Sakura Gelly Roll Metallic Gel Pens Review: Shimmery Ink With a Few Caveats

Introduction

Sakura’s Gelly Roll line has been a staple in the gel pen world for years, and the Metallic variant is the shiniest expression of it. Available in a 1.0 mm tip with 14 standard and jewel tone shades, these pens are infused with shimmering, reflective silver glitter that gives the ink its metallic finish. They are inexpensive, widely available individually for roughly $1 to $3, and sold in packs of various sizes, including the largest 16-color cube with all 14 shades plus an extra gold and silver pen for around $20 to $25.

The key question is whether the metallic formulation suits your kind of journaling. After several years with these pens, here is what holds up and what does not.

Design and Packaging

The pens come in the classic Gelly Roll clear plastic bodies, so you can see exactly how much ink is left. The distinguishing feature of the Metallic version is the cap: it is color coordinated to match the ink inside and finished with a silver glitter coating, which makes picking out a shade quick and, admittedly, fun.

Sakura has also released a newer retractable Gelly Roll in a 0.8 mm tip, but only in a limited shade selection. Those are a separate product, and the capped originals remain the option with the fuller color range.

Ink Performance on Different Papers

The formulation is one of the more impressive things about these pens. The inks are archival, water resistant, water-based, and resistant to fading and feathering. More notably, they show up on both light and dark paper, and they can write on matte and glossy surfaces such as photographs.

On lighter stock, I have used them on Leuchtturm1917 80 GSM paper, Notebook Therapy’s 160 GSM white paper, and Archer and Olive’s 160 GSM white paper. There was no bleedthrough on any of these, with only slight ghosting on the thinner Leuchtturm paper. On Archer and Olive’s 150 GSM black paper, the shimmer really comes into its own.

That said, some shades are hit or miss on saturation. Gold, copper, emerald, blue, and silver look vibrant on both light and dark paper. Burgundy, sepia, hunter green, and blue black are the disappointments: they are not saturated enough and read as dull, which is surprising given that muted earthy and jewel tones are usually the shades that work best. The neutral shades simply do not pair well with this metallic formulation, though they do still show up on dark paper.

Writing Experience and Longevity

The pens live up to the Gelly Roll name when it comes to smoothness. Ink flow is consistent, skipping is rare, and they are genuinely easy to write with. Despite owning most of these for years, I have not experienced drying out or scratchiness.

One important storage note: keep them horizontal. When I kept a gold and copper pen standing upright in a pencil cup at work, the glitter particles settled at the bottom, and only the watery base came out when writing. Laying the pen back down did not restore the mixture, and the pen had to be replaced. Every pen I have stored horizontally still works perfectly.

Should You Buy Them?

Whether these are worth picking up depends entirely on whether you like metallics. If you plan to use them on both light and dark paper, I would really only recommend the strongest shades: gold, copper, emerald, blue, and silver. You do not need all 14 unless the remaining colors genuinely appeal to you.

My own usage pattern is telling. I originally bought them for a black bullet journal, and once that habit ended, I stopped reaching for them entirely except for the gold and copper. Metallic accents have a narrow but real place in a journaling setup.

If you want to experiment with metallic gel pens, though, these are affordable, well made, and offer a fair shade range to try.

Conclusion

The Sakura Gelly Roll Metallic pens deliver smooth, consistent writing, an archival water-resistant ink with real shimmer, and genuine versatility across light, dark, glossy, and matte surfaces. The weaknesses are specific: a handful of dull, under-saturated shades and a strict horizontal storage requirement. For fans of metallic ink, especially on black paper, the core shades are an easy recommendation.