Sailor Koi Supreme

Over time I've written about my love of fountain pens here and how I use them when writing, either in the burst of madness that is the National Novel Writing Month of November or for shorter pieces done at less insane paces.

I while ago I posted the picture to the right on facebook. They are some of my pens - all that fit in the box. There are others, and when I have another display case, I'll have a place to house, and present, them.

They are, from the left:

• Sheaffer Valor Fountain Pen
• Cross Year of the Dragon Special Edition
• Waterman Carène
• Edison Urushi Herald
• Delta Peace Pen Limited Edition
• Visconti Homo Sapiens - Bronze
• Sailor Koi Maki-e with Music nib
• Aurora Optima Marble
• Aurora Optima 75th Anniversary (Red)
• Aurora Europa Limited Edition
• Namiki Pilot Vanishing Point Ice Blue Limited Edition
• Namiki Pilot Vanishing Point Carbonesque Blue

The Edison Urushi Herald I've written about here. The Aurora pens - here. And I wrote about the Delta Peace Pen here - though I'll have to do a more through post on it sometime.

This time, I'm writing about the Sailor Koi Supreme and its Music nib. Once I saw the Koi I knew I was lost. I'm fond of the fish - I must be, I have a pair decorating my left shoulder blade. This pen is a beauty - the Maki-e lacquer technique creates an astonishing work of art, beautifully conformed to the shape and size of the fountain pen.

The artwork is such that the lines used to indicate the water line up when the body of the pen is screwed into the cap.

The pen is quite large, but beautifully light and perfectly balanced. As always, I use it un-posted (an artifact of being European, I learned a few years ago) and the pen glides smoothly over paper, laying down a generous line of ink.

The nib is a 21K gold Music nib. In the hands of someone with far more skill than I, the cut of the Music nib allows for both very thin and very think lines, all without having to vary the pressure as you might with a flex nib. I am not such an artist with a nib, but I nonetheless enjoy how the pen performs.

When I purchased it from Nibs.com I made the mistake of ordering some fine Sailor Blue-Black ink to go with it. A short time with the pen taught me that this one needed a deep and rich black. I contacted the seller, admitting my error and saying I'd order whatever they suggested might do as a good solid black for this pen.

They sent me, free of charge, this most wonderful Aurora ink. Deep velvet black. A perfect pairing for the pen.


As you can see below, the ink is laid down generously and it is very easy to develop a flourish - even if you're not quite the artist with a nib that so many fountain pen users are.

The pen, as art should be, is signed by the artist. Abalone is used in addition to powdered gold and bronze - it can be seen in the eye of the Koi and the bubbles around it.

All in all, a work of art that's a pleasure to use.