Commissioned Sailor Pro Gear Maki-E

This pen is so rare that this might be the only one that you will ever see. This pen was commissioned by the Japanese Government for WW2 veterans. They were never commercially sold. The cap originally had no symbol on the cap but previous owner had it returned to the Sailor factory to have the anchor installed on the cap, a rather tasteful enhancement in my opinion. It is a combination of urushi, raden and Maki-e. There is a King of Pen model that is like this but I do believe that is resin based and the raden is certainly not as plentiful and there are gold leaves along the lanes of raden.

Appearance and Design - 10/10 - Some may call it garish. I call it art. The feeling of it in hand is like holding a priceless painting. Lively, animate, and a beauty. The raden complements and breaks up all the gold flakes. The flowers drift along lakes of gold. It almost feels like channeling beauty from the pen onto the paper.

Construction And Quality - 10/10 - Beautiful. When seeing designs like these from sailor I always think that the gold flakes are going to fall off somehow, but the urushi makes it feel so solid and warm.

Weight and Dimensions - 10/10 - fits super well into my hands, but i have small hands so...

Nib and Performance - 10/10 - An excellent everyday writer and a bit flexible. I'd say about the same as any Sailor 21k nib.

Filling and Maintenance - 10/10 - I'm a chronic ink changer so converters are actually amazing for me.

Cost and Value - ??? - It's so hard to put a price on a pen with a history and design like this I really can't say with any definite surety.


The more I talk about it the more I regret selling it. I remember dreaming about pens like this, but money is money so it had to go... I mainly wrote this review so that it can be referred if anyone is looking for some pen candy or is looking for something like this. It exists and it's a beauty to behold.

That is gorgeous... not garish!

Thanks for posting the photos.

How do I miss this? Gorgeous pen!