Wing Sung 698 Vs Twsbi Eco - Battle Of The Republic

[Seele]

garyc,

 

Still as a state-owned enterprise, Hero is not just one company, but a group of companies, and the Hero brand is not exclusively owned by them; for instance, the Hero trademark, as applied to inks, is owned by the Shanghai Ink Factory, also trading as Shanghai Fine Stationary Co Ltd, and Hero is not allowed to use the Hero brand for its own inks: complicated huh?

 

Since it's state-owned, a lot of Hero's corporate manoeuvres were decided not in the boardroom but by the government policies, that included forced buyout of counterfeit manufacturers. Coupled with the abundance of counterfeits, the Parker-like pens can be a bit of a tricky situation unless you buy selectively and carefully.

 

Also worth noting is that current Lucky-Wing Sung pens, like the 659 and 698, although built by another autonomous company, are still authentic. Avoid those meant to be Wing Sung but branded Yongsheng; they are very poor sort of things indeed.

[Ranger14]

They both are beautiful fp but personal I would stick with Twsbi only because of the awesome customer service and the available to get replacement parts vs buying a new FP.

[mcgeechan]

Does the Wing Sung use a standard sized nib?

Jimmy, it uses a Pilot nib/feed - I replaced mine with the broad (italic) nib from my 78g

[sciumbasci]

The black and gold version REALLY speaks to me. And so does the white and gold.

 

Is the hardware robust, or will it deteriorate over time?

[5thhistorian]

I was terribly confused when I saw a 2017 Wing Sung 698 with a cartridge converter in the box. Could it be that the Chinese engineered a way to remove the piston and pop in a converter or standard international cartridge? It took me a while to realize that the converter was a sealed applicator for extra silicon grease. Clever way to package the stuff, although I have plenty on hand already. I ended up ordering the black version of the pen with the brass or gold plated finial.

[Lugworm]

Any reports of cracking or other problems?

[garyc]

I have added a cream/silver and a grey/gold version to my demonstrator 698. That is now on its second fill and I am still loving the nib, so sign of any problems whatsoever. So far, I've only dip tested the new grey version and found the nib was not quite as smooth as the demonstrator, therefore required a bit of buffing with micromesh.

[dan in montreal]

I've been using the clear demo for around 2 months now (regular daily use) and it's holding up quite well. No cracks yet (and hopefully none for a very long time).

[Aramchek]

I have my eyes on the gold nib version, and I'm hoping someone can tell me how wide it is? It is listed as F but that can of course mean very different widths depending on brand (and often model). I already have too many F nib pens that I never use because they're too wide...

 

Someone claimed those nibs where made by the old Wing Sung company (which has little to do with the current owner and user of that name) which seems implausible - a large number of gold nibs ending up in storage for decades? I'm still hoping it is true since one of my Wing Sung pens has a gold nib (of a different shape than that one) and it is really nice.

[sciumbasci]

The real problem for me is: which colour?

gold/demo, gold/black or gold/Ivory?

[Lugworm]

I should get mine soon.

[Inky.Fingers]

The gold nib is F but writes like FM to me. Nails these nibs are. Not a bit of flex in them. If you need XF or XXF, get it nibbed by a nibmeister. If you live in the States, let me know, I'll do a PIF.

[Aramchek]

The gold nib is F but writes like FM to me. Nails these nibs are. Not a bit of flex in them. If you need XF or XXF, get it nibbed by a nibmeister. If you live in the States, let me know, I'll do a PIF.

 

Sounds like you just saved me some money! One of the things that interested me with this pen is that it was remarkably cheap for a gold nibbed piston filler but if I'd need to send it to a nibmeister it would increase the total cost too much. (I don't even know if there are any good ones in any EU country? Sending it to the US would probably mean I'd end up having to pay VAT and toll a second time when it returns) I guess that money will end up in the Pilot custom 823 fund!

[Inky.Fingers]

Much better choice, 823 is.

[rafapa]

Sounds like you just saved me some money! One of the things that interested me with this pen is that it was remarkably cheap for a gold nibbed piston filler but if I'd need to send it to a nibmeister it would increase the total cost too much. (I don't even know if there are any good ones in any EU country? Sending it to the US would probably mean I'd end up having to pay VAT and toll a second time when it returns) I guess that money will end up in the Pilot custom 823 fund!

Pablo at fpnibs.com in Spain is a good nibmeister.

[KellyMcJ]

I have both. I just never got along with the Eco, for reasons that are probably no fault at all of the pen.

 

The Wing Sung is love at first sight. I won't miss that 0.2ml ink capacity. The Wing Sung is a lot more comfortable to hold and write with.

[Helen350]

I have both. I just never got along with the Eco, for reasons that are probably no fault at all of the pen.

 

The Wing Sung is love at first sight. I won't miss that 0.2ml ink capacity. The Wing Sung is a lot more comfortable to hold and write with.

 

Thoroughly agree with you. It is comfortable to write with, and I will ink it before my Eco. I did exchange the nib for a Plumix med. italic.

[inkeverywhere]

Bought a 698 and arrived last week. I was given an Eco for my birthday in May, have had nothing but trouble with it.

 

The 698 is a pleasure to write with. The fine nib was as smooth as silk straight out of the blister pack.

 

My vote goes easily to the Wing Sung over the Twsbi.

 

 

Greg

[zubzub]

I don't own an ECO, but I own a Vac700R and from the nib alone I'm not impressed. I own 3 Wing Sungs cuz they are like 1/2 the price of a TWSBI.

[Ichiro]

I use my WS698 everyday at work and have not had any issues in performance or durability. No cracks in 3 months. I swapped a Pilot Plumix italic nib in and decided I wanted a broader italic. I found that a Jowo #5 fits. So now I'm using a 1.4 italic and couldn't be happier