Well, that’s quite a name! As I may have mentioned, one of the many things I got to see first-hand during my August pen show excursions was the development of a new partnership between our friends at Vanness Pens and Nagasawa Stationery in Kobe, Japan. What does that mean to me? Well, for starters I have access to a ton of exclusive Nagasawa Stationery special edition Sailor fountain pens to review, including the “Kobe Affection Kyomachi Legend Blue 1911L Fountain Pen,” a royal blue and gold-themed fountain pen that adopts the same general format as the Sailor 1911 Black Luster, a long-time favorite and one of my more comfortable everyday writers.
The gold flecks in the blue acrylic make for a stunning, yet still understated, material.
Three Things That Make This Pen Stand Out from the Rest of My Collection
Three things make this particular fountain pen something of an outlier for me personally, almost to the point where I’m surprised I chose to review it. (Almost.)
The pen not only has gold trim, but gold flecks throughout the royal blue acrylic, creating a shimmery appearance or, per the current lingo, “chatoyance.” I typically don’t go for gold, but I couldn’t pass up this combination and it literally grew on me within minutes of inking it up.
The pen has a broad nib. While medium (or a medium stub) is typically as wide as I’ll go with my everyday writers, lately I’ve experimented with broad nibs and this broad Sailor 21k nib might be the best of the lot. More on that below.
The pen has a metal section. While I don’t consider a metal section “disqualifying”, I tend to be quite picky about which metal sections I’ll use. At a minimum, they need to have some texture, and I find the plating on Sailor’s metal sections to have a more tactile feel that avoids slippage during longer writing sessions.
I reviewed the Sailor 1911 Black Luster back in 2017, and everything I enjoy about that pen still holds true today, especially with respect to the weight and balance. The only difference I would call out is that for whatever reason, the non-black-ion-plated Sailor 21k nibs (such as the gold one here) feel much more substantial and less “fragile”. As I noted in my prior review, I’ve bent two black Sailor nibs in the past with minor bumps and table drops, but this broad seems more durable and less “soft” for lack of a better term, though I still wouldn’t describe it as a stiff nib.
The Sailor Kobe fountain pens are also notable because they feature Nagasawa’s weathervane logo. I enjoy this design, probably more than the standard Sailor scrollwork.
With respect to the nib, I love how it writes. When most people think of Japanese fountain pens, they focus on the extra-fine and fine nib sizes, but often neglect the mediums and especially the broads. I find such oversights unfortunate. If you’re a fan of medium 14k nibs from German makers such as Bock and JoWo, the Sailor broad nib has similar line width yet offers a smoother writing experience. I’ve heard the same about Pilot, and I’ll be looking to try one of their broad nibs soon.
For those who will ask, this paper ruling is Clairefontaine Seyes-Ruled, or “French Ruled”. The review ink is Sailor Souboku pigmented blue-black. Here, I’ve compared a writing sample from the Sailor 21k broad nib to a writing sample from a JoWo extra-fine Stainless Steel nib. While noticeable, there’s much less of a difference between a German stainless EF nib and a Japanese 21k Broad nib than I would have expected.
Notes on the Name: Why “Kyomachi Legend Blue?”
The name “Kobe Affection Kyomachi Legend Blue” continues Nagasawa’s trend of naming their special edition pens and inks after specific locations in Kobe, Japan and the immediate vicinity, which is where Nagasawa Stationery is based. Per the information provided by Nagasawa, Kyomachi is the area where the Kobe City Museum is located. If there’s one thing that will catch my interest about a line of limited edition fountain pens or inks, it’s when the product has a strong sense of “place” and reflects something of its designer/creator. Every time I research a Nagasawa product, I learn something new about Kobe, which makes me want to visit all the more. (If you’re curious, the popular “Sailor Kobe Ink” series is also developed for Nagasawa, and you learn a lot researching the origin of the various names in the lineup and how the specific colors were carefully matched to each theme or location.)
The balance of this pen, when posted, is nearly perfect for my hand size and writing style.
Takeaways and Where to Buy
Like the 1911 Black Luster, I love this pen and it makes for a great daily writer. That said, you’ll have to really love Sailor and their Japanese special editions in order to spring for it. Sailor pricing is what it is, and doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon. Once I have one of their pens in hand, however, I tend to forget about the cost. Sailor delivers a quality high-end writing experience and the “Kyomachi Legend Blue” is no exception.
With the Black Luster priced at $392, the Nagasawa Kyomachi Legend Blue in the 1911L format tops that and goes for $450. The 1911S (“standard” or “slim” size) version lacks the metal section and is priced at $300, and, yes, there is a King of Pen version (again without the metal section) priced at $880. Vanness Pens is the exclusive U.S. retail partner for Nagasawa Stationery, and you can view the rest of their current stock here.
Further Reading
If you’d like to see a video of this pen, including a writing sample, please check out this short video that I filmed for our YouTube channel. For reviews of other Sailor Pens, check out the “Sailor” page in our Fountain Pen Review Archive.
The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. As always, many thanks to our friends at Vanness for providing this pen for review.