As I spoke about in my recent fountain pen day haul post, one of my recent purchases was the Sailor 1911 Hoshizora, which is a Cult Pens Exclusive. 

As a big fan of Sailor pens I’d been eyeing the 1911 for a while, as it was a model I didn’t already own. I’d initially been looking at the Ivory 1911, but when I spotted the Hoshizora a while back, I knew it was the one for me…I just had to wait for a sale! 

So I was delighted when on Fountain Pen Day this pen had 10% off, and I snapped it up! I’ve now had it for a couple of weeks, and I’m really loving it. 

The name ‘Hoshizora’ means ‘Starry Sky’ and is an apt name for this pen. The pen is semi-transparent and a stunning deep blue colour with gold flecks of glitter throughout, and gold hardware to match. 

Size-wise, at first glance I’d thought the 1911 was going to be smaller than the Sailor Pro Gear, but when placed side-by-side, it turns out the 1911 is taller, but significantly slimmer (this is the standard sized 1911 – I believe there’s a larger version). It even looks slimmer than the Pro Gear Slim!

It has a classic cigar shape to it, but is definitely on the smaller side of cigar-shaped pens: here it is beside the Platinum #3776 and an Esterbrook Estie. 

It does feel quite narrow and lightweight in the hand, which I personally don’t mind, but perhaps wouldn’t be to everyone’s taste. 

The nib is a classic Sailor 14K gold nib, and I chose it in medium, because I didn’t already own a Sailor medium nib. It’s a beautiful writer, and very smooth, which isn’t necessarily what I’d expected in a Sailor pen. It still has a hint of the usual Sailor feedback, but I’d say to get the proper Sailor nib experience I’d recommend going for the medium-fine, or lower. There was definitely a bigger difference between the medium-fine and the medium than I’d expected, as the 1911 seems like quite a wet writer. Whether that is just this individual nib though, or the ink I’m using, I couldn’t say for sure. 

I have it inked with Diamine Aurora Borealis, my favourite teal ink. It isn’t an exact match for the blue of the pen, but it makes for a nice pairing, and is also star-themed! I’m not generally a huge fan of dark blue inks – they remind me of the blue black ink you get in a lot of ballpoint pens. But I might have to try a few out to find a perfect match for this pen, or I could ink it with a nice sepia or shimmery gold ink to go with the gold glitter.

Overall, I’m really pleased with this pen though, and I’m glad it finally made its way from my wishlist to my hand. Whilst aspects of the nib were a little unexpected, it’s amazing to write with, and an absolutely stunning pen that I’m very pleased to have in my collection. 

So what do you think of the Sailor 1911? Are you a fan of Sailor in general?