For months, I have been looking at the Sailor Pro Gear Slim 2024 Celestial Grey EF ($280) on the JetPens site. It is one of the last places that had one in stock and the price was more 2024 than 2026. However, I have been on a budget and even at the reasonable 2024 prices, the Celestial Grey was still pricey.
So, on Sunday, with the window still open on my laptop, Bob says, “Hey, hon… I have a little present for you.” And he pulls a bubble wrapped packed from his backpack and puts it in my hand. I open it seeing the “Sailor” logo on the side of the sleeve and look quizzically, “You didn’t?!?!” and he said “I did.”
I slid the navy box from the white sleeve and popped the lid open and immediately ripped the plastic wrap from the pen and held it to the light. “It’s so pretty!!!”
The Celestial Grey is a dark, translucent grey with sparkles. It’s a distant cousin to the Whisper of the Witch Pro Gear but without the custom nib and end cap and several hundred dollars cheaper.
Bob smiled and I hugged him. (Good husband!) And then carried the pen around with me all day. I introduced Celeste (yep, she has a name now) to her cousins Stardust Galaxy and Purple Lamé.
I told him I would fill the pen on Monday because I needed to think about what color I wanted to use.
Late on Monday, I decided to fill it with some purple ink I had from Pen BBS (don’t ask which color, it’s not in production anymore) and I started testing it. The nib is extremely smooth for being one of the finest nibs in my collection. Because so many of my planners and journals have tiny 5mm grid, I do tend to prefer finer and finer nibs. I also write small so finer nibs make sure my letters are legible and not blobs.
There is a slight line difference in the Sailor 14K nibs in EF and H-F nib width that remind me of a blade-style nib where there is some line variation between up-and-down strokes and side-to-side strokes. It’s visible in more script writing or the curly-q’s above. The 21k nib has a more uniform line width and is a little wider than the 14K H-F.
The EF Sailor 14K nibs can feel super sharp depending on your writing angle and have the most feedback (scratchy sound like a pencil on paper) depending on your angle, firmness in writing and paper choice.
I tested the pens on 68gsm Tomoe River and its gave lots of feedback with the EF nib. I’d definitely compare the Sailor EF to a 0.25-0.3mm gel pen tip. If you prefer a wider gel pen, than go for the H-F, MF or M nibs from Sailor. Its a special kind of crazy that likes these super sharp extra fine nibs. On other papers, the EF can feel smoother or even scratchier depending on the tooth or texture of the paper. My daily 52 gsm Tomoe River journal feels smoother with the EF than 68 gsm but it could just be my perception.
In the end, there are some times when using what you have is the best way to go. Other times, its really nice to have a new tool to love on. Happy new pen day!
This pen was purchased with real monies by my sweet husband. JetPens is a sponsor of this site but this pen was not gratis for the purpose of reviews. All opinions are my own.