Sailor is known among fountain pen users for making technically superb inks, with excellent flow, no feathering, and no bleeding or show-through on ink-friendly paper. In our studio tests, we were able to confirm Sailor’s sterling reputation for ink chemistry. These are exceptionally refined inks, and we had zero issues with them across a variety of pens used in our tests.

Each Shikiori color is distinct, with surprising sheen in some colors and dramatic shading in others. Even if you own another blue-green, for example, the Shikiori version will add something new to your ink collection. We hand-painted swatches of each color on watercolor paper, so you can see how it looks in different concentrations and with different angles of light reflection.

This handsome box of Sailor-format cartridges features an outer box styled to look like a hardbound book, an inner plastic case that’s perfect for your pencil bag, and three cartridges, each printed with the color’s name.

Water-based dye ink (not lightfast.) Made in Japan.