Another Sailor Studio review! With 100 inks in their popular Sailor Studio line, I may never run out of material for reviews. This is absolutely fine with me since I have yet to find a Studio ink that isn’t incredible in one way or another.
Sailor Studio 341 looks like it will be a bright sky blue when looking at the color band on the bottle. Since it is a 300 level ink, the saturation should be on the light side of medium.
However, just opening the bottle shows the difference in color between the bottle label and the ink in the cap. Sailor Studio 341 has much more green involved.
A swab of the ink on a Col-o-Ring card looks a bit closer to the label color, and starts to show the beautiful shading that is present in large swatches. There is no color separation (such as with Sailor Studio 123) and no sheen, just significant shading.
Comparing other inks to Sailor Studio proved a bit difficult, even with a huge number of swatches available for the comparison. Chesterfield Antique Mariner seemed to be the closest when photographed, however, Birmingham Pennsylvania Railroad Boiler Stem looked the closest in person. Certain lights show more green than others making an exact match impossible.
Tomoe River 52gsm paper (this notebook is a refill offered by Musubi) brings out the shading In 341. The shading ranges from a light, dusty teal to a medium to dark teal that also shows a touch of a reddish-brown halo where the ink is applied heavily.
Sailor Studio 341 is a drier Studio ink which may contribute to the shading abilities, but the dryness was never distracting. The ink drys quickly and does not tend to smear – this may be appreciated by lefties who enjoy new colors.
Sailor Studio 341 is a great ink to add a personal flair to your writing even in the office. The color can pass as a faded blue-blackand is legible even at its lightest. As a fan of blue-black inks, I could see using this ink as an everyday ink especially since it is quick-drying.
(Haloing can be seen a bit around the heavier drops of ink toward the bottom of the page here)
If you have ever tried to purchase Sailor Studio inks, you know how tough it can be to find a store selling it, pay for the shipping and wait for the slow boat to make its way overseas (unless you are lucky enough to live in Japan). Good news! Sailor has recently started allowing sales of these small bottles of sunshine by select retailers in the US. However, Sailor did put a restriction on these sales – orders for Sailor Studio inks can only be taken over the phone. Dromgoole’s was kind enough to provide this bottle of 341 for review and you can find ordering instructions here. The entire staff is great to talk to when ordering. The Colorado Pen Show starts tomorrow and Droomgoole’s will be joining the crew this year. Order your Sailor Studio inks now over the phone and have them waiting for you in Denver – with no shipping cost!
Tools:
- Paper: Musubi Tomoe River Refill ($30-35 USD)
- Pen: Lamy Safari, medium nib ($29.60)
- Ink: Sailor Studio 341 ($18 for 20ml bottle)
DISCLAIMER: The ink included in this review was provided free of charge by Dromgoole’s for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
Great review; your pics really show off the shading. I agree that this ink color is very versatile. On top of that, it’s freaking gorgeous! I’m definitely gonna get a bottle of this one.