The Sailor 50 States collection has been growing quickly in the last two months with North Dakota, Hawaii, Oklahoma, and Iowa. Today I’ll show off North Dakota and Hawaii and send a big thank you to Dromgoole’s for sending the ink to be reviewed!
Sailor Hawaii and Sailor North Dakota are a beautiful pair of inks – a multi-chromatic purple and a light mint green.
According to the package insert, Sailor North Dakota is “a soft green ink that brings to mind the vast grassy prairies home to the iconic bison hearts found in the state.” While I do love the color of this ink, I’m not sure it reminds me much of the color of grass. It is close to Robert Oster’s Elf’s Cap, although several shades lighter.
North Dakota on Midori MD paper:
North Dakota on Tomoe River 52gsm (TR7) paper:
North Dakota on Cosmo Air Light 83gsm paper:
North Dakota is a pleasant color, but unless it is used with a broad or stub nib, it will be difficult to read.
Sailor Hawaii, according to the package insert, is “a light blue ink with undertones of pink to represent the exquisite ocean sunsets enjoyed on this incredible island state.” Hawaii could pass as a periwinkle blue, but I would label it as a purple ink. It is very close to Sailor Manyo Nekoyanagi, although Hawaii has an addition of amazing shading and the various colors in the ink can be found even in writing.
Sailor Hawaii on Midori MD paper:
Sailor Hawaii on Tomoe River 52gsm (TR7) paper:
Sailor Hawaii on Cosmo Air Light 83gsm paper:
Hawaii is a gorgeous ink and the shading takes it to the level of need-to-have for me. Using it with a flexible nib, the ink is dramatic, and, being purple, perfect for me.
As usual, the downside of the Sailor 50 States collection is the price. Each bottle is sold at $25 for 20 mL of ink or $1.25 per mL, one of the highest prices in the ink market (excluding out-of-production or rare inks). However, the 50 States collection is perfect if you are looking for a thoughtful gift for a pen friend. Sending a bottle of ink representing a state with a special meaning could be a perfect present.
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided by Dromgoole’s for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
When will they make the Missouri ink? I’ve been waiting on it, hoping for it. It’s getting near the end too, isn’t it?
I’m curious, has anyone compared Hawaii to Haha as well? The blue edges remind me more of Haha than they do of Nekoyanagi although I can see why that was chosen as well.