to obtain an empty cartridge into which to put a strong iron-gall ink). Pretty good black ink as far as that goes, and I can certain appreciate one that is just black instead of being a mishmash of hues all hiding under the sum of them all, and its water resistance is decent; although I still can't think why I wouldn't use Sailor Kiwaguro instead, when both will bleed colour when dried ink marks are re-wetted.

 

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

PS: The one on the left clearly did better in kindergarten art class than the one on the right.

 

I see something rather indecent going on in the chromatogram on the filter paper strip… 

[LizEF]

6 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

Thanks for the review!

You're welcome!

 

6 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

This is one of those inks I keep accumulating in cartridges, as well as one never-opened bottle, that came with Sailor pens' retail packages, but never tempted to use at all until recently (only so as to obtain an empty cartridge into which to put a strong iron-gall ink).

It might be interesting for someone to do a graph showing cost of the pen vs. whether the included cartridge is used, and another showing "years in hobby" against whether the included cartridge is ever used.  I have some little ziplocks with various included cartridges I never have found a use for until these reviews.

 

8 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

I see something rather indecent going on in the chromatogram on the filter paper strip… 

I'm just gonna leave that one between you and your therapist...