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The writing of the dragon snake may be natural, but the wording of the statement certainly isn't. I was ‘researching’ and browsing for something else, when I came across this: Source: Item listing on Taobao The endless scroll of marketing images in the item listing say, among other things: Source: Item listing on Taobao This looks like marketing collateral that came straight from Jinhao, and not advertising some after-market nib work. So, after all this time, it looks like a fountain pen manufacturer has finally stepped up to the challenge, and produce a very fine nib for a line width that is in the range Platinum previously published for its EF nibs, that is a standard option for the pen model and not custom ground. You can even order the nib in any of four different coloured finishes! The finest Chinese nib I've seen marketed to date, before this, is nominally 0.35mm EF (even though most Chinese EF nibs are nominally 0.38mm). As for nibs bearing European and American fountain pen brands, I don't think I've seen any brand advertise or commit to even 0.3mm. Parker speaks of an Extra Extra Fine nib that is available (specially produced on demand) only through its nib exchange programme, but in my experience that product is nowhere near fit for purpose. How this Jinhao nib — which, to my pleasant surprise, is labelled Extra Fine but not Extra Extra Fine or Ultra Extra Fine, while 0.35mm is Medium Fine, and so it is now adopting something closer to what nib width grades mean for Japanese nibs — will actually perform awaits to be seen; but I have every confidence it will better than what Parker can do.

This isn't a review of a specific pen but is a review of nib work done by Shawn Newton of Newton Pens (and this forum!) Let me start by saying that I am very demanding of my nibs. For the last few years, I have entrusted them to no one but John Mottishaw or Mike Masuyama. If a nib isn't perfect, I don't use it. There are many nib technicians out there but only a handful that are true nibmeisters. I had some work that I needed done, though. I didn't want to wait three to six months this time, so when I found out that Mike is not coming to the Dallas show this year, I knew I would have to make some hard choices. In the end I had three nibs that I sent to two new nibmeisters. I have written about one of those elsewhere, (it was a good experience) but my experience with the two nibs I sent to Shawn was phenomenal. I asked him to take two Jowo nibs and make them even finer than a Vanishing Point extra fine. From the beginning, Shawn's service was informative and fast. When he returned the nibs in the mail, he included the writing sample I had sent him, and I saw that he used the sample to judge the strokes and line quality of the nibs he was working on. Looking at his markings was almost like reading his thought process as he refined the nibs. These two nibs are absolutely fantastic! I have had them back for a month now and have used them on multiple papers and several inks. I've written in cursive and in print, large and tiny, slow and fast. They have never once skipped or hesitated, and they are glassy smooth. That is an almost impossible feat with nibs this narrow! I'm not exaggerating when I say that these two nibs are equal in every way to the nibs John and Mike ground for me. Great job, Shawn! You are a meister of nibs. You can find him at NewtonPens.com or here on FPN as Watch_art.