To celebrate their 15th anniversary, Pen Boutique worked with Sailor and Itoya to develop an exclusive design for the 1911 Kagero Green ($220). The owner of Pen Boutique, Leena, is an avid hiker and decided to let nature be her inspiration in choosing the theme and colors for the pen. The name and color is Kagero green which is Japanese for mayflies. This exclusive edition is limited to just 200 pens across the regular and large models.
The pen is really lovely. The translucent olive green body is accented with gold hardware and a 14k gold nib (the 1911 Large features a 21k nib). The pen ships in standard Sailor packaging including the navy blue box with white paper sleeve and ships with two cartridges and a converter.
I’ve gone into more detail about the 1911 pen in past reviews. That review includes all the weights and measurements and comparisons to some common pens. If you are not familiar with Sailor pens, Unsharpen has a Buying Guide that’s quite handy.
The only other “1911” I own is actually a ProColor with a 21k and it’s also the only other Sailor I own with gold hardware. As you can see, the 1911 and ProColor pens on the far right are all the same size. The 1911 has the ring around the bottom and wider rings around the cap. The six pens to the left are all Sailor Pro Gear Slims and then the last pen on the left is a Pro Gear Sapporo Mini.
The photo above shows the H-MF (14k) and H-F (21k) nibs. I don’t know if the engraving between the nibs is always different. I bought this nib after-market (obviously, Pro Color pens don’t come with 21k nibs!) but I wanted to be able to show that in a photo, its almost impossible to tell a MF from a F nib. I even thought they were both MF until I saw the macro photo.
So, in my writing sample, I even did a comparison with the 21k nib thinking the nibs were the same width. The 21k looks like is writes wider. This could be an optical illusion of the ink being darker or that the ink in the 21k is wetter. Whatever the case, they are still pretty similar overall.
The MF nib in the 1911 regular is quite fine. It’s comparable to most European and American EF nibs for sure. I have a TWSBI with an EF which is much wider than this. The 14k nib of the 1911 regular has a bit more feedback than my comparable 21k MF nib. So, if you can afford to upgrade to a 1911 Large with the 21k nib, I highly recommend it, especially if you prefer really fine nibs.
Pen Boutique recommends matching Sailor Waka- Uguisu ($13.50 for 20ml) with the pen but I matched it with the new Robert Oster Australis Tea ($17 for 50ml). I think they are both pretty comparable. Sailor inks are probably a bit wetter where Robert Oster’s tend to run a little drier. Otherwise, I think the results are pretty similar.
Pen Boutique is also stocking a matching Yak Leather pen sleeve in Olive Green ($15.99) which coordinates perfectly with the Sailor Kagero Green 1911.
The Kagero Green 1911 is definitely a pen to give me FOMO. Despite the photo above of my Sailor pen collection, green is my favorite color and the shade of green that the Kagero Green embodies is that “right shade”. Do I wish the hardware was silver? Yes. Do I wish there was glitter in the body color? Of course I do, I’m part crow. All that aside, this is a gorgeous pen and if I had the cheddar I’d go for the 1911 Large ($312) with the 21k nib in a hot second.
PS: The Crabby Pen Holder ($9.97) is also available from Pen Boutique.
Tools:
- Paper: Rhodia Uni-Blank No. 18 ($13.75) with 6mm guide sheet
- Pen: Sailor 1911 Kagero Green MF (Pen Boutique Exclusive) ($220)
- Ink: Robert Oster Australis Tea ($17 for 50ml bottle)
DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge by Pen Boutique for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
Oooh, that green is gorgeous!