Identify A Pen? With Pictures!

[AnonymousMuggle]

Hey fountypenners!

 

Gotta start off, I'm not too sure this is where this post belongs, but I'm pretty certain this pen is from China, so...

 

I got this pen a couple summers ago when I was back in Singapore visiting family. When my grandma heard that I was interested in fountain pens, she gave it to me, since she doesn't use it much. Apparently she got it in Hong Kong or China around when I was born (1998), and she mentioned it was some sort of Hero brand pen. I was wondering if any of you had seen it before. I know enough Chinese to be pretty sure that the 金星 on the metal pushy-thingy (out of focus, sorry) means Gold(en) Star - is that a subsidiary of Hero?

It feels like a pretty nice pen, the body is cloisonné. The nib and reservoir are in kind of rough shape. The nib is really hard (I wonder what material it is made of) and makes a fine, though sometimes skippy line. It is scratchy to the point of sometimes cutting the paper! Also, the rubber bladder for the ink likely hasn't been replaced for ages, is that a problem?

 

Lots of questions here, I know, but anything would help a lot! I was just curious if I could put a name to the pen I've been using for the last couple days while waiting for my new Pilot Metropolitan (I lost my beloved Safari last week).

 

Anyway, thanks a lot in advance,

AnonymousMuggle

Edited April 29, 2014 by AnonymousMuggle

[Mr. Pink]

Wish I could help, but I don't know anything about Chinese pens.

 

It is quite striking, though I'd be cautious about bringing it into the locker room

Edited April 29, 2014 by Charles Rice

[basterma]

That is one crowded pen. Intricate work.

 

Your picture of the writing on the convertor is blurry because the focus locked onto the barrel. To get the writing on the convertor in focus, take the picture again, but without the barrel. The focus should then lock on the convertor.

[AnonymousMuggle]

Hacked the iPad camera by Frankensteining a broken camera's zoomy lens onto it with sticky tack. So here's more detail on the nib and converter.

[disillusion]

It looks a bit like this item http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.335.utOusx&id=38104642948 but this one has "12K" marked on the nib. And the clip resembles a Parker arrow. Maybe they were sold with steel nibs too? I think Golden Star is one of the older pen factories in Beijing, and is not really a subsidiary of Hero.

 

Edit: this one seems closer to yours http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.67.hBvAIn&id=19269976157

Edited April 29, 2014 by disillusion

[AnonymousMuggle]

Wowzers disillusion! That looks spot on, except for the nib, but mine's probably just an older model. I'm sorry but my Chinese is not very good at all. Would you know if the model name is anywhere on the page? The extent of my reading is "golden star fountain pen" and that the pen has something to do with Beijing

 

Could it possibly be 景泰蓝 910 or is that something entirely different? I gotta work on my 漢字 more!

 

Thanks,

AnonymousMuggle

Edited April 29, 2014 by AnonymousMuggle

[disillusion]

I think it is called "金星 景泰藍 910". 910 is the model number. 景泰藍 is the Chinese term for cloisonné I think.

I have seen other Chinese pen manufacturers make 景泰藍 fountain pens, including Hero. In general they are more expensive compared to other Chinese pens. If you search for 景泰藍鋼筆 on Taobao you will find quite a few examples.

Edited April 29, 2014 by disillusion

[AnonymousMuggle]

OK, thanks a bunch! That was just what I wanted to know.

[Seele]

This is indeed a cloisonne pen by Golden Star of Beijing based on a section used by quite a variety of pens. The firm was not related to Hero at all, and was started in Shanghai in 1932 by three Korean brothers, Kim Seong-keon, Seong-mun, and Seong-bin. They gradually sold the firm to Chinese interests and it became a fully Chinese-owned company. In 1952 a branch factory was established in Beijing, at first assembling pens from CDK kits from Shanghai, but soon after they started acquiring local parts manufacturers, so their products diverged from the Shanghai counterparts. In the 1960s, Golden Star Shanghai started to diversify into the manufacture of television sets, and finally abandoned pen manufacture altogether, thus making Golden Star an exclusively Beijing pen brand.

 

It is worth noting that apart from Golden Star, the firms were also known as Kin Sin, or more recently, Jinxing; the Chinese name remained the same.

[Dickkooty2]

Re:"Golden Star". Background.

 

http://s271.photobucket.com/user/dick168/media/ScreenShot2014-04-29at62541AM_zpsb60c517d.png.html?filters[user]=139176284&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0

 

From this previous FPN post:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/250847-wds-vintage-golden-star-26-frankenpen/