Fake Pens

[wspohn]

In one of my other areas of interest, watch collecting, the field is rife with Oriental fakes.

 

It has become so bad that a smart buyer will not buy ANYTHING from a vendor in Hong Kong and will regard other areas in the Orient (Singapore, India) with skepticism.

 

For some makes this extends to buying from anywhere in the world - Rolex, Tag, etc., are so widely faked that you buy the vendor, not the item, even if you pay a bit more. Fortunately I collect older watches and makes seldom faled.

 

My question is to what degree higher end pens have been faked. One assumes that the mainland Chinese will fake anything that will sell - hundreds of years of tradition and several factory deals with the Chinese that I've been involved with have convinced me of that. Which makes are commonly faked and to what degree are they in circulation - which ones in particular must one watch out for?

[maia]

Parker Sonnet, S.T. Dupont Orpheo (even the box, papers look the business), some Sheaffer, a few more maybe.

[*david*]

I don't have experience of this, but don't Mont Blancs get faked often (with varying degrees of success)?

[maia]

I don't have experience of this, but don't Mont Blancs get faked often (with varying degrees of success)?

LOL, don't even know why I missed that one

[Pendragon]

My question is to what degree higher end pens have been faked.  One assumes that the mainland Chinese will fake anything that will sell - hundreds of years of tradition and several factory deals with the Chinese that I've been involved with  have convinced me of that. Which makes are commonly faked and to what degree are they in circulation - which ones in particular must one watch out for?

A Google search on the terms "Mont blanc", replica and pen indicates that there is quite a lot of this sort of activity going on. Not too surprising, really. Of course, if a Montblanc is selling for around $70, it probably isn't real. The pictures of the pens looked very nice, but those could be photos of the real thing. Internet searches also indicate that DuPont pens are widely "replicated", as well.

 

Has anybody posted a review of a Montblanc replica anywhere on the net? It would be interesting to see how well they work, even if they are fake.

 

As with watches, the only sure-fire way of getting a genuine pen is to deal with a known reputable seller.

[Leigh R]

The night markets in HK are rife with fake pens, but so obviously fake you wouldn't get duped. The favorite seems to be Mont Blanc, followed by Dupont, then by Cartier (the Trinity thing). Oh, and Dunhill for some reason. Even the rollerball refills and the converters have fake Mont Blanc logos on them. If ever you'd buy them it would probably be more for the novelty value, as I did. The counterfeiters love to put logos on everything! Bags, watches, jeans... I remember seeing a customer going through a printed, bound full-color catalog - of fakes!

 

These fakes make it to Manila on a regular basis. The markets (even a couple of department stores) are full of them.

 

It makes me sad, actually, because the actual products themselves are not bad, and I would have liked them even more had they come under their own brand name, or even without.

 

I bought a couple because they were pretty, but I was never under the impression at any time they were real. I have since taken out the IPG nibs and replaced them with nibs stolen from bargain-basement Inoxcrom Handypens. I have also blacked out the snowcap thing with permanent marker, because it irritated me.

[*david*]

People have made snide comments regarding Mont Blanc and fakes, which I will not repeat here.

[winedoc]

Fake MB and fake Dupont, Parker I can understand... but a few months ago I discover there are fake Danitrio Maki-e. I guess you know you have make it to prime time when they start faking your stuff eh?

 

Here are some examples:

Fake "Imaginary Lions" Maki-e

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/winedoc/Fake%20Dani/1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/winedoc/Fake%20Dani/2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/winedoc/Fake%20Dani/3.jpg

 

Real Danitrio "Imaginary Lions"

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/winedoc/Fake%20Dani/shishi3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/winedoc/Fake%20Dani/shishi2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/winedoc/Fake%20Dani/shishi4.jpg

 

This one "Dragon" they copy directly from the book and have the nerve to take the fake one with the book

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/winedoc/Fake%20Dani/4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/winedoc/Fake%20Dani/5.jpg

 

Fake "Wild cherry blossom"

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/winedoc/Fake%20Dani/6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/winedoc/Fake%20Dani/7.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/winedoc/Fake%20Dani/8.jpg

 

Real "wild cherry blossom"

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/winedoc/Maki-e/Yuji%20Ohkado/tn_DSC02684.jpg

 

I don't think one needs to be a Maki-e expert to spot these fakes.

 

Kev

[kissing]

Here's my favourite article on Fake pens: (Parker Sonnet)

 

http://penhero.com/PenGallery/Parker/ParkerSonnetClones.htm

 

http://penhero.com/PenGallery/Parker/Pics/ParkerSonnetClones02.jpg

(the fake one is the top one and the original is the bottom one)

 

A personal question I have is...would parts, such as the barrel or cap fit on a real Sonnet?

 

(ie: The barrel of your (real) Sonnet is damaged, and you buy one of these fake Sonnets. Would the barrel from the fake fit on the original Sonnet?)

Edited July 9, 2006 by kissing

[theking]

I don't thinking anyone should worry about the fake pens from China. I saw them before, and they are so poorly made that you can spot it right away.

 

For a RB or BP pens, it's probably easy to fake. But fountain pens? I have not seen any good fake ones.

 

I saw some fake MB and Dupont on eBay. The people selling them probably have no idea what's going on. Even from the poorly taken pictures you can tell that those pens are fake.

[meanwhile]

I don't thinking anyone should worry about the fake pens from China. I saw them before, and they are so poorly made that you can spot it right away.

 

For a RB or BP pens, it's probably easy to fake. But fountain pens? I have not seen any good fake ones.

Well, yes - if your test is looking for poorly made pens to detect a fake, then you won't see any good ones! I think if you read the article on Sonnets above you will find that there are some very impressive fakes to be found.

 

I hadn't heard of fake Danitrios before - just Sonnets and Mont Blancs- oh, a possible on Sailors, of all things. That general luxury brand's like Dunhills are being faked doesn't surprise me. I'd wonder about Porsche, too - you see a lot of fake watches etc

bearing their name.

 

As a general rule, I'd guess any pen with a complicated filling or other visible mechanical systems will be safe - so there will no fakes of Pelikans, Lamy 2000s or VPs???

[Nimrud]

Counterfeiters look for top consumer brands, simple construction, cheap materials, inflated prices. You have a combination of all four, expect fakes to surface.

 

That said, why fake a Dani Trio? A mass-produced item is never going to look right. And if you had the skill and spent the time and effort and expensive materials to make something close, why not just make an original and sell it for more?

[*david*]

Counterfeiters look for top consumer brands, simple construction, cheap materials, inflated prices. You have a combination of all four, expect fakes to surface.

 

That said, why fake a Dani Trio?

Counterfeiters haven't read your four points above. They may see only the money, and the possibility somewhere of a gullible market.

[Nimrud]

Ah right, I made the mistake of thinking that perhaps they might actually be smart.

 

I mean, it does take a lot more effort and money to fake a Dani Trio poorly than to fake a Mont Blanc perfectly, and you might find more gullible buyers to buy the Mont Blanc than the Dani Trio.

 

You average gullible buyer are more likely to say: "Ah I recognise that white bird dropping mark... Mont Blanc of course ... and cheap too! I'll take five!".

Counterfeiter: Cha-ching! Woot!

 

Faced with the fake maki-e Dragon, a gullible buyer is more likely to say "Danny Who?"

Counterfeiter who's spent money and time: DOH!

 

This is not to knock Dani-trio (or MB for that matter). Dani-trio is such a specialised product that most people who would recognise a Dani-trio would recognise a necessarily poor imitation.

Edited July 9, 2006 by Nimrud

[wdyasq]

Idiots recognize "MontBlanc" as $expensive$. Few recognize Pelikans as a quality pen unless they are into fountain pens. Those who do will be more likely to spot improper workmanship and quality, IMO.

 

One will sell more fakes of "chic" products than they will of just good quality tools. There were fake Stanley #1 planes on the market years ago. The #1 was a salesman's sample. The fakes were complete to the point of new boxes and such. No one bothers to copy a #5 C or if they do they even put their own name on it to identify it as probably better quality than the original. The real craftsman doesn't care about the name on the tool. He cares about how it works.

 

I wonder how many older "good pens" are more the result of a "mechanic" who straightened and polished the nib, reworked the feed and generaly got a medocre pen into great shape.

 

Ron

[daveg]

I mean, it does take a lot more effort and money to fake a Dani Trio poorly than to fake a Mont Blanc perfectly, and you might find more gullible buyers to buy the Mont Blanc than the Dani Trio.

I lived in China for a while and a woman I dated wore a fake Swatch. I finally asked her: why a fake.... Swatch? She replied: It's fun. That's pretty typical. Fakes are so common there that there is little need to rationalize anything or select specific products to fake. With over a billion people, there's enough inexpensive labor to fake everything. Besides fancy stuff like watches and pens, you can buy fake screws and bolts. (Fake bolts - of greatly reduced strength - have even been discovered in jet airliners.)

 

Generally you can get anything in fake form in China. It doesn't matter if it's expensive or cheap or famous or obscure. I've seen fake items in China of such uncommon brands and/or models that I've never seen the real versions in person. Some of the "best stocked" watch stores I've ever seen had no genuine products.

[theking]

Actually, I know some of the factories that produce "fake" stuff China.

 

The truth is, those factory owners are not even sophisticated enough to consider the "Counterfeiters look for top consumer brands, simple construction, cheap materials, inflated prices" factor.

 

The reason for faking is often that they don't have a design and don't have their brand, so they just faithfully copy other designs. That's even really cheap and crappy brands are copied.

 

Also, as for the fake swatch thing. A fake swatch costs like $5 in China. That's still way cheaper than a real one.

[memphislawyer]

Well, that got me to wondering about some Maui Jim Kanaha sunglasses. I found them cheaper than $117 but the websites had no phone number and one, timeclub, had a bad reputation. One place, www.eyesave.com, at least had a decent enough Better Business Bureau and had their toll free on the website and then also had their local number on the BBB site. Now I know some manufacturers have authorized retailers that keep the price up, but I also know that some retailers order much more than they sell and syphon some off to friends to sell so that they can get lower per unit costs for the retail stores.

 

I found the brand I want for $117.99 vs. $150 in the store and then tax. I am a tad worried now about their authenticity, but I will pay by credit card and dispute it if they are fakes

 

Sam

[Dillo]

Here's my favourite article on Fake pens: (Parker Sonnet)

 

http://penhero.com/PenGallery/Parker/ParkerSonnetClones.htm

 

http://penhero.com/PenGallery/Parker/Pics/ParkerSonnetClones02.jpg

(the fake one is the top one and the original is the bottom one)

 

A personal question I have is...would parts, such as the barrel or cap fit on a real Sonnet?

 

(ie: The barrel of your (real) Sonnet is damaged, and you buy one of these fake Sonnets. Would the barrel from the fake fit on the original Sonnet?)

Hi,

 

That was written by our own AZ.

 

Dillon

[Garageboy]

Faux MB FPs are only $15 here in Chinatown..

Still, I'd rather get a Pelikano with those $15