A List Of Chinese Pen Brands

[Helen350]

I had a few Pai Li pens. One had a fabulously smooth XF nib. There were several models on eBay for a while, then they all disappeared at once. More than one seller told me they could no longer get them.

 

I have a pair of inexpensive Haolilai. They look like Jinhao 992s that went of a diet and lost their heavy metal belt. The one in the photo looks more expensive and quite distinctive. It reminds me of the L29 Cord automobile.

 

 

WOW! Fabulous car. The nib on my Haolilai is smooth as butter. Paid less than $4.00 for the pen, however, it is not a bad looking pen, and a real pleasure to write with.

[bob_hayden]

My Haolilai are among the few pens I kept from my early experiments buying fountain pens from China. There is nothing spectacular about them but they are good, reliable writers and show no signs of deterioration. I wonder if the company still makes pens. It's been a while since I have seen any on eBay.

 

I'm sorry if the photo of the L29 is distorted. This seems to be browser and OS specific. When I looked at the photo before posting it was fine but posting it led to its being scrunched left to right so it looked like a toy car. On my system, clicking on the image shows it full screen and undistorted. One thing about Cords that rarely shows in photos is that they were exceptionally low for their time. That round bulge below the radiatior is the transmission/differential unit mounted ahead of the engine. Yes, all Cords were front wheel drive -- amazing in 1929! With no driveshaft beneath the passenger compartment it could be lowered several inches compared to other cars of the day. You usually have to stand next to one in a museum to see that, though.

[RayTheron]

Great piece of research! I am also an avid, albeit recent, collector of Chinese pens as I find their quality and value for money exceptional. I have recently acquired Delike, Dollar, Coliarts, Moonman and SKB branded pens, all excellent writers from the word go. At the moment I also have a Pirre Paul's on order.

So good to see others also are interested in Chinese pens. As an old-age pensioner I cannot afford the famous brands... and sometimes when I see the snobbery associated with some collectors of these super brands, I don't really want to own a Monteverde, Waterman or the like, even though they are beautiful pens.

[Arkanabar]

Dollar is actually a product of Pakistan.

Edited February 9, 2020 by Arkanabar

[Hanoi]

awesome thread.

[BookWyrm]

I have a pair of fountain pens I recieved while in China, I believe in celebration of Inner Mongolia 50th anniversary. You can see one has been much loved and (ab)used!

 

Unfortunately, the nib of my precious didn't like greeting the tile floor (never letting anyone borrow it again!) and the loss of the iridium round on the tip transformed it into a very scratchy snub.

 

I'm hoping to find out more about them: brand would be great, model would be better. There isn't any marking on the 3mm nibs.  At the very least I'd appreciate some guidance on where to pick up some compatible replacement nibs!

[BookWyrm]

I was swapping the nibs and found the second does have a flower imprint and CHINA. Dunno if that's any help. 

[A Smug Dill]

Welcome to FPN.

 

11 hours ago, BookWyrm said:

I have a pair of fountain pens I recieved while in China, I believe in celebration of Inner Mongolia 50th anniversary.

 

The inscription translates to, “commemorating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Inner Mongolia University of Technology”.

 

11 hours ago, BookWyrm said:

I'm hoping to find out more about them: brand would be great, model would be better. There isn't any marking on the 3mm nibs.

 

永生 is Wing Sung, and the model designation would be the number printed next to it, on the cap band of the pen on the right in your photo.

 

The tubular nibs are most likely the same type used in (original version, with hooded nibs) Jinhao 51A pens.

 

11 hours ago, BookWyrm said:

At the very least I'd appreciate some guidance on where to pick up some compatible replacement nibs!

 

On AliExpress, perhaps? They're dime-a-dozen (or, more realistically, less than US$1 each including shipping in lots of five).

 

 

 

[basterma]

What about  modern makers/brands as N9, Banju, Live In You, Kinbor, Thebai? I have one pen from the 90's that I have never been able to get information on. It is called the Kechao 180.  
Is there any reason why Stationery companies like M&G, Deli, Delike, etc aren't included?

[Renaissance]

Actually nowadays we Chinese pen lovers seldom collect or study these vintage fountain pens, the main reason is that in about 1999,many fountain pen factories in China collapsed so they sold their products at the price of gold , then a guy named Wang purchased a lot of pens at that time , and he produced a lot of fake pens in 2004, based on the pens that he purchased at 1999. In the past 10 years, Wang produced countless fake Chinese vintage fountain pens so now in Chinese market, the fake vintage fountain pens are even more than the real ones! That is why people in China now aren't fond of collecting and buying them , even some of them are quiet interesting and have high quality.And whats's more , some merchants make use of the interests of pen lovers to sell the vintage at a very high price, so it is now no need to buy a vintage fountain pen at a high price , compared to these pens' low product positioning in old days. Now we focus on brands like Wingsung, Banjv, Hongdian, which is flourished and provide us with more and more interesting products.