Sailor 1911 Black Luster (sic) Ion-plating Warranty disclaimer

[The Good Captain]

I noticed the following disclaimer in the box of my Sailor 1911 Black Luster (sic) pen and would like comments, please.

20342

Are they just covering themselves, like Montblanc?

I don't think that 'standard' inks like Diamine; Pelikan 4001; Waterman; Quink and Sheaffer Skrip would do any harm whatsoever, so just wanted the opinion of you lot out there.
I can see their point but one might avoid certain inks in some pens anyway. No need to mention names!

[Quantum Sailor]

I have a pro gear in the same finish as the black luster. I have used pilot and diamine inks in mine with no issues to the nib. Someone probably used an ink that took the finish off of it. I don't actually own any Sailor inks but do own quite a few sailor pens and never had an issue with any inks in them.

Pelikan does the same thing too. I was talking with them about a nib on my m800 and they told me they will only guarantee correct operation with Pelikan ink.

[Laura N]

I read this as standard limitation of warranty language, which is legal in the US at least. I read it as Sailor saying that it knows that the plating can come off under some circumstances, and that it guarantees the plating integrity if you use Sailor inks, but not if you use other inks. I would read this, therefore, as a very specific instruction to use Sailor inks with that particular nib if you don't want to risk the plating coming off and not being covered under warranty.

I think that's fair. They are telling you in advance. And as noted, other companies do the same. I'll add Pilot to the list, which warns you not to remove the nib unit from the Custom 823, and says doing so will void the warranty.

ETA: I think Waterman and iron gall inks both are known for being acidic, so I wouldn't use either of those in particular. Sailor inks are very nice, by the way.

[mhosea]

I agree with Laura. Some inks do de-plate steel nibs. We've seen that happen, so it's not a stretch to think a gold nib can be similarly deplated by some inks. To me it suggests that they know some inks will damage the plating, but they either don't know which inks, can't tell you, or don't want to tell you which because they want to take the opportunity to push their own (mostly excellent!) inks. They don't think Sailor inks, which are thought to be alkaline, will do any harm to the plating.

Incidentally, they don't plate their "cross" nibs, and these don't look so very "yellow" to me, so I would guess that the 12.5% other metals in the 87.5% gold alloy are all white.

[sitsi]

How would they know if you used another ink? Is there a way?

[mhosea]

How would they know if you used another ink? Is there a way?

I suspect Montblanc has seen more than their share of pens clogged with India Ink, and that wouldn't take much effort to deduce, but as regards sensible fountain pen inks, I'm going to go with common sense on this one. I can't see them breaking out the ole mass spectrometer or gas chromatograph on trace residue. Would you invest in that to get out of some warranty action even if it would work? They might just ask you, though, and it's not beyond the realm of possibility that a manufacturer would conclude ipso facto that you had used another ink because of de-plating. I'm not saying Sailor would do that, just that it's a possibility. Most likely their intent is to alert you to the possibility so that you can protect your own pen and to reduce warranty claims. Like I said, inks that de-plate nibs are not mythical creatures. It happens. I wouldn't recommend Hero #232, for example. That's an IG ink, but maybe not all IG inks are alike in this regard. I don't know. What I find mildly interesting is that this is the first time I'm aware of Sailor mentioning the gold plating on their solid gold nibs.

[Laura N]

What I find mildly interesting is that this is the first time I'm aware of Sailor mentioning the gold plating on their solid gold nibs.

I did, too, so I looked up the pen, and it appears to have an unusual plating (http://www.nibs.com/sailor-1911-black-luster.htm). None of my Sailor gold nibs have had that plating color, and none have come with that warning either. I'm guessing something about that dark color plating may be unusually vulnerable to de-plating with some inks. I also note that in that same link, Nibs.com explicitly notes Sailor's "Sailor ink only" warning for would-be buyers.

[mhosea]

What I find mildly interesting is that this is the first time I'm aware of Sailor mentioning the gold plating on their solid gold nibs.

I did, too, so I looked up the pen, and it appears to have an unusual plating (http://www.nibs.com/sailor-1911-black-luster.htm).

Ah, thanks for the clarification. Once again, I agree. So, in other words, I still haven't heard of Sailor mentioning the gold plating on their solid gold nibs. :)

[The Good Captain]

Thanks for all the responses and advice, everybody. Having spoken to the shop owner, we agree that it probably isn't worth the hassle of using any other inks, just in case. And, as commented on, Sailor inks are nice! I've got the Blue-Black in it at the moment. Classy!

[Chrissy]

I haven't seen this with Sailor before, but I remember that Montblanc always used to say it. They probably still say that using other brands of inks in their pens voids the warranty. While they may only mean to imply that the use of non-fountain pen inks with ruin their pens and they won't be covered under their warranty, they might be unwilling to specifically mention those. It's probably easier for them to just have it refer to all inks.

Sadly I don't have any Sailor pens so I don't know if they have plating on their gold nibs that comes off.

[Sailor Kenshin]

What I find mildly interesting is that this is the first time I'm aware of Sailor mentioning the gold plating on their solid gold nibs.

I did, too, so I looked up the pen, and it appears to have an unusual plating (http://www.nibs.com/sailor-1911-black-luster.htm). None of my Sailor gold nibs have had that plating color, and none have come with that warning either. I'm guessing something about that dark color plating may be unusually vulnerable to de-plating with some inks. I also note that in that same link, Nibs.com explicitly notes Sailor's "Sailor ink only" warning for would-be buyers.


It was only a blue Preppy, but Diamine Denim totally de-plated the nib. It can happen.