Sailor M-1911

[jthole]

Yesterday I received my new pen, a Sailor M-1911 in yellow, with a M nib. It came complete with a converter, and after rinsing out with some soapy water, I inked it with old-style Skrip blue/black. Here are my observations so far:

 

The M-1911 is about the size of the Montblanc 342, but feels a bit lighter. To reference a modern pen, it feels a bit smaller than a Pelikan M400, mainly because of the conical blind cap.

 

Overall the pen looks good (nice gold trim and bright yellow) but the plastic does look a bit cheap for a $100 pen. I don't know if the all black pen looks more classy, but the yellow barrel and cap look like inexpensive injection molded plastic indeed.

 

It takes a few more turns to unscrew the cap than I prefer. The cap doesn't feel very secure when posted, but this is OK since I am happy with using this pen unposted.

 

Now the heart of the pen; the nib and feed. The feed is plastic, not hard rubber. As far as I have seen now, ink flow is very even and reliable. The nib is smooth! It is firmer than I had expected, but it is even smooth on bad papers. It doesn't match the performance of my vintage Pelikans, but it equals the modern Pelikan nibs. The Pelikans are a bit more responsive but the Sailor maybe wins in smoothness.

 

The filling system is cartridge/converter, which is a small minus for me. However, since I always have two or more pens with me during the day, it's not a real disadvantage.

 

The verdict: the Sailor M-1911 doesn't win over the Pelikan M400 (better filling system, better plastic, more responsive nib) but it looks like a very good pen to me. Given that the Sailor costs about 2/3 of the M400, I would say it is very good value for the money, as far as modern pens go.

[DrPJM1]

Thank you for a nice review.

I believe Sailor makes high quality nibs, on par with the very best.

[jthole]

Update

 

To be fair, I am not 100% positive about the Sailor nib. It's true that it is very smooth, but the combination of firm and smooth gives it a somewhat "dead" feeling. I like the smoothness and the overall feel of the pen, but I prefer somewhat softer nibs.

 

So if you look for a very smooth nib and don't care about a lack of response (a soft somewhat springy feeling) then it's probably a great pen for you.

[hyptul]

Today I have received this pen. The nib is a bit scratchy. The pen is mediocre.

[getricmulryan]

Today I have received this pen. The nib is a bit scratchy. The pen is mediocre.

 

I have the 1911 in yellow with a zoom nib and the International 1911 with a CE nib. They are neither scratchy nor mediocre.

[gregamckinney]

I have the full-size (old style) 1911 with the music nib. It is one of the best writing nibs I own.

 

Regards, greg

[greencobra]

Pretty fair assessment. I have a couple of 1911's with fine nibs. I have them only because of these nibs, they are very stiff and put out a really fine line. You're right about the finishes, I have a black one and it shows no warmth like a MB. Maybe thats the difference with the special resin of the MB's.

[1000km]

Sorry! I can't help laughing whenever somebody refers to Montblanc's "special resin"! :ltcapd:

Special plastic just doesn't have the same ring.