Inktend / Ink library / Black
Sailor
Black
A Japanese ink house whose bottled inks are formulated for their own fine, precise nibs, with several well-known sheening colors in the lineup.
Specs
About Sailor
Founded in Hiroshima in 1911, Sailor is Japan's oldest fountain pen maker, known for precisely ground gold nibs and its own line of bottled inks.
Paper & pairing notes
As a near-neutral tone, it reads as professional and safe for anything from journaling to signatures. This ink will behave predictably on most fountain-pen-friendly paper. Cheap, highly absorbent paper (standard copier paper) will dull any ink's saturation and can cause feathering or bleed-through with wetter nibs.
Storing and using the bottle
Bottled fountain pen ink has an effectively long shelf life when kept capped and out of direct sunlight — most inks remain usable for years. The main risk isn't the ink spoiling, it's a pen sitting inked and unused for weeks: that's what causes clogs, not the ink's age.
Frequently asked questions
Similar shades
Color shown is a close digital approximation of a typical swatch, not a calibrated color match.