Sailor Vestaere Takuya Leather Crafter Fountain Pen

This was one of my more recent purchase on 4 November 2023 at PenGallery. I was not sure about this pen as it did not pop out like the brilliant breathtaking Arco celluloid. But it was unique and I do love leather goods so it took some thought before deciding. 

The Sailor Vestaere was made in 2002. It is 21 years old. Older than my son. It is based on the Pro Gear 21K fountain pen and individually crafted and hand stitched by a Takuya Okamoto, a well known leather craftsman based in Tokyo. 

He is a highly sought after leather craftsman among Japanese pen collectors and leatherworks. He has gone to great lengths to conceal the secrets of his craft. His creations, which look so deceptively simple, belie much of the attention to detail and time spent to make them. 

Which is what attracted me to the pen n the first place. 

I am unable to share much details with you as to its performance as I had not used it since purchase. It has gone into storage. But users of Sailor fountain pens would be familiar in its writing performance.

Looks wise it is deceptively simple yet elegant. Holding the pen does takes a little getting used to as I am not used to holding leather as a writing tool.

Being clad in leather, it needs to be maintenance like leather goods. i.e. the occasional leather moisturiser.

Ok. The question. Why am I not using it? Why has it gone into storage.

Well the answer is a bit more complicated. Initially I was attracted to the pen due to the leather motif. But on 4 November 2023 whilst holding the pen and seeing my son mingle with the crowd at PenGallery getting more into fountain pens, I thought this would make a good Birthday gift for my son next year. This is provided that he likes it. He is at this phase in his age where is he is attracted to more colourful and brighter pen barrels.