Stealth Mode – Engage!
Having had such a great experience with the Sailor Pro Gear Slim Sapporo I decided to step up to a mid-sized Pro Gear model. There are a lot of options from Sailor, but when I saw this one I was sold. The Professional Gear Imperial Black looks as ominous as it sounds – if it weren’t for the slew of Star Wars tie-ins with Cross I would have picked this pen for what Darth Vader might have used to sign his mortgage on the Death Star.
The pen has two qualities that really stand out at first glance–the satin finish to the black resin body and the beautiful Titanium ion plating on the clip, rings and 21k nib. Both of these give the pen a very modern carbon-like feel, like it was taken off the suspension of a Lamborghini Aventador and someone jammed a nib on the end. As mentioned, this is the mid-sized Pro Gear line with the King of Pens line being the largest. The step up from the slim is noticeable but not massive. The length uncapped only increases by about 3mm with the biggest change being the nib size and the section diameter.
Speaking of the section, you get a great grip on the pen with the small flare at the end and the matte finish – plus the extra diameter fits my grip much better and it’s only an extra 2mm. The cap has a nice subtle clip that opens easily and the trademark Sailor anchor on the finial, but the cap band is the highlight here. The wide band is engraved with the trademark “Sailor Japan Founded 1911” before it necks down to the body diameter. The cap screws down and is a snug push to post. While posting felt needed on the Slim model it is not needed here. The body has a nice balance to the tip unposted and posting the pen brings the balance back to center.
The 21k nib looks really slick with the ion plating over the usual 1911 engraving design. This includes the Sailor logo, anchor, 21k and 875 as well as the surrounding scroll work. The larger 21k nib feels much the same as the smaller 14k version on the Slim – stiff with just a little flex. This is great for work where I need to make notes on paper that hates fountain pen ink. The nib is precise and consistent without laying down extra ink that ends up bleeding everywhere.
The writing is smooth and the feed keeps up nicely when I am doodling away or jotting down ideas quickly. The Medium nib puts down a crisp line with that light feedback I love in Japanese pens. No hard starts or ink issues at all to report – it’s just a solid pen all around and part of my daily carry now.
