Soft or Marketing?

We know of the existence of Sailor nibs labeled as S –particularly in the 1990s- instead of as H, as is more common. The obvious understanding of these two letters were soft and hard, although there is hardly any difference in their flexibility.

S-M and H-M nibs. Soft and hard? Different alloys?

Some further investigation, including some input from Sailor personnel, pointed out that S and H merely indicated different gold alloys.

But is that all?

The following Sailor Profit pen implements one such S nib, and also sports an interesting sticker on the barrel: 軟, nan, soft. Therefore, not only the nib is S, but the pen was also “soft”.

軟, nan, soft.

The point here is that S could mean almost anything of being just a code for, say, a specific gold alloy. But adding the ideogram for soft implies something more. Was it a marketing operation of some sort associated to those labels and stickers?

S but not soft.

But clothes do not make the man and labels do not change the flexibility.

Opus 88 – Caran d'Ache Electric Orange

Bruno Taut
January 31st, 2024
etiquetas: plumin, Sailor