Posts filed under Pen Reviews

Sailor Pro Gear King of Pen Fountain Pen Review

I bought my first Sailor King of Pen over three years ago, and since that first one - the Sailor Pro Gear King of Pen Sky - I’ve added three more to the collection. It is one of my personal favorite pens, embodying everything I like about a product.

The thing about the King of Pen, or KOP for short, is that I’m not sure this is a pen I would recommend to anyone. That is why it has taken me so long to review it, I think. It is very much a “Do as I say, not as I do,” product.

Why do I love the King of Pen? It is the pinnacle of accessible Sailor fountain pens. Sailor is a brand I love, and the KOP has long been a fascination of mine. When I first started getting in to fountain pens, the large ebonite and urushi KOP models fascinated me, but starting at over $1000, they were too far out of reach to even consider. That didn’t stop me from fawning over them, but I knew I’d probably never own one.

Then a funny thing happened: Sailor released a newer, lower priced King of Pen based on their popular Pro Gear lineup. And, it was only a bit over $700! That is still an outrageous price for a pen, and I wasn’t interested in the standard black barrels that were part of the initial lineup at any price. So I waited, and watched.

Then they introduced limited edition barrel colors. Blue, translucent, and beautiful. The Sky ended up being the one, even though it was crazy difficult to fork over that kind of cash.

The thing that sets the KOP apart from the rest of the Sailor lineup is the nib. Not only the size - it is a HUGE #9-sized 21k gold behemoth - but the performance of it as well. On top of that, the built-in structure around the nib is something that I haven’t seen in any other pen.

The rest of the pen is sized around the nib unit, meaning it has a much wider barrel diameter and grip section than the Pro Gear Standard. Somehow, this all works. The King of Pen is a big pen, but it doesn’t necessarily feel like it when writing. The size of the nib and barrel, in conjunction, work perfectly.

Sailor Pro Gear King of Pen Comparison — *Sailor Pro Gears. Slim (top,) Standard, KOP.*

So, why am I not rushing out to recommend it, despite how much I love it? The price, yes, but more specifically, the value.

What makes up the cost of a pen? Three things come to mind: Materials, mechanics, and craftsmanship. Let’s break each of these down as they relate to the King of Pen.

Materials: This the main talking point with the KOP. The large 21k gold nib is costly, and I imagine the nib setting and section adds a good bit of cost as well. The barrel is plastic. The same plastic you will find all the way down the line in the Pro Gear Slim model. The 14k Pro Gear Slim is an awesome pen, but it is also $180. the larger 21k Pro Gear Standard is my favorite, and they run around $310. Am I getting two-and-a-half times the pen in the KOP that I’m paying for?

Mechanics: To me, mechanics in fountain pens mostly lie within filling systems. The piston filler in a Pelikan. The vacuum filler in the Pilot 823. The bulk filler in the Conid. A cartridge/converter filling system - as found in the King of Pen - is essentially a lack of mechanics. That’s no knock on c/c filling systems, but we are talking about cost here, and the cost for c/c is far less that the other options.

Craftsmanship: In short, machine-made vs. man-made. Is the manufacturing process machine-driven, as is the case with most of Sailor’s plastic barrel pens? Or, it there a great amount of manual labor, such as urushi artisans applying layers of lacquer to a Nakaya?

Sailor Pro Gear King of Pen Nib Comparison

Applying these thoughts to the King of Pen, the cost isn’t coming from mechanics or craftsmanship in my mind. And while yes, there is a large material cost in the nib and front-end assembly, there is minimal cost in the barrel. It’s a weird dichotomy.

And yet I love it knowing all of these things. Why?

I wish I had the perfect answer and could write the perfect review around that answer, either positive or negative. My life is a whole lot easier when I have black and white thoughts on products. The Sailor King of Pen is not one of those products. I get it, and it gets me. But can I explain it to you? That’s the challenge. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to.

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Sailor Pro Gear King of Pen Capped Comparison

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Sailor, King of Pen, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

Ystudio Brassing Rollerball Pen Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

Plenty of companies have a brand, or an aesthetic, and lots have Design, but it's not that often you find a company that has a philosophy, and whose brands, designs, and products encompass that philosophy as wholly as Ystudio’s do. We tend to fall in love with those companies. Field Notes is a common example. I think Ystudio is one fewer people have heard about, and who ought to be on everyone's radar.

I got my first Ystudio pen a few years ago when they first became available at retail stores in the US. It was the Brassing Fountain Pen, and it became an immediate favorite of mine. This Brassing Rollerball model is its sibling, and they make a great pair.

Like the fountain pen, the Brassing Rollerball is made of brass, with a black lacquer coating its facets. The lacquer is designed to wear away as you use the pen, revealing the raw brass beneath. Then the brass will patina, creating a whole new layer of character to the pen's life and your use of it. This idea of forming a unique look to your pen through a lifetime of use really appeals to me. The process is definitely a slow one, though. I've used my fountain pen pretty regularly for years and it's not yet showing any signs of wear.

This is a sturdy pen. The brass walls are thick, and it's quite heavy in the hand. It's well-balanced, though, and is very comfortable to write with. The metal is cold to the touch at first, but it warms up as you write. The cap clicks to close, with a friction fit that clicks solidly in place. It does not post, and there is no clip, but the six facets keep the barrel or cap from rolling off the desk.

The grip section is on the narrow side. It is also raw brass, so it quickly takes on the patina of your grip. The raw brass isn't slippery, and there's a metal ridge that stops your fingers from sliding forward. I believe that ridge is also part of the click-closed mechanism, which is high up in the cap.

The pen takes a Schmidt 5888 refill, which writes wonderfully with a fine black line. It's similar to what you get in a Retro 51, so if you've used one of those, you know it's a fantastic ink. To insert the cartridge, you need to unscrew the bottom of the pen. There's a small screw there that opens up the refill chamber. It's flush with the pen, but it's not difficult to undo. You can use a coin, but I had no trouble just using my fingernail. The refill goes right in the pen, and the screw keeps it in place.

The Ystudio aesthetic, design, and philosophy have totally enchanted me. I love these pens, but they are not inexpensive. They exude the sense that they are crafted not manufactured, and the price reflects that. This rollerball sells for a pretty $110 on JetPens. That's more than I'd usually pay for a rollerball, but I think this is one of those pens where it's worth if, if you decide it is.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Posted on October 1, 2020 by Sarah Read and filed under ystudio, Rollerball, Pen Reviews.

Zebra Sarasa Grand 0.4 mm Gel Ink Pen Review

One of my favorite things about standard pens is finding a good one you like, and then finding out they make fancy pen barrel for it. The Zebra Sarasa Push Clip is a perennial favorite of mine, so there is no doubt that I am going to love the Zebra Sarasa Grand, aka the Fancy Sarasa.

The only question to answer in this review is: Am I going to love it, or am I going to LOVE it? As with love in the real world, it’s complicated.

The Sarasa Grand is a heck of a good upgrade for the standard plastic barrel Sarasa Push Clip. The brass barrel gives is a fantastic writing weight, especially when compared to the Push Clip. The metal clip and knock add to the durability that is built into this upgrade, and all of the barrel color options are great. Even the price is fantastic, with models ranging from $8.25 for standard barrel colors and $12.50 for Zebra’s Vintage Color series.

(Sidebar: There is no difference that I can tell between the two, other than Zebra is drinking their own Kool-aid with regards to the popularity of their Vintage series and feel they can get away with a sizable premium. They aren’t wrong (just look at what’s sold out at JetPens), and luckily - no matter the version - this feels more like a $20 pen across the board, so I’m not going to ding them on the pricing mismatch too badly.)

So, what is my hangup between love and LOVE for my personal use? The grip, and the style.

If the standard Push Clip had never existed, I would be singing the praises of the Fancy Sarasa from high upon the mountaintop - “I AM A BELIEVER!” It uses one of the best performing gel ink refills on the market, especially on the micro tip side of the ledger. But, the Push Clip came first, and I’m forced to compare the two.

And when comparing them, I can’t help but long for the soft, tactile rubber grip of the Push Clip. The Fancy Sarasa uses the same vertical stripe design, but it’s the same paired brass as the rest of the pen. I can’t help but think of the Push Clip grip when I’m using it, and longing for something a little more different.

The style is another thing. The Fancy Sarasa looks amazing! It’s very classy, very well designed, and never looks out of place. The Push Clip is an oddity, with its translucent barrel, ink color-matching grip, and obnoxiously large clip. It’s weird in all of the right ways, and I love it for that. It’s the Aggretsuko, compared to the Sarasa Grand’s Retsuko.

I want heavy metal karaoke.

The Zebra Sarasa Grand is a killer pen. In a vacuum, it’s about as close as you can get to a 10/10 gel ink pen. I’m not sure I could even put that number on the Push Clip, but personally, I’ll pick up the Push Clip first every time. Something about that style works for me.

My Fancy Sarasa comes with an 0.4 mm black refill in the black barrel, but that is no longer an option it seems. The good news is all of the refills are compatible between the Push Clip and the Sarasa Grand lineup, so feel free to toss a Neon Pink refill into a Turquoise body. Maybe I can have it both ways?

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!