Lovely pen and a great review - Thank you. This is one of the very few pens which I post, others being the Platinum 3776 and the Aurora Optima. All of these pens, when posted are very nicely balanced and their weight comes up to my sweet spot. I wonder whether some pens are designed to be posted.
Nice review. I am loving the Pro Gear series and have too many to admit. The slims are a bit small for my hands but posted are perfect and I prefer these large models of the Pro Gear. Sailor fountain pens for me always write super smooth and consistent all the time.
I like the old nib better like a lot of us. I don't mind the loss of '1911' on the nib, but I just do not like the new logo design, which totally moves me away from the Pro Gear now, because I like the Pro Gear more because of the logo on the finial. Sometimes I just wonder why companies do the things they do?
Yeah, I can kinda see what they were going for, but the thing is, they didn't NEED to rebrand. I think most people prefer the old logo. But maybe it was a Japanese marketing thing or something. Still sad because I also love the Sailor finial on the Pro Gears.
Great pen; great review. I have numerous pens with gold nibs now, albeit not a Sailor 21k. Love them all. Well, I love my steel nibbed pens, too. Most of them. . . . That said, I enjoyed your musings on branding. Reminded me of my own irritation at Esso becoming Exxon. Not that I was fond of the company under either banner. Come to think of it, I filled my last tank with that brand in the 1980s. But, I still love writing with fountain pens. Thank you very much for posting this. I look forward to exploring your postings on pen, paper, and ink.
Nice review. My favorite nib size is Japanese medium and for some reason Sailor sells mostly their fine-mediums here in the USA and I really don't understand their motivation for that. So that's one reason I purchase directly from Japan. The other reason is of course price. I can literally purchase two pens from Japan for what I would pay for one of their pens here in the USA. And then there is the issue I have with what pen retailers here in the USA claim are their sale prices, which I have found to be sometimes dubious claims. Thanks for sharing. It is a beautiful pen. Enjoy!
I buy Japanese pens directly from Japan as well. It's not just prices, but the selection is far greater. In Japan you get a much wider selection of both pen bodies but especially nibs. I don't know if I have one Japanese pen with the standard F, M, or B nib. Oh no wait, I do, but I have more specialty nibs. I can get regular nibs all I want with Western pens since they don't seem to do BB, BBB, obliques anymore .
Do you have a link to where you bought the pen? (I assume it's an Amazon listing?) I've been eyeing the Japanese grey market sellers on Amazon US but those seem to have a slightly higher price than your sub-$200 Funny how the imperial black seems to be one of the only grey market models available on Amazon US though lol Edit: oh, seems like it *has* dropped/been below $200. I think the all time low was around $170...
Nope, just avoiding the import fees and the ridiculous retail markup, as well as the strong USD to JPY exchange rates. Comes with all the warranty info, paperwork, and everything. Shipping times can be slow though. You can also get a Pro Gear Slim for around $90 USD. Kind of like how you can get a bottle of Diamine for a couple bucks in the UK, same applies for Japanese pens.
Here you are if you still need it: www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwim5_XrnMH8AhUKJkwKHX_pAsAYABAMGgJvYQ&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAESauD2mnxEjkMs4mhvvEt_NSG-IzqE-CbTbs-acxoe11OHSJOxWpok2bQ_b9YafOis5YpQOJEXskyDTYUCG91dCcOEeWm2CUpL2I9FBz0YvCC9u1fvSeg627MdGnddEPv1TF1ur2TRsSBE3l4&sig=AOD64_29ule1dInDuULIZCdhFeRkhyjohg&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwih9unrnMH8AhVclmoFHZUgBaQQwg8oAHoECAUQFA&adurl=
@@thestationerydev sometimes the pricing bugs on PGS's, that's how I snagged mine for ~$65 and I saw one go to $60 or something before. The price for them varies quite a bit
I've seen Sailor Pro Gears on Cult Pens (UK based but they ship to the US and idk what other countries) for $180 or less but it depends on the pen. Most are still around $200 on there. Ebay is another good resource but I'm sure others have listed better ones than mine.
It is so plain... but the monochromatic-ness of this pen has such a sexy handsome feel to it.. hmm...a very very nice pro gear for every day black ink writing.
@@thestationerydev So I'm thinking of choosing this over the Pilot custom black Fine, could you help compare if the thickness of this 21k F is about the same or finer than the 14k MF sailors? I want it to be as thin as possible or slightly thinner than my 14k MFs, since those have Pilot inks and pilot inks run super juicy xD But the Sailor black might be slightly less wet, so I could probably use the one you recommended, to get a less wet/thick line.
@KenchanKrafts Sure! The 21k Fine is definitely finer than than the 14k MF, so that would definitely be my recommendation. As far as wetness goes, Sailor and Pilot are pretty much the same, both on the wet side. Hope that helps!
Thank you for the informative review! I just received mine with a medium nib. It seems like the resin/plastic for the body and cap feels less refined and premium than the older 1911 that I have, which is disappointing, especially for the price. Are other's like that? I want to like it (even though I like the prior nib design better), since it writes well but am struggling with the cheaper feel of the body.
@@thestationerydev Perhaps that's what I'm noticing. It just seems thinner and less premium. I've only had it for a few days so far and I'll continue to give it a try. The nib is fantastic and it writes very well, nonetheless. Thanks!
For those who are looking at this pen in May of 2024, with the Japanese Yen at an all time low to the US dollar: Amazon US or Japan, has the pen for approximately $150.00 US Dollars. Or, 25,000 Yen.
Lovely pen and a great review - Thank you.
This is one of the very few pens which I post, others being the Platinum 3776 and the Aurora Optima.
All of these pens, when posted are very nicely balanced and their weight comes up to my sweet spot.
I wonder whether some pens are designed to be posted.
You got yourself a beauty. The Pro Gear is my favorite pen, that I am focussing on moving forward.
Nice! They are pretty solid all around.
thank you. nice detailed and interesting review for a nice FP indeed
Thank you, and thanks for watching!
Nice review. I am loving the Pro Gear series and have too many to admit. The slims are a bit small for my hands but posted are perfect and I prefer these large models of the Pro Gear. Sailor fountain pens for me always write super smooth and consistent all the time.
They're great! I have to be careful and check myself, or else I'll just give Sailor all my money
I like the old nib better like a lot of us. I don't mind the loss of '1911' on the nib, but I just do not like the new logo design, which totally moves me away from the Pro Gear now, because I like the Pro Gear more because of the logo on the finial. Sometimes I just wonder why companies do the things they do?
Yeah, I can kinda see what they were going for, but the thing is, they didn't NEED to rebrand. I think most people prefer the old logo. But maybe it was a Japanese marketing thing or something. Still sad because I also love the Sailor finial on the Pro Gears.
As they say, "Black is beautiful."
Such a beauty! 🤩
My goto black is Noodler's HOD
I have this in medium. With a Sailor ink.... Amazing
Agreed! It's so good!
Great pen; great review. I have numerous pens with gold nibs now, albeit not a Sailor 21k. Love them all. Well, I love my steel nibbed pens, too. Most of them. . . . That said, I enjoyed your musings on branding. Reminded me of my own irritation at Esso becoming Exxon. Not that I was fond of the company under either banner. Come to think of it, I filled my last tank with that brand in the 1980s. But, I still love writing with fountain pens. Thank you very much for posting this. I look forward to exploring your postings on pen, paper, and ink.
Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoyed it!
Canada still has Esso stations. Well at least in Ontario and Quebec.
Nice review. My favorite nib size is Japanese medium and for some reason Sailor sells mostly their fine-mediums here in the USA and I really don't understand their motivation for that. So that's one reason I purchase directly from Japan. The other reason is of course price. I can literally purchase two pens from Japan for what I would pay for one of their pens here in the USA. And then there is the issue I have with what pen retailers here in the USA claim are their sale prices, which I have found to be sometimes dubious claims. Thanks for sharing. It is a beautiful pen. Enjoy!
Thanks for watching! I totally relate on all the murky price shenanigans you see out there.
I buy Japanese pens directly from Japan as well. It's not just prices, but the selection is far greater. In Japan you get a much wider selection of both pen bodies but especially nibs. I don't know if I have one Japanese pen with the standard F, M, or B nib. Oh no wait, I do, but I have more specialty nibs. I can get regular nibs all I want with Western pens since they don't seem to do BB, BBB, obliques anymore .
Do you have a link to where you bought the pen? (I assume it's an Amazon listing?)
I've been eyeing the Japanese grey market sellers on Amazon US but those seem to have a slightly higher price than your sub-$200
Funny how the imperial black seems to be one of the only grey market models available on Amazon US though lol
Edit: oh, seems like it *has* dropped/been below $200. I think the all time low was around $170...
Are they possibly counterfeits?
Nope, just avoiding the import fees and the ridiculous retail markup, as well as the strong USD to JPY exchange rates. Comes with all the warranty info, paperwork, and everything. Shipping times can be slow though. You can also get a Pro Gear Slim for around $90 USD. Kind of like how you can get a bottle of Diamine for a couple bucks in the UK, same applies for Japanese pens.
Here you are if you still need it: www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwim5_XrnMH8AhUKJkwKHX_pAsAYABAMGgJvYQ&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAESauD2mnxEjkMs4mhvvEt_NSG-IzqE-CbTbs-acxoe11OHSJOxWpok2bQ_b9YafOis5YpQOJEXskyDTYUCG91dCcOEeWm2CUpL2I9FBz0YvCC9u1fvSeg627MdGnddEPv1TF1ur2TRsSBE3l4&sig=AOD64_29ule1dInDuULIZCdhFeRkhyjohg&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwih9unrnMH8AhVclmoFHZUgBaQQwg8oAHoECAUQFA&adurl=
@@thestationerydev sometimes the pricing bugs on PGS's, that's how I snagged mine for ~$65 and I saw one go to $60 or something before. The price for them varies quite a bit
I've seen Sailor Pro Gears on Cult Pens (UK based but they ship to the US and idk what other countries) for $180 or less but it depends on the pen. Most are still around $200 on there. Ebay is another good resource but I'm sure others have listed better ones than mine.
It is so plain... but the monochromatic-ness of this pen has such a sexy handsome feel to it.. hmm...a very very nice pro gear for every day black ink writing.
Loving it!
@@thestationerydev So I'm thinking of choosing this over the Pilot custom black Fine, could you help compare if the thickness of this 21k F is about the same or finer than the 14k MF sailors? I want it to be as thin as possible or slightly thinner than my 14k MFs, since those have Pilot inks and pilot inks run super juicy xD But the Sailor black might be slightly less wet, so I could probably use the one you recommended, to get a less wet/thick line.
@KenchanKrafts Sure! The 21k Fine is definitely finer than than the 14k MF, so that would definitely be my recommendation. As far as wetness goes, Sailor and Pilot are pretty much the same, both on the wet side. Hope that helps!
Thank you for the informative review! I just received mine with a medium nib. It seems like the resin/plastic for the body and cap feels less refined and premium than the older 1911 that I have, which is disappointing, especially for the price. Are other's like that? I want to like it (even though I like the prior nib design better), since it writes well but am struggling with the cheaper feel of the body.
It does have a different feel due to the matte texture, but in my opinion, it is no less quality of a build than any of my other Sailor pens.
@@thestationerydev Perhaps that's what I'm noticing. It just seems thinner and less premium. I've only had it for a few days so far and I'll continue to give it a try. The nib is fantastic and it writes very well, nonetheless. Thanks!
Where are you, bud? We miss you!!
For those who are looking at this pen in May of 2024, with the Japanese Yen at an all time low to the US dollar:
Amazon US or Japan, has the pen for approximately $150.00 US Dollars. Or, 25,000 Yen.
For that price a converter should’ve been included. Nice pen though
Does the yellow gold (not rhodium plated) version loose its shine over a period of time?? Or does it stay the same?
I haven't experienced the gold Sailors losing shine. They have stayed the same for me.
Nothing made out of gold loses its shine.
where did you buy it from?
I believe I gave the Amazon link in another comment!