Ink Review #1207: Sailor 50 States California

Sailor recently announced a new collection of ink called 50 States, one ink for each state. So far they have only released two inks: California and Colorado, so let’s start with California today. I purchased my bottle of ink from Pen Chalet (aff. link).

The color:

California is a dark teal.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink looks darker and has some pretty black sheen.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry time: 20 seconds

Water resistance: Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: medium shading, high black sheen, and no shimmer.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was some feathering in most nib sizes and just a few dots of bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

California is closest to Diamine Smoke on the Water. Click here to see the Sailor inks together, and click here to see the teal inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Pilot Vanishing Point Galaxy with a medium nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink had a wet flow.

Overall, I really like this ink. It’s well behaved, has a wet flow and is a pretty color. The only downside is the high price-$1/ml is quite a steep price for ink.

Disclaimer: I purchased this ink myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. This page does contain affiliate links but this post is not sponsored in any way.