Jinhao 15 "moka"

[kaiadam]

A little about myself -

I've been out of school for a few years working at an engineering job where I've managed to compose perhaps all of half a notebook page worth of handwriting altogether in the entire time I've been here. My penmanship, consequently, through years of disuse, had fallen to an abjectly miserable plight. A few weeks ago, I set out to improve my chicken scratch, if not to calligraphy standards, at least to readable text, and accordingly ordered a batch of cheap Chinese pens to do so. So with no prior experience to fountain pens, my judgement may be suspect, but then again, I have the fresh perspective of someone who has never used anything but pencils and rollerballs. Without further ado, here is the review.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/kaiadam/jinhao%2015/pen_zpsfade1604.png

 

The pen: Jinhao 15 "Moka", ordered from saricosarico on ebay for $6.94 inc shipping which took 7 days.

I was browsing through a thread here about the most beautiful pens, and one of the posts mentioned the Waterman Serenite. Well, I'm not about to cough up a grand on something that may be just a passing fancy so I did the next best thing - order the Chinese knockoff version.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/kaiadam/jinhao%2015/comparison_zpsb82979b1.png

 

Physical construction -

Length of section: 1.1 in (27 mm)

Lenth of cap: 1.9 in (48 mm)

Length, uncapped: 4.95 in (125 mm)

Length, capped: 5.5 in (140 mm)

Length, posted: 6.75 in (170 mm)

Diameter at widest point (either end) - 0.5 in (12 mm)

Diameter at narrowest point (section) - 0.35 in (9 mm)

Weight - my best guess is around 15 grams.

Materials:

The cap seems to be made of brass.

The section seems to be made of a metal with a band of glossy black at the grip.

The barrel seems to be made of a plastic with a band of metal surrounding the end that connects to the section.

The included converter seems to be a very cheap affair, even worse than the generic piston conveters included with such pens.

Overall appearance/construction rating: 7/10

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/kaiadam/jinhao%2015/parts_zps89210216.png

 

While the pen looks very elegant and could even possibly be mistaken for a Serenite at distance, once you open it up, you don't feel like it's a quality pen, unlike (probably) the real item (or even other decent fascimilies). The cap is made of a brass, but is incredibly thin - to allow it to post at the end similar to the serenite, I'd assume - and looks deformable by a decent amount of force. On the other hand, I've written a few weeks with this thing and nothing has come loose, nor has any paint/lacquer/plating faded away or chipped at all. Looks like a luxury pen at range, feels like a cheap pen in your hand, but is still quite sturdy regardless. It seems to be much more durable than the acrylic "celluoid" of the same manufacturer that I have as well.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/kaiadam/jinhao%2015/cap_zps279be0fa.png

 

The nib and writing -

First off, I must mention that it seems that while this pen is available with normal nibs, the vast majority of the offerings are with a hooded nib, which I decided to go with as my writing is normally very small, and most of the other pens I ordered came with default medium nibs which I felt are too wide by half. I was delighted to find that the "fine" nib in the description of the pen actually resulted in something that feels like an extra-fine, at least as fine as a 0.5 mm rollerball.

Not having had much experience with many other fountain pens to compare this with, I wouldn't quote myself on this, but the nib feels very, very smooth. Not in comparison with other extra fine pens, from which I've read that the pen can feel scratch and skip, but in general with my entire, albeit meager, collection. The nib glides aboves the coarse and generic paper I normally use with ease and grace without even the warbly scratching that a rollerball of similar fineness makes.

However, this was a finnicky pen to get started or pause with, which I will attribute to the awful converter it came with. I had issues with upwards of 30 seconds starting time before I swapped to one of the converters that came with a Jinhao X750, and since then everything has been smooth sailing. The x750 converter is just a tiny bit too wide for the pen and is a very tight fit, but it works without spilling - what more can you ask of it?

Overall rating: 9/10, mostly because of the feeling that there can't possibly be a way that a pen of this price can be a perfect score, and somewhat because of the converter replacment.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/kaiadam/jinhao%2015/writingsample_zpsef152fd1.png

 

Cost and price - 10/10

Well, the thing cost less than a fast food meal, and writes beautifully. Compared to other fountain pens, I don't think there's any realisitic situation where you can give a pen of this price less than a perfect score unless it just straight up falls apart or never writes, neither of which is the case here.

Overall - 9/10

Decently good looks, solid construction, a fantastic nib, and a cost that's under a single percent of its parent deserves no less of a rating. I highly recommend this pen as it's the next best thing to free and writes so very well. This is a much better pen than anything else I've seen for taking notes or quick writing.

[mhguda]

Thanks for reviewing this pen, which I, too, bought for your exact same reason: it being an inexpensive knock-off of my favorite unattainable Waterman. Mine is the same pen, I think, fine nib and black. I had not tried to post it (I usually don't) but I'm glad you showed that it is possible; I had been leery to try.

The other remark that caught my eye is where you say it is available with a "normal" (open?) nib. I'd be interested to try and will look for one, if only to resemble the Sérénité even more closely. I think this is the first pen I bought purely for looks, only to find that it is a fantastic writer, btw.

 

Also btw, I do not think your writing is so bad - very legible and neat. What more do you want?

[Vendome]

That's a nice pen and looks like a beautiful writer. I might have to check one of those out myself. Cheers for that.

 

Additionally, the converter you mention in the picture looks just like the Basic Parker converter, (what I call the push/pull type). So the Parker Deluxe converter (twist type) should possibly fit in its place.

 

I replaced all the Basic converters in my pens to the Deluxe version. Although, the Basic type is good for flushing out pens.

[garyc]

Well I just jumped on the forum to while away 10 minutes while my carshare arrives, read this and now have ordered another pen that I probably didn't need! I get them delivered to work to prevent any aggro from 'er indoors though...

 

It does bear more than a passing resemblence to the Sérenité, although HisNibs on another forum reckoned it was modelled on the MontBlanc Merlene Dietrich, which, apart from the curved cap, isn't even close.

 

I like the fact that it has a nice fine nib and resists the Chinese propensity towords the 'bling' end of the scale. Thanlks alot for the review.

 

.

[Uncle Red]

Great review. It's a nice looking pen. If you like very fine nibs look at the Asian pens like a Pilot Penmanship or a Prera

[kaiadam]

The other remark that caught my eye is where you say it is available with a "normal" (open?) nib. I'd be interested to try and will look for one, if only to resemble the Sérénité even more closely. I think this is the first pen I bought purely for looks, only to find that it is a fantastic writer, btw.

 

Also btw, I do not think your writing is so bad - very legible and neat. What more do you want?

 

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/FOUNTAIN-PEN-JINHAO-15-Thick-18KGP-NIB-BLACK-SILVER-JJ262-/00/s/NjUwWDY1MA==/$(KGrHqJHJCgFBsm4LM)ZBQmK,+idTg~~60_3.JPG

 

 

Something like this? I found it at http://www.ebay.com/itm/FOUNTAIN-PEN-JINHAO-15-Thick-18KGP-NIB-BLACK-SILVER-JJ262-/261124421272?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ccc3a7698

 

My writing is definitely neater than it was a month ago, but I would still like more uniformity and speed - I'm writing at about a tenth of my typing speed and I would like to at least double it to 30 wpm if possible ...

 

 

Additionally, the converter you mention in the picture looks just like the Basic Parker converter, (what I call the push/pull type). So the Parker Deluxe converter (twist type) should possibly fit in its place.

 

 

Good to know, although I'm somewhat leery of putting in a converter that's worth more than the pen, sans shipping.

[Vendome]

The Parker Deluxe converter should only be a couple of bucks from the Amazon U.S. site.

[mhguda]

Thanks for the link, kaiadam. Will try to follow...

[Bogon07]

Kaiadam, nice review of this great value pen. It offers a good fine nib writing experience for a very low cost plus a stylish design. Also you can stand it vertically on its cap.

 

I have four - gloss black, gloss red, lusterous metallic blue and lusterous metallic red all with fine nibs.

All have been smooth and reliable writers.

One has the push converter as featured above the other three are screw converters.

The only minor downside is the hooded nib can take quite a few flushes to clean ink out properly.

[richardandtracy]

Thanks for this review. I had never even noticed the pen before this.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[beejay]

I took delivery of one last week and Im very pleased with it.

Lovely shape and it wries well. Smooth nib and its comfortable unposted, too long for me when posted.

I went for the bright red version and it looks rather nice on the desk.

So little money!

beejay

[lovemy51]

i would definitely look into the standard nib one. thx, Kaiadam, for the review and the links!

[rwilsonedn]

I ordered one of these (red, hooded) after reading this review. I'm delighted. A quick flush, no nib adjustment, and I have a dead-on relaible, delightful pen, with a fine-enouigh nib for my narrow-ruled notebooks. Plus it is beautiful to look at.

Thanks for the recommendation!

ron

[Pickwick]

I've also ordered one in black with a standard nib as a result of this excellent review.

[oknrabata]

Does anyone know if the regular non-hooded nib is a fine too? The ebay listing mentioned above doesn't say anything about nib width.

[columela]

This pen is just excellent. The best Jinhao pen I have had so far, at least for my taste. I have a very small handwriting and these XF nibs are just perfect for me. This was avery nice review, thank you.

[zdeveric]

I've also ordered one in black with a standard nib as a result of this excellent review.

Is the nib on standard nib the fine one too?

[Jamerelbe]

That's a nice pen and looks like a beautiful writer. I might have to check one of those out myself. Cheers for that.

 

Additionally, the converter you mention in the picture looks just like the Basic Parker converter, (what I call the push/pull type). So the Parker Deluxe converter (twist type) should possibly fit in its place.

 

I replaced all the Basic converters in my pens to the Deluxe version. Although, the Basic type is good for flushing out pens.

 

The Parker basic converter has (in fact all Parker converters have) a wider mouth than the standard internationals - it's a proprietary cartridge system - so if the converter from a Jinhao x750 fits snugly, the Parker converter will probably be too big. I've come across a few of these slide-type converters now, that look like the Parker but are not - I bought a pen from Fountain Pen Revolution recently that came with one, though the slider was blue...

 

This looks like a great pen, though - will have to look into it!

[Pickwick]

I bought one in red with a hooded nib last year, and it's proved a consistent smooth writer.

[daniels2889]

Has anyone had a problem with ink coming up onto the grip of the pen? My blue Jinhao 15 consistently "leaks?" ink up onto the grip. Shortly after I clean it, it's there again. It seems like it's coming through between the silver hood and the black grip. I'd welcome suggestions on how to fix this! Thanks in advance!