What Chinese Pens Are You Using Today?

[richardandtracy]

Kaigelu 316 Charcoal. While on leave last week I took 2 pens with me - this one & it's black & white equivalent from Parker. Both were lovely, though there is more gold plating on the older Parker now.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[TMac]

Using my Kaigelu 316 Amber, inked with Herbin Vert Empire. I really enjoy this pen!

[lemanfan]

Using and abusing my BAOER 100.

[alc3261]

I liked the Kaigelu 316 so much I bought a 367 as well.

[lovemy51]

Yiren (with the big interesting clip)

[Sailor Kenshin]

I think I am in biiiig trouble. Just discovered xfountainpens. ;p

 

 

So I've heard a lot about them, thought they looked interesting, nice prices, but last week on a whim I searched Amazon for fountain pens and a vanilla 'kurve' came up for under $14. prime, too!

 

But by the time I went to get it it was gone. *waaaaaaa*

 

However, on the same page were five of those same pens, vanilla included, for $40! And a mini-bottle of ink!

 

The name is Bulow, The model is X450, which I hear is a rebranded Jinhao or something. I am sure you can enlighten me.

 

They look wayyyy toooo goooood. the one I dip- tested in J Herbin Cafe des Isles (lburgundy leopardskin) writes smoooooth.

 

I am in serious danger of buying more from them. Especially since I just culled over a dozen fountain pens from my collection.

[Seele]

For the past few days: Golden Star 565. Hooded nib from Beijing (offshoot of the original Shanghai-based firm) but the ink feed system was designed by an exceedingly pedantic man it seems!

[Flounder]

For the past few days: Golden Star 565. Hooded nib from Beijing (offshoot of the original Shanghai-based firm) but the ink feed system was designed by an exceedingly pedantic man it seems!

 

What a surprise! A hooded nibbed, PFM shaped and capped pen with an inlaid thingy that looks better made than a 61 arrow?!?! I will have to look out for reviews and listings of this.

http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/jw!4F4Eq0CVQUCFZXKkW0R_jqM-/article?mid=6462&prev=6629&l=f&fid=66&sc=1

[lovemy51]

For the past few days: Golden Star 565. Hooded nib from Beijing (offshoot of the original Shanghai-based firm) but the ink feed system was designed by an exceedingly pedantic man it seems!

 

What a surprise! A hooded nibbed, PFM shaped and capped pen with an inlaid thingy that looks better made than a 61 arrow?!?! I will have to look out for reviews and listings of this.

http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/jw!4F4Eq0CVQUCFZXKkW0R_jqM-/article?mid=6462&prev=6629&l=f&fid=66&sc=1

very interesting pen!! i'll have to hunt for one!

 

thx for the mention and the link, Seele and Flounder.

[de_pen_dent]

I have 3 inked up at the moment:

 

- Kaigelu 316: this has Diamine Evergreen in it. I am not super wild about this pen. The nib is smooth enough, but it writes just a touch dry for my liking. The Evergreen is a nice, dark crisp green on my Ranga Ebonite Bamboo pen, but a fairly light green with this pen

 

- Jinhao General: I am not particularly wild about the silvery-chrome appearance of the pen. But wow, is that nib smooth? Have PR Burgindy Mist in it, and while the ink itself is nothing to write home about, the Jinhao is a fantastically smooth writer, with just the right amount of flow

 

- Baoer Skywalker: Another pen that blows my mind about how good it is, for the price. I was planning on switching the nib with a 78G which I have on order, but no way that is happening now. The stock nib is absolutely fabulous, putting out a M-F line. PR Electric Blue looks really nice in it!

 

The writing quality of the latter 2 pens wouldn't be out of place in pens costing $100-200, they are that good.

[richardandtracy]

Am I alone in wanting to use a pen everywhere? This week I have been on leave and between visits to tourist attractions with the kids I have been making a slate roof on a building my wife & I started in March.

 

Over the last week I have been carrying a K356 with me. In the heat and humidity (well, 25C is hot for the UK) I have needed to use the pen while up on the roof after dropping my Sharpie permanent marker. The k356 writes adequately on slates so I can mark where to cut them, but now the paint on the section has bubbled up. I had nothing on my hands apart from slate dust, some residue from the Sharpie and the ever present blood & sweat (literally). However the section now looks pretty horrible just where my fingers go. I'm a bit disappointed as I had the pen with me because it looked like the most bullet-proof pen I have.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[lemanfan]

Just got a dark red Jinhao X450 today. It doesent beat my expensive european pens, but for five pounds, what can you expect? A really nice pen, currenlty filled with Diamine Imperial Purple.

[rwilsonedn]

A NOS Beijing Jinxing 28A that arrived recently. A very peculiar but surprisingly elegant pen.

At first glance it appears to be a bulb filler. But it turns out that the barrel is in two pieces: a piece that threads into the section, and a blind cap. If you take the blind cap off, you expose what appears to be a blub, complete with breather tube. But if you remove the other part too, you find out that there's actually a full sac in there: it's an aerometric-style squeeze filler, but without the customary sac guard!

Anyway the pen is large, glossy black plastic, and light in weight for its size. The nib is quite large, matching the rest of the pen nicely. And the behavior is rock-solid and elegant. Writes every time, even after a weekend off, no skipping or flooding. And that nice, precisely-balanced large-pen feel. Impressive!

ron

[TMac]

I have two new welcome additions to the stable.

 

A Baoer 508 inked with Noodler's Midnight. Great writer out of the box.

 

Just inked a Jinhao x750 with Chesterfield Smoked Topaz. This pen is the Shimmering Sands version. Photos don't do this pen justice.

 

I am really amazed at how well these pens write. I have purchased pens that cost over 10 times what one of these cost and not been as impressed with the writing experience.

[Kugelschreiber]

Hero 389. If not the best Chinese pen I have, certainly my favorite.

[Seele]

For the past few days: Golden Star 565. Hooded nib from Beijing (offshoot of the original Shanghai-based firm) but the ink feed system was designed by an exceedingly pedantic man it seems!

 

What a surprise! A hooded nibbed, PFM shaped and capped pen with an inlaid thingy that looks better made than a 61 arrow?!?! I will have to look out for reviews and listings of this.

http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/jw!4F4Eq0CVQUCFZXKkW0R_jqM-/article?mid=6462&prev=6629&l=f&fid=66&sc=1

very interesting pen!! i'll have to hunt for one!

 

thx for the mention and the link, Seele and Flounder.

 

You are most welcomed! Golden Star (AKA Jinxing or KinSin) made some of the finest pens in China, both in terms of functionality and workmanship. In the 70s a lot of Chinese makers experimented with ostensibly higher-end materials, a few tried cloisonne enamel but Golden Star did the best job. They also made pens with wooden barrels, and those covered in real snake skin too...

 

The firm also had an extensive range of other hooded-nib pens as well, I am trying to land a few too; this one was found on eBay, used, and at $10 shipped I could not resist it, even though it took me a whole day to clean out the gutful of dried ink inside! Apparently the 565 is exceedingly rare, lots of collectors within mainland China are looking for examples in any condition but still without success.

 

P.S. It's been said that during the time when both firms were operational, the Beijing firm sourced parts from Shanghai, so they were marked differently. Shanghai-built units were marked "KSPC" (Kin Sin Pen Co) while Beijing-built ones were marked "GSPC" (Golden Star Pen Co). It is also possible that GSP could have stood for "Golden Star Peking".

Edited August 28, 2012 by Seele

[Bluefinntuna]

A NOS Beijing Jinxing 28A that arrived recently. A very peculiar but surprisingly elegant pen.

At first glance it appears to be a bulb filler. But it turns out that the barrel is in two pieces: a piece that threads into the section, and a blind cap. If you take the blind cap off, you expose what appears to be a blub, complete with breather tube. But if you remove the other part too, you find out that there's actually a full sac in there: it's an aerometric-style squeeze filler, but without the customary sac guard!

Anyway the pen is large, glossy black plastic, and light in weight for its size. The nib is quite large, matching the rest of the pen nicely. And the behavior is rock-solid and elegant. Writes every time, even after a weekend off, no skipping or flooding. And that nice, precisely-balanced large-pen feel. Impressive!

ron

 

I am intrigued with the Jinxing 28 and am thinking of getting one. Is the nib flexy or hard as a nail. Thank you.

 

And I have 4 Wing Sung 612's inbound.

[Seele]

I am intrigued with the Jinxing 28 and am thinking of getting one. Is the nib flexy or hard as a nail. Thank you.

 

And I have 4 Wing Sung 612's inbound.

 

Bluefinntuna,

 

I like the Wing Sung 612 but I hope you also have one or more 612A models in that lot of four as well; bogus 612 examples have since been identified, FYI.

 

The Jinxing (Golden Star) 28 models - colloquially known as "Big Golden Star", along with the 26 known as "Little Golden Star", are far from unique in China; many manufacturers produced similar models. A brief search online shows brands such as Long River (Yangtze), New Village, Guanleming, Heilong Jiang, Ever, and others including some slightly dodgy brands which were trying to get a bit of the reflected glory from Golden Star by having names ending with "Star". The well-known brands like Wing Sung also made them such as model 590 too. The earliest ones tend to have 12K gold nibs and marked on the nibs as such, but they tend to cost big money.

[lovemy51]

today: Jinhao Century I, white with black and ivory stripes.

[richardandtracy]

Kaigelu 356 today.

 

Lovemy51, how are your Jinhao Century pens bearing up to wear & tear? The furniture plating on my blue one looks a bit tatty, but the acrylic is standing up brilliantly.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.