Ah, another Sailor North American exclusive color. Royal Tangerine! Who can pass up a juicy orange pen?? If it's you, then keep that to yourself.
ABOUT
Body material: Plastic
Trim: Rhodium-plated
Cap: Screw on
Posts: Yes, friction
Filling: Sailor proprietary cartridge/converter
Nib material: 21kt rhodium-plated gold
Length (capped): 141.0 mm/5.55"
Length (uncapped): 123.1 mm/4.84"
Length (posted): 153.5 mm/6.05"
Length (section): 16.8 mm/0.66"
Diameter (barrel): 11.2 - 13.3 mm/0.44" - 0.52"
Diameter (section): 10.5 - 11.7 mm/0.41" - 0.46"
Weight (all): 26 g
Weight (cap): 9 g
Weight (body): 17 g
Price: $320.00USD
Where to buy:
Pen Chalet
Discount Code: GOURMETPENS for 10% off
PACKAGING
The Sailor 1911 fountain pen has straightforward packaging. There is the classic blue hard case box with the Sailor logo printed on the top in gold lettering. Inside the blue box, the pen is held in place by an elastic and ribbon on a felt bed. The bed is removable. There is also a cartridge, a converter, as well as a little pamphlet about the Sailor Pen Co. and your pen. Little wasted space with this packaging. It's plain packaging, but I don't feel bad about not keeping it. It also doesn't seem (depending on how you feel about packaging at all) too wasteful. It's not my favorite packaging though.
APPEARANCE
The Sailor 1911 Large fountain pen is not a huge pen, but it is the larger of the two 1911 sizes. It is a torpedo shaped pen with rhodium-plated trim. The center band is wide and is engraved with Sailor Japan Founded 1911. The finial is unmarked. The clip is plain, coming to a rounded off end. It has no branding on it, so it isn't particularly unique. Near the end of the cap, there is a raised center band and a thinner, flat band just a small space above it. The larger band is engraved with: Sailor Japan Founded 1911. The section is round and tapers ever so slightly towards the nib, and ends in a flared ridge. The cap threads at the back of the section are the same color as the pen so they blend in.
I love the Fresca Blue but I think the Royal Tangerine is a strong contender for the best color... I'm not sure which I like more! The resin does pick up micro scratches over time, but if you don't let it rub on other pens and keep it in a sleeve or something when you tote it around, it'll look pretty good. My Fresca is still looking pretty good.
NIB & PERFORMANCE
The hard extra fine nib is a single tone 21kt nib. It has a single slit, a round breather hole, and is engraved with: 1911, 21K, 875, Sailor and H-EF on the side, the Sailor anchor and some flourishes. I specifically picked the extra-fine because I had heard from friends that the Sailor EF nib is one of the best. It really is. I actually really enjoy the writing experience for those times I need an extra-fine! It's smooth with a touch of feedback, quite wet for an extra-fine, and fairly firm with a touch of line variation possible. It puts down clean, precise lines and I think it's an excellent daily writer.
As I have said before; of the standard nib selection, my favorite nibs are the Music and Zoom nib - they offer the most variation and feel the best for my writing preferences.
The cartridge/converter system works without issue, as usual. Not a huge ink capacity from the cartridge but I don't mind as I like to change my ink colors and it reduces the chances of the ink drying out before I use it up.
IN HAND
The clip has moderate tension - it can be lifted but it is snug - quite practical. It has a reasonable length so it will clip on safely to papers/pockets.
The section is small but comfortable - no sharp ridges or anything. The cap threads themselves are a bit sharp but they are well out of my grip space. If you have large fingers, they might get in your way, but even so, it's not too sharp. They're not so bad that I wouldn't want to use the pen.
I think this is a great pen in hand - it's extremely comfortable, great weight, great balance. It writes well unposted but it's perfected posted because it posts deeply and comfortably. Writing for extended sessions is no problem. If you have larger hands, you'll likely prefer the 1911 Large size as it can be used unposted as well as posted. If you prefer the 1911 Standard, then using it posted might be ideal. I prefer the Large size.
Top to bottom: Sailor 1911 Large Royal Tangerine, Sailor 1911 Standard Peacock, Aurora Optima Flex, Lamy Safari.
PROS & CONS
OVERALL
As I said at the start, I am biased. I specifically picked this pen because I am a fan of Sailor. Sailor pens are solid. I love them and think they produce some great stuff. Some people have objections about the little converters but to be honest, I kind of like it because it means I get to change my inks around more. They're simple but comfortable pens with really nice nibs, available in a heck of a lot of colors and a couple models - there's surely something to please everyone. I love them. It's fairly expensive but I am not looking for the best value fountain pen here, I wanted it because it's fun and I like the color and model and writing experience!
The extra-fine nib is an excellent writer, and that's coming from someone who doesn't even love fine nibs all that much. It's fairly smooth, wet, and puts down clean, precise lines.
Posts
