Sailor Specialty Nib comparison: Before after 2015 and after 2025

Sailor has finally brought back the Sailor Specialty Nibs in 2025 after they were supposedly discontinued in 2015, briefly back in 2018, and then gone.

The last time I wrote about the Sailor Specialty Nibs was back in 2020 after I had bought the Sailor Cross Concord.

The nibmeisters

The first series of Sailor Specialty Nibs were made by Nobuyoshi Nagahara, the guy who invented the Naginata-Togi nib and Cross Point nib. He worked at Sailor for over 60 years until he retired in 2011.

Nobuyoshi Nagahara's son Yukio Nagahara took over the fountain pen production and worked until 2020 when he also retired, and started his own company The Nib Shaper.

The generations of Sailor Specialty Nibs

If I am not wrong, there should be three generations of Sailor Specialty Nibs so far, as of 2026.

• First gen before 2018: Cap's gold trim is thicker, "SAILOR JAPAN FOUNDED 1911" words embossed in gold against gold
• Second gen after 2018 to 2025: Cap has top and bottom gold trim, "SAILOR JAPAN 1911 SPECIAL NIB" words embossed in gold against black
• Third gen 2025: Cap has top and bottom gold trim with threads, "SAILOR JAPAN 1911 SPECIAL NIB" words embossed in black against black. There are also two rows of little extrusions.

Words on the 2nd gen cap can clearly be seen, and words on the third gen cap are difficult to see.

Price

Below are the pens that I have and prices that I had paid at the time of purchase, including shipping.

• Sailor Cross Emperor (USD 515, ~SGD 667 ) - First gen
• Sailor Cross Music (USD 563, ~SGD 729) - First gen
• Sailor Fude de Mannen (USD 475, ~SGD 615) - First gen
• Sailor Cross Concord (SGD 880, ~USD 646) - Second gen
• Sailor King Eagle (SGD 3297, ~USD 2500) - Third gen

I've seen the 2025 Sailor King Eagle being listed at USD 2000 or €2000.

Back when I purchased the first generation Sailor Specialty Nibs, the prices were around USD 500 - 600. Today, these pens have the following prices, as listed on local Singapore fountain pen shop Asethetic Bay:

• Sailor Fude de Mannen (SGD 1799, ~USD 1389) - 2.9 times more
• Sailor Cross Point (SGD 2158, ~USD 1667) - 3.2 times more
• Sailor Cross Music (SGD 2158, ~USD 1667) - 2.9 times more
• Sailor Cross Concord (SGD 2158, ~USD 1667) - 2.5 times more

If you're in Singapore, the other shop to compare prices at is Fook Hing.

I wished I had bought more pens a decade ago. Prices of these Sailor Specialty Nibs have increased almost 3 times from the 1st to 3rd generation in the span of 10 years.

I was told the Sailor King Eagle was not released for the 2nd gen but is now back in the 3rd gen together with other Sailor Specialty Nibs in 2025. So when I saw the Sailor King Eagle being listed as available on Asethetic Bay's website, I was at the shop the next day. I've waited 10 years for this pen nib to appear and it finally did.

I paid SGD 3297 for the pen at the shop after a 10% discount. I was quite apprehensive and unsure of buying the Sailor King Eagle due to the insanely high price point, but went ahead eventually because this is an incredibly rare pen nib that can only be purchased when it's available. And all the Sailor Specialty Nibs I had bought years ago are now worth at least 3 times more. These pens can last forever and will only grow in value as those early generation pens are no longer being made.

The gold colour on the 1st gen look more yellow to me. Unless you have pens from different generation, you won't have anything to compare to.

2nd and 3rd gen pens have the metal inset inside the body.

This means the 1st gen's section cannot be used with 2nd and 3rd gen bodies.

This is the Sailor Zoom Nib with the 1st gen nib design. Note the frame, 1911 words, Sailor logo and the 21K and the Sailor words below.

This is the Sailor Cross Concord with the 2nd gen nib design. Note that the frame is gone. Just below 21K are the words Sailor Japan.

This is the Sailor King Eagle with the 3rd gen nib design. Note that the frame and 1911 words are gone. This is a much cleaner design and I'm not sure if it's a better design.

Photo from Pen Boutique

The new Sailor Specialty Nib designs seem to be in line with the Sailor Casual L nib designs.

See this video above on the Sailor Casual L.

So those who like the intricate nib designs are gonna be disappointed with the cleaner and more simple design.

Should you still buy the Sailor Specialty Nib today?

This is a difficult question to answer because it depends on the reason you're getting the pen for? Does the brand mean anything to you? Are you buying the pen because of the nib design and the lines it can create?

Sailor is a good brand but it has to have some special meaning for you to spend thousands of dollars on a pen. The prices have increased so much that it has become excessive and it's difficult to recommend the Sailor Specialty Nib at today's prices.

I definitely will not be buying the pens that I have at today's prices. I make a special except for the Sailor King Eagle because that's the last Specialty Nib pen that I want. There's also the Sailor King Cobra but I'm not too interested in that.

A stacked nib is great for drawing because it can create a variety of line widths. And for the Sailor King Eagle, you can create 5 line widths consistently with one nib. That's not something most pen nibs can do.

The fountain pen market is now flooded with many Chinese fountain pens, and stacked nibs are becoming more common and can be purchased for less than USD 100 on AliExpress. I don't think stacked nibs are that special anymore.

I only found out about these Chinese stacked nibs recently from my friend, and it was before I purchased the Sailor King Eagle. Had I known about these Chinese "King Eagles", I may not have purchased the Sailor. We're talking about a price difference of several thousands of dollars, so the pen better be special or have some special meaning.

If you just want a fountain pen for drawing, there is certainly no need to spend that much money today with these Chinese fountain pens.

It's like why would you buy a Sailor Naginata Fude nib for USD 1500 or more today when you can get Chinese fude nib pen for less than USD 100? Seriously.

Competition is tough in the fountain pen market today. Fountain pen companies have to think of how they can market their pens to make the pens feel special and valuable when the lines the pens create are the same.