Writing with a Sailor Zoom Nib

Sailor Pen of Japan hand-crafts a wide array of specialty fountain pen nibs. Only a small set, including standard writing points like fine, medium and broad, are distributed to the USA. Part of this core nib offering is the Zoom nib. Whereas the other writing nibs could be matched with a Western counterpart, the Zoom has no familiar analog.


Think of the Zoom nib like the zoom tool, it can either thicken or thin the line width by the angle that the nib meets the paper. For a double-broad, wet line, keep the nib at an acute angle to the paper. For a medium thickness, change the pen angle to about 45 degrees to the writing surface. To get a dry, thin line, flip the nib upside down.

In our short video demonstration, we show how the Zoom nib works simply by changing the way you hold the pen. It's like having 3 different point sizes with one pen!

The Sailor Zoom nib is offered in both the 14kt or 21kt style, depending on the model of Sailor pen you choose. The pen in the demonstration is the 21kt Sailor 1911 Large nib. The regular Pro Gear model also has the 21kt gold nib while both the 1911 Standard and Pro Gear Slim sport the 14kt gold.

If you have any questions regarding this nib, or with Sailor pens in general, please feel free to leave us a comment below.