Just Announced - New Sailor King of Pen Bespoke Collection Wabi Sabi Pens Arriving In July

[Nibs.com]

Part of Sailor's exclusive Bespoke Collection, the Sailor King of Pen Wabi Sabi Green and King of Pen Wabi Sabi Redare each being produced in just 88 numbered pieces worldwide. We have secured just a very small number of these pens for our customers, after which no more will be available.

In Wabi Sabi, objects are deliberately given the appearance of having been stressed and aged, in this case through the use by artist Wayo Shimamuri of precise and painstaking Irogosane Sabinuri technique. These are pens of extraordinary beauty and uniqueness - no two will ever be exactly alike.

Previous Sailor King of Pen Limited Editions of this kind have sold out very quickly - we strongly suggest pre-ordering now to reserve the pen of your choice. In the event of demand exceeding supply, the earliest received orders will be given priority. Our price $2500.

[Uncial]

Dear God, it looks like a burns victim.

[peroride]

6 hours ago, Uncial said:

Dear God, it looks like a burns victim.

🤣I was thinking the same: beautiful KOP and add lighter selectively.

 

It reminds me of abstract paintings where you go, "i (child) can do that" (not really). I'm sure Sailor will have buyers in limited edition fans.

[Paul-in-SF]

I will be interested to see what some of the Japanese reviewers have to say about these. It seems to me like kind of a new low for Sailor. 

[Aether]

Fake wabi sabi is kind defeating the point.

[Uncial]

5 hours ago, peroride said:

🤣I was thinking the same: beautiful KOP and add lighter selectively.

 

It reminds me of abstract paintings where you go, "i (child) can do that" (not really). I'm sure Sailor will have buyers in limited edition fans.

 

The red one in particular has more than just a passing resemblance to burnt, crispy flesh. If you'll pardon the pun, it makes my skin crawl. Maybe it was originally called 'The Evil Dead' edition.

[Karmachanic]

3 hours ago, Aether said:

Fake wabi sabi is kind defeating the point.

 

Quite so. My understanding  is that sabi  infers beauty through aging and wear, neither of which are to be found on those pens. This, in turn, means that wabi sabi is definitely not "deliberately given."

 

[MoriartyR]

I do not think this is how pens look when they age.

 

[fpupulin]

It is valid for those who work in very overheated environments, such as a foundry, to not have to worry about one or two additional scorches here and there, which would go completely unnoticed ...

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

7 hours ago, Aether said:

Fake wabi sabi is kind defeating the point.

yup.

 

also, they are ugly hideous.

I personally see no "subtle beauty" in either of them.

They just look like someone used them as a place to rest a cigarette or cigar... repeatedly. Unfortunately, just like the insanely over priced brown Lamy 2000, I'm sure they will sell out, thereby justifying their creation and encouraging the manufacturer to make even more (artificially) "limited editions" 

 

 

 

[MoriartyR]

Actually, if we leave aside the wabi-sabi description that we are finding so troublesome, I don’t think these pens look bad. I think they are done far more artistically than, say, the scarred Nakayas (apologies to anyone who has one of these - it’s personal taste).

 

It is all in the mind, of course. You can see these as a special creation by an artist, and therefore possessing some unique, intentional quality and looking rather fine on your desk. Or you can see them as damaged, burned, gouged - and equivalent in value to something you could easily achieve yourself with just any plastic pen and a lit cigarette.

 

I suspect in the end the price is what matters. If it was priced at $20,000 then it would definitely be highly desirable art. If it was $200 then to most people it is ugly and damaged or a cheap gimmick. At $2,500 I fear they have left too much room for doubt in people’s minds about the object’s artistic merit and value. How much is a Sailor King of Pen urushi these days (just a plain coloured one)? At $2,500 I think this will be bought by people who actually like the way it looks, but they will not consider it to be anything particularly artistic.

 

It’s funny sometimes how the human brain works.

 

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

On 6/1/2021 at 12:49 PM, Nibs.com said:

In Wabi Sabi, objects are deliberately given the appearance of having been stressed and aged, in this case through the use by artist Wayo Shimamuri of precise and painstaking Irogosane Sabinuri technique. These are pens of extraordinary beauty and uniqueness - no two will ever be exactly alike.
 

$2500.

I'd like to address this paragraph.

 

"In wabi sabi objects are DELIBERATELY given the appearance"...? That's not what my reading has revealed, what I've read and understand (WARNING: possible Dunning Kruger effect incoming...) is that it is to appreciate the natural aging and imperfections. There are some sources that seem to suggest that deliberate smashing is part of it, however, that seems remarkably disingenuous and incongruent with the general sentiment that I have managed to (possibly incorrectly) grasp.

Maybe I just don't get it... But I understood Wabi Sabi to just be a fancy and "exotic" way of saying "i like the patina it has developed" and/or "i think its flaws give it character and charm"

 

If a process is "precise and painstaking" how can it then also be that "no two will ever be exactly alike" because (and this is a gross generalization I realize) but one of the main goals of precision is to ensure repeatability is it not?...

[sarcasm] or is it that all that "precision" is being put to work to ENSURE that no two are alike?... [/sarcasm]

 

This is the BIG one: Go ahead and google "Irogosane Sabinuri"... the ONLY hits i get are nibs.com press releases, and i mean the ONLY hits i get... (see attached screen shot)

 

So either this is a SUPER exclusive technique, so exclusive in fact that it was just now invented for this pen... or there's a typo, or someone is playing games here... I know which I'm personally leaning to. (I also tried google translate on those words for some clarification and got none)

 

$2500 eh?... Given that a regular King Of Pen is $880 at Gouletpens...  that's paying $1620 for someone to damage a perfectly good pen and make it ugly... so instead, I could buy 2 ALMOST three KoPs with different colours or nibs or both...

 

yeah, nah, even if this WAS in my budget range (which it's not) I would be a HARD pass, thanks.

 

YMMV 

 

 

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

2 minutes ago, MoriartyR said:

If it was priced at $20,000 then it would definitely be highly desirable art.

 

While I do get your point...

Speaking only for myself, if i saw it at 20Grand, I would have the same reaction that I had when i saw 400$ "Hermes" AirTags from Apple: "Well, if rich people are THAT stupid and THAT desperate/vain to show off their money... someone may as well take it from them!" (still need to figure out how I can be that someone...)

[MoriartyR]

But, IThinkIHaveAProblem, you may find it ugly and some may find it beautiful or at least interesting enough to want to own it. That’s subjective. But I do agree the wabi-sabi thing is a stretch, unless Sailor is saying these started as factory seconds or heavily used pens and were ‘transformed’ into something else by paying an artist to make something from it.

 

I would say with most art what you are selling - what constitutes the value - is the story, not the piece itself. Anyway, you get my point that $2,500 means it is not being sold as art. And if it was $20,000 then there would need to be a good story behind the work to back it up. Calling it wabi-sabi in this way does not add nearly $2,000 to the value.

 

And I am not going to disagree that everything about this is utter madness. I’m just suggesting that madness has it’s place and can possess as much merit as complete sanity, if not more. Imagination is something we should prize.

 

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

9 minutes ago, MoriartyR said:

But, IThinkIHaveAProblem, you may find it ugly and some may find it beautiful or at least interesting enough to want to own it. That’s subjective. But I do agree the wabi-sabi thing is a stretch, unless Sailor is saying these started as factory seconds or heavily used pens and were ‘transformed’ into something else by paying an artist to make something from it.

 

I would say with most art what you are selling - what constitutes the value - is the story, not the piece itself. Anyway, you get my point that $2,500 means it is not being sold as art. And if it was $20,000 then there would need to be a good story behind the work to back it up. Calling it wabi-sabi in this way does not add nearly $2,000 to the value.

 

And I am not going to disagree that everything about this is utter madness. I’m just suggesting that madness has it’s place and can possess as much merit as complete sanity.

 

Agreed.

 

[MoriartyR]

1 minute ago, IThinkIHaveAProblem said:

Agreed.

 

Haha. I can’t believe you gave in so easily!

 

Just kidding. 😉

 

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

Just now, MoriartyR said:

Haha. I can’t believe you gave in so easily!

 

Just kidding. 😉

 

What?  

I agree, art is the "story" a lot of times, especially when insane amounts of money are involved. There's a sucker born every minute! (just ask Hermes...)

And what is beautiful is also subjective, I like "51"s, my wife has no idea why.

 

my only issue is that the few who buy these overinflated "items" may encourage the manufacturer to concentrate SOLELY on these "items" ... to the detriment of regular people who just like a nice writing, decent looking, reasonably priced pen. Which in turn means MOST people have less and less choice. Which sucks.

 

example: Montegrappa... I don't know if they ever made pens for normies, but they sure as heck don't now.

My worry is that Sailor (et al) will see the (likely) INSANE Return on Investment they are making on these "special editions" and figure "why do we make a low end line at all?... we make LESS money per unit... so lets just go for High Price/Low Volume instead of High Volume/Low Price.. it's less work, less manufacturing to maintain and we can make the same money!"

[eciton]

I know I'm kinda stating the obvious here but... these are quite the most hideous pens I have ever seen. Pens like the Montegrappa Chaos are gaudy to the point of obscenity, but no other pen has literally made me recoil in revulsion. Well done Sailor.

[amk]

That is *not* wabi sabi.

 

Wabi sabi is like when you go up a stone staircase and you see how each step is worn away in the middle, and the balustrade has been polished by all the hands that have touched it.

 

That KOP is just... nasty.

[Sailor Kenshin]

10 hours ago, Uncial said:

 

The red one in particular has more than just a passing resemblance to burnt, crispy flesh. If you'll pardon the pun, it makes my skin crawl. Maybe it was originally called 'The Evil Dead' edition.

 

I'm with you on this.  😱