Are Sailor Pro Gear/Pro Gear Slim Fountain Pens Worth It?
A hot take on one of the most popular (and expensive) fountain pens out there
And just like that…summer is upon us! Here in Texas, we’ve been feeling the heat for weeks now. With highs already in the 90s, is it too soon to ask for fall? 😂
For this month’s post, I thought I would delve into an expensive hobby.
Fountain pens.
I’ve been steadily expanding my fountain pen collection for over a decade now. This year I started looking at more cost-effective options. After trying brands that are a fraction of the cost of Sailor fountain pens, I’m now asking myself if I wasted a bunch of money.
Are they worth their price tag? Stay tuned.
My Collection of Fountain Pens
Although fountain pens are amazing writing devices, they are only sometimes my favorite. My tastes come and go, as I imagine yours do, too. Sometimes I want a specific ink, so fountain pens or my Tom’s Studio Lumos pen are the only options for me. Most of the time, I’m in a gel pen mood, however.
I have lots of notebooks and planners so I have different pens for each. For journaling, I use my Uni Jetstream with a ballpoint ink refill. It has a squishy grip for lengthy writing sessions. For my morning pages (which are in my small a6 Hobonichi Hon), I use a Pilot Kakuno fountain pen since I don’t write in there for more than a 5 minutes a day. And for my regular bujo, I switch pens based on mood. Right now I’m using a Drehgriffel NR 1 stealth Bullet Journal pen using gel ink.
I am who I am.
My largest collections of fountain pens, however, span the following brands and lines:
TWSBI (usually the 580’s but I still have a couple of ECOs left)
Pilot Kakuno (this cheap pen is worth every penny of its $10-$20 price tag)
Kaweco Sport (one that I only started investing in this year)
Sailor Pro Gear and Pro Gear Slim
Lamy Safari (which I use for sketching only)
Nahvalur Horizon
Majohn a1
I started with the TWSBI fountain pens around a decade ago because at that time they were the best non-leaky fountain pens for flights. I instantly became a fan of these writing devices. The concept of being able to use your own ink resounded so strongly with me that I expanded from TWSBI to other lines.
The truth is, I use only 1-2 fountain pens at a time. That’s it. My collection is roughly 2 dozen large, but I don’t use them as regularly as gel and ballpoint pens. Fountain pens can be heavy. The ink can start and stop if the nibs aren’t properly tuned or the wrong ink is being used with the wrong nib. They can get clogged with lots of types of inks. The nibs are finicky and may not write consistently across a single brand. It can take time to properly clean them out, and the degree of effort of the maintenance depends on the ink and nib size and brand.
I’m not complaining, just trying to show a realistic picture of my fountain pen hobby. Unless I use way fewer notebooks and planners in the future, I will always have an extensive set of pens at my disposal at any one point in time, matched appropriately to the paper and type of writing that I’m doing. I love variety, and I love reusable pens.
But let’s now turn to one collection in my list, my Sailors.
My Sailor Fountain Pen Collection
The most expensive pens in my collection are my Sailors. With their very extensive colors and styles, their smaller size for smaller hands, and their consistent quality, I can see why they’re popular in the fountain pen world.
The History of Sailor Pens
The Sailor brand was started in Japan in 1911. They’re known for being the first Japanese fountain pen company to have a gold nib, as well as the first for creating ballpoint pens.
The reason why the company is called “Sailor” is because the founder was first introduced to fountain pens by a British sailor. The sailor theme is embodied by every one of their fountain pens, with their infamous anchor logo embedded into the flat cap of the Pro Gear and Pro Gear Slims.
Sailor also produces brush pens, dip pens, ballpoint pens, and ink. Their ink lines are some of my favorite.
My Inexpensive Sailors
Not all Sailor fountain pens are expensive. The cheapest one I own is the Fude, a popular artist pen that cost $12 on Amazon.
The Fude is the long green one above. It definitely feels cheaper in quality, but the nib is great for artists. It allows for different types of line widths.
The other one shown above is the Lecoule, which costs $30-45. I LOVE this pen. It has a simple, cheap steel nib but I love how it writes. Sailor makes a uniquely sized nib called MF (medium fine). The Lecoules come only in this size.
Mine writes like a M nib. If I could go back, I would probably not have purchased some of the more expensive Sailors in my stash, and just stuck with the Lecoule.
My Expensive Sailors
I have four very expensive sailor pens that ranged in price from $175-$450. I bought two of them brand new and two second hand. One needs a tuned nib.
My Manyo Nuts writes the best out of all of my fountain pens and it writes like a dream. Plus, I’m a fan of olive-y green colors. I can see why this one pen was so popular and sold out quickly when it first debuted years ago.
Hot Take: Are Sailor Pro Gear/Pro Gear Slims Worth It?
After owning these Sailors and now many other branded fountain pens, I find myself wondering…why are the Sailors so expensive? Are they worth it?
I’m going to be controversial and say no, Sailor Pro Gear/Pro Gear Slim fountain pens are not worth their price. They’re made of high quality resin like many other expensive fountain pens. But resin is…plastic. Why are we spending hundreds of dollars for plastic? Luckily, it’s high quality plastic that resists fountain pen ink stains and scratches…but we’re still talking about plastic.
Let’s look at the other attributes of the pen: the nib and the metal used for decoration and the pen clip. Sure, gold is used. But it’s not pure gold, just plated. Some nibs are even two-toned. The Slims generally use 14K gold plating, and the Pros use 21K gold plating.
Given all of these factors, the costs of these pens are pretty cheap considering. Sailor must be making a killing. They don’t even sell the nibs separately—you have to buy a whole new pen or find someone who’s willing selling the parts if yours gives out or becomes damaged.
So…why the hype?
I think it comes down to two factors. First, the amazing array of color combinations. Personally, I’m not in love with the color combos of other fountain pen manufacturers. Sailor releases new colors/lines every year and they even do collaborations with other brands. This creates new annual demand, especially since so many are special versions that have limited runs. Remember when the Hachimonjiya collaboration debuted? Good grief, that created such a buzz. They ended up doing a second run. That was the first time I fell in love with a Sailor. I ended up buying mine second hand…and it’s still the most gorgeous fountain pen I’ve ever seen.
The second factor is the writing experience. I have smaller hands so I appreciate smaller fountain pens. This means less weight and better weight distribution, among other things. People really love writing with their Sailor fountain pens. And when you get one with a perfect nib (like my Manyo Nuts), it’s like the planets have aligned for you.
The writing experience is different for everyone so it’s purely a personal preference—you can’t put a price tag on this. The quality of Sailor fountain pens overall is consistent, although I would say the nibs aren’t. The nibs supposedly change and settle over time, depending on what type of material they’re made out of. I have 4 different nib sizes…so no real way to compare them directly against each other.
Overall, I would say it’s not worth spending more than $150 on a Sailor Pro Gear Slim fountain pen if I had to put a price on it. That’s what I honestly think they’re worth. But demand drives the market, not my opinion.
A standard new Sailor Pro Gear Slim debuts around $236 now, with special editions starting at $260. Sailor Pro Gears, being slightly larger and with 21K nibs are upwards of $300. Second hand, both go for higher if you can no longer get them at a retailer.
I’m not sure I will purchase any more. At these price points, I can have an amazing writing experience with many more cost effective fountain pens. And that is the direction I’ve been moving toward this year.
However, I will be honest…no other fountain pen writing experience has compared to my Manyo Nuts and probably never will. I’m ok with that.
What do you think—are Sailor fountain pens worth it?
Personal Corner
Reading
This month I’ve been in self-improvement mode. I’ve been choosing books focused on productivity. Due to my recent reading slump, amongst other things, I’ve felt like I needed a little boost in order to ensure I can push through this critical personal time in my life.
This month’s pick, Feel-Good Productivity by Ali Abdaal, is a book I was able to get in audio format through Libby. It’s ok. It’s been a good companion on the long morning walks I take with my dog.
Watching
In a couple of days, Season 4 of FX’s highly popular show, The Bear debuts.
I. CAN’T. WAIT.
This is probably my favorite TV show in recent times. I’ve rewatched multiple episodes from the 2nd and 3rd seasons many, many times (Fishes, anyone?). This show is about food, but of course it’s not about food. What makes any show earn a huge following and tons of awards is when it’s about people. Family trauma, starting a new business, interpersonal relationships…it’s all in there. And in a way that keeps me on the edge of my seat.
We’re still on the Hulu/Disney+ subscription and will probably be keeping it for the next two months just to get through all episodes of The Bear. Can’t wait!
Life is finally settling down for me. I’m looking forward to having a normal schedule again and being able to prioritize some of the important things in life.
Talk to you next month!
For cheaper than sailor, with a gold nib and on the smaller scale, check out pelican, I love the one I own, it's easily become my favorite pen