Pen Review: Sailor 1911 Black Luster

May 10, 2017

This was a very hard review for me to write, and it's been in the works for quite some time. Not because I don't like the pen: to the contrary, the Sailor 1911 Black Luster is one of my favorite writers, alongside the Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black. But while I enjoy the build quality, the "blacked out" color scheme, and the excellent all-around writing experience that this pen offers, I do believe that it's priced too high, at least in the U.S. market.

Design and Build Quality

The Sailor 1911 Black Luster compared to a Montblanc 146.

I've reviewed the regular Sailor 1911 Large before, and as I observed in my previous review, to the untrained eye this pen would be a dead-ringer for a Montblanc 146 (without the Snowcap and piston-filler, of course). The 1911 Black Luster, however, does have some significant differences, featuring black ion-plated trim on the clip, cap band, and barrel. It also has a metal ion-plated section, which gives the pen a totally different feel in-hand. It's front-weighted, which when paired with the somewhat softer ion-plated nib (discussed further below), makes for a comfortable writing experience without throwing off the balance. Ordinarily I'm not the biggest fan of pens with metal sections, but something about this one is different. Perhaps the ion plating gives it a slightly "grippier" texture? For whatever reason, I haven't had any issues with the section slipping out of my fingers.

Nib and Writing Experience

Like most Sailor nibs, this Hard Fine (or H-F) was an exceptional writer straight out of the box, and wrote a very fine, yet still wet, line. The 21k ion-plated nibs on the Pro Gear Imperial Black and the Black Luster are somewhat "springier" than the standard Sailor nib. They're not flexible, or even close to semi-flex, but they have a bit more cushion and write a slightly wetter line than the hard-as-a-nail H-F or H-M non-plated nibs.

The scrollwork on the Sailor nibs looks especially nice on the black ion-plating.

On a cautionary note: since these blacked out 21k nibs are softer, they are VERY easy to bend and/or spring. I've had to send a couple of them off to be adjusted/straightened due to minor drops that probably wouldn't have affected a 14k (and certainly not a stainless) nib.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

The Sailor 1911 Black Luster is one of those pens that falls victim to Sailor's strange pricing differences between the U.S. and Japan. While Sailor always prices their "blacked out" pens higher than their other models, here the U.S. "street price" of a 1911 Black Luster is $392, compared to $248 for the regular 1911 Large. To make things even more difficult for U.S. retailers, Japanese sellers typically have the Black Luster listed anywhere from $200-260 on eBay, while there's not nearly as large of an "eBay discount" on the regular 1911.

Note: I'm not going to link to any specific eBay sellers here, because I haven't put any serious effort into vetting specific individual sellers and any eBay purchase should be made only if one is well-aware of the risks (i.e. potential fakes, long shipping times, bait-and-switch, etc.).

I love this pen, but at the nearly $400 price point, I would say that you'd have to want this pen pretty badly to pay Sailor's current asking price. While the ion-plated nib and section obviously adds some cost to the pen, the total price strikes me as a bit steep. That said, I much prefer the balance and the nib of the 1911 Black Luster over the Montblanc Meisterstuck Ultra Black, and the pricing on the Black Luster compares favorably to the Montblanc. If you're considering spending $650+ on the blacked-out Montblanc, I'd consider the Black Luster as an alternative.

Disclaimer: I purchased the pen featured in this review with my own funds, for my own collection. This post contains affiliate links. Any discussion of pricing and availability is current as of the time of publication of this review.

Review: Baron Fig Mastermind and Nomad

May 6, 2017

Of all the seemingly never-ending stream of products coming out of Baron Fig these days, the ones that have me the most excited might be the ones that have received the least fanfare. A week or so back, Baron Fig announced the launch of the "Mastermind" desk pad and the "Nomad" sticky notes. Both fill a gaping hole in my stationery arsenal.

The Mastermind

I'm always on the lookout for a good desk pad. I've experimented with various formats, from the cheapest of At-A-Glance t ear-off blotter calendars, to Levenger Oasis Pads, to the Rhodia No. 38. The blotter calendar holds a special place in my heart, since it's what I used on my desk from high school through college, and I loved that at the end of the month you would have a collage of various notes, lists, telephone numbers, doodles, scratches, you-name-it for the past 30 days. Sometimes, of course, you'd forget to tear off the page for two or three months, and then you'd really have some exceptionally interesting works of art.

The point was that I never actually used it as a calendar. Rather, it was a giant scratchpad that I had at my disposal while I worked on whatever it was I was doing at my desk. Of course, as I grew older and started using rollerballs, fountain pens, and other wet writers, the blotter calendar grew less useful and I stopped using desk pads entirely. I still break out the Levenger Oasis from time to time for brainstorming sessions, but it's an awkward size for me: too small to use as a true desk blotter, but too large to have sitting to the side while you work on a keyboard or with another notebook open in front of you. It's more of a lap-based tool to use while you're in an armchair or on the couch.

The Baron Fig Mastermind "in writing mode." The pad is a great size for my desk. The paper seems to be standard Baron Fig paper stock, which I find fountain pen friendly enough for my day-to-day needs, and especially enjoyable to use with pencils.&n… — The Baron Fig Mastermind "in writing mode." The pad is a great size for my desk. The paper seems to be standard Baron Fig paper stock, which I find fountain pen friendly enough for my day-to-day needs, and especially enjoyable to use with pencils.

This is where the Mastermind excels. Baron Fig's desk pad is big enough pad (8" x 12") to make it useful for sketching out ideas on a larger canvas, but it's still small enough to be unobtrusive. Some might prefer the slightly larger, 80-sheet Rhodia No. 38 pad, but I prefer the Baron Fig paper because it's some of the most pencil-friendly paper out there. For brainstorming and sketching out ideas, I enjoy using a pencil. That said, if you're looking for a pad of paper with sturdy backing and a fold-over cover that you can take with you and use as a sort of lap desk, the larger Rhodia pad might be more your thing.

The Nomad

I recall there being a debate on the Pen Addict Podcast a few episodes back about the best fountain-pen friendly sticky note. I'm not a sticky-note or Post-it connoisseur, but I do use them frequently. Honestly, it doesn't really bother me whether or not a sticky note is particularly high-quality, much less "fountain pen friendly," though often a super-cheap generic sticky note will feather uncontrollably with anything other than a pencil or a ballpoint pen. Fortunately, my office stocks the Post-It Super Sticky, which generally works well enough for my needs.

Since I know people will ask for it: a writing sample with fountain pens on the Nomad sticky note. The TWSBI 580 with Diamine ink in a medium nib didn't feather all that much but bled through. The H-F Sailor nib with Sailor ink worked the best. &nbs… — Since I know people will ask for it: a writing sample with fountain pens on the Nomad sticky note. The TWSBI 580 with Diamine ink in a medium nib didn't feather all that much but bled through. The H-F Sailor nib with Sailor ink worked the best.

So what's the niche for the Baron Fig Nomad? For me, I just like having a dot-grid sticky note, and the slightly-textured paper is nice to write on, even if it's a bit thin. The paper seems like a lighter-weight version of the standard Baron Fig paper. For the true paper geeks out there, the Nomad actually resists feathering fairly well, though wet fountain pens will definitely bleed-through. (Again, I don't really care whether a sticky note suffers from "bleed through," since I've never used the back of one in my life, but if this is something that concerns you I'd recommend that you stick to EF and EEF nibs, or very dry inks.)

Takeaways/Where to Buy

While these are definitely "YMMV" products, depending on how you work and what you're specific needs are, I'm grateful to Baron Fig for putting these out there, especially the Mastermind. I picked up two packs: one for home and one for work. The Mastermind runs $15 for a pack of two pads at 35 sheets each. which is roughly comparable to the 80-sheet Rhodia No. 38. The Nomad runs $8 for a three-pack of 70-sheet pads, which is more expensive than your standard post-it but still fair. You can buy both directly from Baron Fig.

Disclaimer: I purchased all of the products featured in this review with my own funds for my own use. This post does contain affiliate links.

Pen Review: Cleo Skribent Classic and Colour

May 4, 2017

After years of pen blogging, It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find brands that I haven’t tried. Sure, new brands come out occasionally, but it’s rare that I come across an established pen manufacturer with which I have little to no familiarity. When I visited New Orleans last month, I made sure to stop in at Papier Plume in the French Quarter, one of the few retailers of Cleo Skribent writing instruments in the United States. I ended up purchasing two pens: the Classic Palladium (piston filler version) and the Cleo Skribent Colour edition in burgundy.

Both the Classic Palladium (right) and the Colour (left) have the Cleo Skribent logo set into the cap finial.

About the Brand

Cleo Skribent is based in Bad Wilsnack, Germany, in the Prignitz region. Because the brand developed and emerged in East Germany prior to German reunification, Cleo writing instruments are less well-known in the United States and Western Europe, but have a storied reputation for quality in Eastern and Central Europe.

The Cleo Skribent branding on the Classic Palladium is tasteful and understated.

The Company now, of course, sells worldwide, and bills itself as “one of only a few companies to truly produce completely in Germany.” While they operate their own factory, it is unclear whether or not the Company manufactures all of its parts in house, or source components such as nibs from other German manufacturers like Bock and JoWo.

Build

The Cleo Skribent Classic model has a nice ink window, and holds a good amount of ink.

These pens are both solidly built. Let’s start with the Cleo Skribent Classic with Palladium trim. I chose this pen in white, with the piston filler and large clear ink window. The piston mechanism is accessed via a vintage-style removable blind cap. Cleo Skribent also makes a cartridge/converter model of the Classic, without the ink window and blind cap. One of the more remarkable things about this pen is the weight: even with a piston, the pen is feather-light. Hand fatigue will not be an issue, even if you're someone who needs your fountain pen to churn out pages of notes or schoolwork on a daily basis. The Classic could be your workhorse.

You don't see this much anymore in modern pens: a piston-knob concealed by a blind cap.

Made from brushed aluminum, the Cleo Skribent Colour is heftier than the Classic, though still light enough to be comfortable for long periods of writing. The clip and the section are both accented in burgundy, are very "grippy" for a metal pen, and the hand-enameled nib lends the pen a unique look. The friction-fit cap closes securely and, important for me, posts deeply - this pen is a better length posted than the Classic, though the Classic’s light weight more than offsets any awkwardness. The Colour uses a cartridge-converter filling system.

Nibs/Writing Experience

I was going to purchase just a Classic, but the hand-enameling sold me on picking up a Colour edition as well.

I’ve written in the past about how good steel nibs can be, and some of the German brands such as Cleo Skribent, Otto Hutt, Diplomat, Pelikan and Faber-Castell excel at both smoothness and reliability, even where the pen companies don’t manufacture the nibs themselves. The nibs on both of these pens are exceptionally smooth writers, with no scratchiness or flow issues that you sometimes see with stainless steel. I opted for a medium nib on the Classic and a Broad nib on the Colour, and while I'm happy with both, I found, somewhat to my surprise, that the two nibs wrote on the narrow side of their designations: the medium writes more like a western fine, and the broad writes more like a traditional medium.

The writing sample for the medium nib was done with Papier Plume Midnight Blue Ink, and the broad nib shows off Papier Plume's limited edition "Streetcar Green".  (All of their limited editions are New Orleans-themed.) — The writing sample for the medium nib was done with Papier Plume Midnight Blue Ink, and the broad nib shows off Papier Plume's limited edition "Streetcar Green". (All of their limited editions are New Orleans-themed.)

While I found the nibs on these Cleo Skribent pens exceptional, my personal preference would be to have slightly less length and a bit more girth on the barrels. In other words, these pens are long and thin, and don't give those with larger hands much to grip. Again, that’s entirely a personal preference, and I must note that I could still use both pens comfortably for long periods of time.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

As I mentioned, I purchased both of these pens at Papier Plume in New Orleans, Louisiana. Papier Plume carries a wide variety of Cleo Skribent pens at various price points. Both pens sell for $110 as featured in this review. The Classic is available in a variety of other color and trim options, and the cartridge-converter model comes in slightly less expensive at $99. The Colour Series fountain pen is also available with aqua blue accents, in addition to the burgundy model.

At $110, I think these pens are a solid value. As others have done, I'd compare Cleo Skribent pens favorably to the Pelikan M200/M205 series, and Cleo Skribent sells at a lower price point. Whether or not you prefer Cleo or Pelikan nibs would be up to you. I would peg these pens as, overall, definitely better writers than something like a TWSBI. Overall, I'm impressed, and I'm excited to try one of Cleo Skribent's higher-end offerings at some point in the future.

Disclaimer: I purchased these pens with my own funds, for my own collection, and was not compensated for writing this review. This post does contain affiliate links.

Baron Fig Launches New Bag Line: The Tote, The Backpack, and The Messenger

May 2, 2017

It's hard to believe that it's been exactly four years since Baron Fig launched the Confidant notebook via Kickstarter, and the company has grown quickly since. Baron Fig's product lineup now includes not only the Confidant, but the Vanguard notebooks, the Squire pen, and the Archer pencil, all of which are also available as a part of a limited edition subscription service. But Baron Fig isn't done! The Company is expanding yet again, launching their third Kickstarter campaign and announcing a new line of three bags: the Tote, the Backpack, and the Messenger.

All three bags will be available in two colors: Charcoal or "Fig Wine," and feature a privacy pocket, cotton weave straps, tool pockets, and more.

“Our six-person team produced over 50 iterations of these bags over the past year, so we’re excited to debut the results to the world.”

— Adam Kornfield, Co-Founder

I'm not really a backpack guy, but I will probably be all-in on either the Messenger or the Tote. The pricing looks good, with the Tote priced at $45 for an Early Bird / $50 for Campaign / $55 Retail; the Backpack at $85 Early Bird / $90 Campaign / $95 Retail; and the Messenger at $75 Early Bird / $80 Campaign / $85 Retail. There is also an "all the bags" option and some bundles that include special editions of other Baron Fig products. You can find more details here, on the Kickstarter page.

Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this post, though Baron Fig provided me with early access to information about the project. All photos in this post were provided by, and are property of, Baron Fig.

Pen Review: The Lamy Pico Pocket Ballpoint

April 29, 2017

A good ballpoint pen has been my pocket carry pen of choice for a while now, including various versions of the Fisher Space Pen, the Steel and Flint Pen, the Pokka Pen, and, of course, my Lamy 2000 ballpoint and multifunction 5-Color Ballpoint. I recently added yet another to my arsenal, the Lamy Pico.

In my opinion, Lamy makes some of the best ballpoint pens on the market. I used to think their refills were too light and "skippy," but in the past couple years they must have changed the formula because the last two refills that I've purchased have been excellent. I also enjoy Lamy's pens because their designs are nothing short of iconic, and you can pretty much guarantee that the pen you buy isn't going to look much like anything else on the market. The Pico is no exception.

Per Lamy's website, the Pico was designed to be approximately the size of a tube of lipstick or a cigarette lighter, and slip easily into your pocket or bag.

The Pico's key attribute is its ability to expand from a fairly tiny "capsule" that you can conceal in the palm of your hand into a full-size ballpoint. When you depress the "nock" at the back, it not only extends the tip, but the barrel as well. Since the Pico expands to 12cm / 4.7in, it basically becomes a full-size pen that's extremely comfortable to write with, even for longer sessions. As a point of reference, it's just ever-so-slightly shorter than the Steel and Flint Pen and the Fisher Space Shuttle Pen.

The silver Lamy logo is slightly raised, functioning as a roll-stop. Since the Pico is otherwise perfectly round, it would roll off the desk without some assistance.

I picked up the Pico on a whim, and had my doubts that this pen would be good for anything more than writing few lines here and there due to the size. This pen has surprised me with how practical it is. Lamy's promotional materials mention that it's designed with the traveler in mind, the goal being to create a pen that, when closed, was no larger than a tube of lipstick or a cigarette lighter, but that expands to a full size pen when you need it, such as when you're working on a train or airplane.

A shot of the Lamy Pico extended into "writing mode." The pen is light and very comfortable.

And while the title of "best ballpoint refill" will probably always go to the Schmidt Easyflow 9000, the Lamy M22 compact refill isn't bad at all. Here's a comparison writing sample of the Lamy Pico against a few other comparable pocket ballpoints.

A ballpoint pen writing sample comparison. The Schmidt wins on overall darkness and smoothness, but Lamy's refill works just fine.

Takeaway and Where to Buy

You can find the Lamy Pico at most Lamy retailers, which as of April 2023 includes the T.G.S. Curated Shop! The pen comes in a wide array of colors, from the somewhat staid (dark blue and matte black) to the crazy (bright orange and eye-searing hot pink). Today’s standard pricing on the Pico is around $40.

Warning: Because of how compact this pen is, it's extremely easy to forget that it's in your pocket, and my Pico has already taken its first trip through the washing machine. While the pen contained any ink seepage and no clothes were ruined, it was a bit of a mess to clean and I had to replace the refill. The Lamy M22 refills can be somewhat pricey, though they do last a long time assuming they don't take a bath.