Deli S668Ef Budget Fp

[chromantic]

I came across these Deli fountain pens on eBay when they popped up while I was doing a search for 'dark red metallic fountain pens' (hoping to snag another Jinhao 611 in that color). Anyway, this red Deli caught my eye; it's not a really, really dark red like the Jinhao (which is the color of Levenger Claret) but a slightly deeper red than a metallic red Platinum Plaisir. The Deli also comes in shiny black, which I also bought (two other colors are returned in searching, neither appeals to me).

 

 

The other thing that caught my eye was the minimalist shape, plain cylinder with a very slight taper on the barrel and the cap is slightly wider than the barrel. The clip on both red and black is metal sandwiched between two flat plastic pieces matching the pen color with an open slot on the upper half. Size-wise, we talking roughly comparable to a Plaisir or a Waterman JIF, just a smidge over 5 1/2".

 

One thing that surprised me, as it wasn't really obvious in the eBay pics, is that both the barrel and the section taper from round to triangular; the angles are very rounded, however, and I don't find it at all uncomfortable, like I do the Safari. The flattened sides on the barrel do help a little in keeping it from rolling around too much on a flat surface if you lay it down unposted. Posting is quite solid, with only gentle pressure needed.

 

 

These pens are plastic, btw, cap, barrel and section (the shiny black section is common to all four colors of the pen). The black pen is shiny and smooth, the red has a metallic look and a little more tactile feel to it - it's smooth but not slick, like the black. The black is quite attractive in a quiet, unassuming, understated way.

 

The red, though, is absolutely stunning. Whereas light reflected off the black is bright, sharp and hard-edged, light reflecting off the red is soft and diffuse, as if the pen is glowing. You can see it in the photo, especially on the cap.

 

So, how do they write? Well enough, in my opinion. While you won't mistake them for a Parker or a Pelikan, they're pretty smooth on the BnR spiral paper, with some toothiness on cheaper paper but certainly not what I'd call scratchy, by a long shot. The nibs are marked EF but I would hesitate to describe them thus; not as fine as my Plaisir fine, thicker than a Baoer 388 fine but thinner than an 801 fine, slightly thicker than Vector fine, thinner than some of my P45 Ms but thinner than others, and way thicker than my Sailor Clear Candy MF (the finest writer I have - it's like spider silk).

 

The feed seems good. I loaded the red with Oku-yama and it's wet enough to allow some sheen on the BnR, not nearly the excessive coating the Baoer 801 I also have loaded with it provides but some, enough to be noticeable.

 

The pen comes in a nice plastic box, solid white base and clear upper cover, similar to a Plaisir box without the hinge. Two short international cartridges and a converter are included. The converter has a metal collar around the opening so it flush with the sides of the ink chamber but I just double checked and a standard int'l. converter did fit. This converter is one of those that the rear metal collar around the twist knob unscrews from the chamber to enable more thorough cleaning.

 

The black and red Delis cost $11.33 with $1.99 shipping (from Hong Kong); they arrived in just under 2 weeks.

 

I'm quite pleased with these pens and may order a couple more of the red ones.

 

edit: changed topic heading, pen is S668EF, not 688, my bad

 

 

Edited June 15, 2016 by chromantic

[visvamitra]

I've never heard of those. Looks interesting.

[The Blue Knight]

That's a nice looking pen. I couldn't find it could you provide a link.

[chromantic]

Pasted links but they didn't work when I clicked on them, strange.

 

Just go to eBay and type deli s668ef in search bar.

 

My fault you couldn't find it - I mistyped the model # in the title. It's S668EF, but I had 688, sorry. I've corrected it.

Edited June 15, 2016 by chromantic

[tru]

I just got a pair ofm Deli 680's. I started writing about them here then realized as much as I was yapping, I should just write a review!