Writing with Sailor's New 14k and 18k 1911L

In December 2025, Sailor announced that their 1911L 21k gold nibs would be getting discontinued and replaced with a 14k nib and an 18k nib. Sailor’s famous 21k gold nibs will continue to be found on their flat-topped Pro Gear models and their beloved King of Pen models. Here's a collection of Sailor 1911L Fountain Pens!

We recently used our Yoseka Nib Log to look at all 7 nib sizes in the 14k and 18k nibs and here's what they looked like! 

Why this change?

There’s been a lot of speculation about this change and while Sailor hasn’t said much on it officially, we do know that Sailor and other fountain pen brands have had to increase prices a number of times in the past 5-6 years due to the increasing price of gold with their most recent increase going into effect in February of 2026. On the same day these 1911L 14k and 18k nibs were released, Sailor also released a pen called the “Pro Gear Anchor,” celebrating the 21k nib. And in the summer of 2025, re-released their King Eagle 21k nib which had previously been unavailable 

From their decisions to keep the 21k nibs in their Pro Gear models and King of Pens and their decision to bring back Specialty Nib models that use a lot of gold to produce such as the King Eagle, paired with their most recent price increase, it would make sense that Sailor is trying its best to create a tiered price range to keep their pens attainable and at the same time, preserve their signature 21k gold nibs.

We think it’s a somewhat strategic decision that allows Sailor to keep their famous 21k nib in production as a nod to their legacy while coming to grips with the fact that the price of gold will make it increasingly difficult for the average fountain pen user to purchase the 21k nibs and maybe gold nibs at all. We predict that we’ll continue to see Sailor make the beautiful pens that we’ve all come to know and love from Sailor in all the gorgeous colors but that these will probably be coming out in the 1911L 14 and 18k nibs instead of the Pro Gears, which will be reserved for the more “standard” colors and special finishes.

Be sure to check out the video for full writing samples of these nibs!