Sailor Clear Candy Fountain Pen - Fine Nib - Clear Gold Body

This pen provides a quality nib for the price. However, it may not be as solidly constructed as others in its price range. I was initially intrigued with the Clear Candy when I saw that they made a clear-body version, hoping I could convert it to an eyedropper. Unfortunately, the barrel is not airtight. While it is possible to seal it, I’m just not sure I want to go through the trouble and possibly ruin the pen.

The pen came with a Sailor cartridge and inked up quickly, though a little ink seeped out of the feed. I am impressed with Sailor ink. With it, the Clear Candy lays down a consistently even and dark line. Only time will tell about the construction of the pen. It doesn’t look like it will take much abuse. For a more durable pen that is an equally good writer, I recommend the Rotring Surf or perhaps Sailor’s other entry-level pen, the HighAce Neo.

It took between three and four minutes for ink to start flowing form the nib. It flows approximately a letter's worth of ink and then stops flowing. During the few seconds that ink is coming from the pen, it's difficult and scratchy to use. I tried several different kinds of paper with no success. The ink will not flow properly.

I would not recommend this pen to anyone. I don't know if it's the nib or the ink cartridge, but it's horrible. I realize it's an inexpensive fountain pen, but the Platinum Preppy pen (which is significantly cheaper) writes smoothly. I thought that the more expensive sailor pen (which has good reviews) would be better. Instead, it is a miserable pen to write with. I plan on checking what jetpens return policy is if I can't get it to work right soon.

What a impressive pen. When I first received it I was a little concerned because it felt a little cheap. That is, comparing it to the feel of a Safari it didn't feel as well constructed. But then again there is $8-$10 difference. Then I put the blue/black cartridge in and took it for a test drive. All of my concern was ripped away. This fountain pen is awesome. I guess I forgot that sailor (the king of fountain pen nibs) was behind the product. I think it is every bit as good of a writer as any one of the 8 safari's I own. I keep comparing those two pens because I think they fit the same market. I usually don't like to write with the cap posted but I found that fro me was the better way to go with this pen. It is a little light without it. But posted the pen is very well balanced. If you are looking for a fountain pen that won't break your heart if you loose it, have kids you want to introduce the fountain pen world to, are an adult and want to get into writing with fountain pens, or just looking to add another unique pen to your collection this is a wonderful choice. I haven't tried to fill the barrel with bottle ink yet but I believe that is the only solution unless you want to use the cartridges they designed for this pen. I am not anticipating it will cause a problem. Even sticking with the cartridges wouldn't be a deal breaker. They have a few fun colors and the blue/black the pen comes with is great and I also used the reddish/brown (purchased separately) and really enjoy both of the colors.

Wow - hard to believe this inexpensive pen writes almost identically to my $200+ Sailor Pro Gear. Great value - I may have to collect the entire set!

When I got this pen, I thought "fine," meant it would write like the HighAce Neo. I was wrong.

Here is a list of nibs Sailor puts in their pens:
Sailor Clear Candy: F-2
Sailor HighAce Neo: F-4
Sailor Desk Pen (extra fine): F-9 (EF) [You could probably ink a love-letter on a single piece of oatmeal with this.]

While I was surprised by the thicker nib, it is still what I would consider a "fine," point and it writes quite nicely. If you have a Lamy Safari, as I do, it would sit at about F-1 in the Sailor scale (you definitely get a slightly thicker and wetter line with the Safari). For me, the finer is the better - so the Clear Candy is now my carry-everywhere general pen; something I have been hesitant about using the Sailor HighAce Neo for due to its smaller size and thinner plastic shell.

Some other pluses:
*The fat body makes for comfortable long-term writing and note-taking and the non-notched barrel is nice.
*Clear! The HighAce Neo could have always used a window... but forget the puny little window, now you can get an entirely clear pen! It would be nice, however, if they started making these pens with the F-4 nib or even the F-9; if they did, I'd never write with anything else ever again.