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Where to start? Let's begin with the pen. It's the sterling silver model from Sailor's lineup. To date I hadn't paid much attention to it, being lured astray by their great Maki-e pens. But if you like metal pens, this one has a lot going for it. It's something different form most of the other sterling silver pens I've seen. It's smooth. That's right, not the tiniest hint of engraving or pattern machined into either the cap or the barrel, just simple, smooth polished sterling silver. It makes for a very clean and elegant looking pen, the design is carried by the lines and the material, without any help from any other elements. It's simple, but I like it. More than I thought I would when I heard it described to me over the phone.
The only drawback to this design is that the smooth surface collects fingerprints very easily. Smudges, too. It's the only thing I can find to dislike on the Sailor. You'll notice in the images, however, that it was already developing a bit of a patina as the silver tarnished. With a pen like this, you have two choices: Polish it daily, or simply allow it to develop a patina over the years. I'm in favor of the second course, I think it might end up looking better than a brightly polished version. That's individual preference, however. Feel free to polish away to your heart's content if that's what spins your wheels. For what it's worth, the silver on the cap and barrel polished out very nicely with a jeweler's cloth and some gentle rubbing. No serious effort was required to keep it shining, just remembering to hit it once a day with the cloth.
The weight is nice, about what I would expect from a solid silver pen. Maybe even a bit lighter than I might have thought. Certainly nothing too uncomfortable in use. The cap posts securely down on the barrel, and I found myself posting the cap in use, as the pen seems a bit short to me otherwise. This is what I would call a mid-sized pen, built on the same scale as the Sailor 1911 pens, it's about the same size as the Montblanc 146 or the Pelikan M800. A good, everyday "user" of a pen. It's a cartridge converter filler, with Sailor's excellent converter supplied in the box. The pen is also supplied with a couple of Sailor cartridges, and an instruction manual. The box itself is rather nice, in a simple sort of way. It's of lightweight wood construction, but very nicely made. The outside is sanded smooth, and the inside lined with a rich looking purple velvet material. The whole package is very attractive, and shows off the pen well, without going to the ridiculous lengths that some pen packaging does.
So, that's the pen. Now what about that nib? The Zoom nib is one of Sailor's "featured" nibs. Not just an ordinary nib, but at the same time, looking very ordinary indeed when viewed side by side with some of the more esoteric Nagahara nibs, the Zoom might get overlooked. That would be a real shame, because it's actually a very useful nib, with a couple of points to keep in mind. First of all, it's designed to give you a great deal of flexibility in your writing. No, don't get all excited, it's NOT a flex nib! It just allows you to do a lot of different things with it. Everything from a broad wet line to a very fine dry line. This is all accomplished through the way in which the tipping material is ground. By shaping it careful, Sailor has managed to come up with a nib that will put down a line of varying width depending upon how the pen is held in the hand.
Looking at the tipping material, you can see that the basic shape is a triangle, with the widest portion towards the paper. So, to begin with, we get a nice wide line if we hold the pen at a shallow angle to the paper. The higher the angle at which we hold the pen, the narrower the line. The tipping material is ground in a smooth curve, so you can actually get the pen almost straight up and down and still get a smooth, even line out of it.
Now, being a "big pen, big nib" kind of guy, I naturally preferred the wider line put down by this pen when held in my normal writing grip. It's a fairly plain line, no exciting line width variation or anything, but a nice writer for all that, with even ink flow and a wet line. The more you use the Zoom nib, though, the more you find yourself varying the angle at which you are holding the pen. You tilt it up and down a bit as you write, just to enjoy the changes in the line.
The Zoom nib is available on almost all of the Sailor lineup, everything from a simple "basic black" pen, to the highest end Maki-e. This is one of the things that I like about Sailor. You can pick your pen, and then pick your nib to suit. Or the other way around if you're like me. The Zoom nib almost demands being tried out in person before you buy it, but once you do, I think you'll agree that it's a great nib!
copyright 2002 Mike Stevens |
This
is going to be an interesting review.... The Sailor Zoom nib is an interesting
nib, after all, it deserves nothing less! But we received it mounted
on a very interesting pen as well. Lots of interesting stuff all at
once. We'll do our best not to get bogged down!
Now,
this isn't anything new. Many pens, both modern and vintage will vary
the line width depending upon how the pen is angled to the paper. What
is new, however, is the fact that the Zoom nib manages to be
so smooth in all those different positions required to get the most
out of it! Even when writing upside down (we'll get to that in a moment!)
it's very smooth. This makes for a pleasant writing experience no matter
what size line you happen to be after.
Turning
the nib over allows you to write with the upper surface of the tipping
material, which has also been ground down to forma writing surface.
This allows for a very fine line. Ink flow is much more sparing than
with the nib right side up, giving you a very dry line, but it's a steady
and even flow. No skipping or hesitating, which in my book is pretty
good performance from a nib being used upside down!
The
Zoom nib may not be everybody's cup of tea. It's not as "exciting"
as a great super flex nib, or as unusual looking as one of their Emperor
nibs. It does manage to be useful, though, if you find yourself wanting
to switch back and forth between two nib widths. It's also a just plain
great writing pen, as well. Even if you ended up only using it at one
angle, you would be getting one of the most consistent writers I've
tried in the last year.