Ink Review #1351: Sailor Ink Studio 224

The original Sailor Ink Studio collection included 100 inks, but recently they retired three inks and introduced three new ones, including Ink Studio 224. I purchased my bottle of ink from Pen Chalet (aff. link).

The color:

224 is a light grey base with purple and green shading.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink has drool-worthy shading.

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: high shading, no sheen, and no shimmer.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was some feathering and just a little bit of bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

224 is a little darker than Sailor Ink Studio 123 and very similar to Maruzen Athena Ginkan. Click here to see the Sailor inks together, and click here to see the grey inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Pilot Custom 74 Teal with a medium nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink had a dry but watery flow. The ink is dark enough to read easily, but leans more toward the purple shading than the green.

Overall, I love this ink but it’s not perfect. The shading is fabulous, but it’s a bit dry for me, and can benefit from a drop of White Lightning (ink additive) or something similar. It’s also pretty pricey per ml so you probably don’t need both 224 and 123 unless you’re ink addicted like me. Out of 224 and 123 I would choose 224 just because it’s a little easier to read.

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.