Anyone Tried A Wing Sung 698 Demonstrator?

[Lugworm]

Seems to be expensive for a Chinese pen but still cheap.

It looks rather nice actually.

From what I've read they may have "borrowed" some Pilot technology for the nibs and fees which is probably a good thing.

Can anyone tell me what they are like and if I should bother?

 

http://imgur.com/a/EayLm

The orange thing that looks like a converter is a tube of silicon grease by the way.

[Mech-for-i]

There is a prior thread comparing the 698 to the TWSBI, you can try to search for it. As for my personal experience, the pen work well enough, the feed accept Pilot 78G/88G/Prera/Plumix/Kakuno type of nibs and of course the Wing Sung nibs, thus, can be used on those Pilot(s) too. As of this moment there is 3 nibs offered for the 698, the EF, F, and a F 14K Gold nib ( the gold nib use a different feed / nib setup so its not compatible with the other 698 nor Pilot's ); as all such fine nibs goes, they write with some feedback and simply are not gliding on paper even with the wettest of ink. But then its not scratchy either. It kind of remind me of my Platinum Preppy , you know sort of feeling the same. The EF is grounded in a way that its tailored to write Chinese and this can cause some grief in using it to write cursive ( aka might be too much feedback for many )

 

Personally I do not think its expensive for a Chinese pens, after all its a piston filler which means it involve a lot more assembly and parts fitting. Those time and labor cost anyway.

Edited April 5, 2017 by Mech-for-i

[sthp]

I own a WingSung 698 with a F nib and I use it almost everyday for the last 2 or 3 months. It is a very nice pen and nib,

no hard starts, no skipping and the nib is not scratchy at all.

[Lugworm]

Everything I've read seems to be positive. The only thing I don't like is the weird name and the word lucky on the clip but these are minor issues.

No mention of cracking issues, maybe because they are not sold in such great numbers as TWSBIs so therefore less reports.

 

When looking at pens I usually find some reason why I shouldn't buy it. I may buy one of these. I've tried a Hero (which I think Wing Sung is) and though thinking it looked awful, the nib was great. As good in fact as the Bock nib I put on the Jinhao.

[melodiousb]

I've had my 698 for four months and I haven't left it empty for more than a few days at a time. I've been using it mostly with a Pilot Plumix nib. It's great--smooth piston, nice ink capacity, good flow, sturdy. No complaints.

[Lugworm]

One question. Is the section faceted? I can't quite tell from the photos

[Mr.Rene]

One question. Is the section faceted? I can't quite tell from the photos

No, It is not.Regards

[Lugworm]

I've ordered one. Also ordered a Jinhao x750 in shimmering sands and silver. Funny, I've spent months asking questions here an receiving excellent advice and in the end I buy three Chinese pens. I'm sure the advice will not have been wasted as these posts get read by so many people.

Total cost including postage is still less than I paid for my Kaweco Skyline sport including postage.

[Lugworm]

I've ordered one. Also ordered a Jinhao x750 in shimmering sands and silver. Funny, I've spent months asking questions here an receiving excellent advice and in the end I buy three Chinese pens. I'm sure the advice will not have been wasted as these posts get read by so many people.

 

The three pens have arrived. The Jinhaos all needed minor flow adjustments but the Wing Sung nib is great.

The silver x750 looks really nice and gets good comments when people see it.

My 4 year old saw the shimmering sands pen as I opened it and declared (in Welsh) that it was his. Fine, it was so cheap and he can keep it for when he's older.

The Wing Sung 698 I've briefly used tonight. Diamine ancient copper looks nice in it. No work needed to the nib. Smooth, fine. Really happy.

[sciumbasci]

you ordered the silver hardware or gold plated hardware demo?

[Lugworm]

Silver. I was worried the gold might come off. Plus I preferred the silver.

No complaints so far. Lovely pen.

[garyc]

Silver. I was worried the gold might come off. Plus I preferred the silver.

No complaints so far. Lovely pen.

Indeed it is. I have the silver demonstrator and one in grey with gold trim and another in cream with silver trim. So far I have only used the demonstrator and the grey one. The silver has one of the smoothest fine nibs I have ever used.

 

Just curious, but why the question about cracking? Was this because it looked like the TWSBI and you thought similar design and/or material might make it prone to cracking?

Edited May 11, 2017 by garyc

[Lugworm]

 

Just curious, but why the question about cracking? Was this because it looked like the TWSBI and you thought similar design and/or material might make it prone to cracking?

 

Yes, correct

 

The nearest rival to this pen is probably the Eco. The Wing Sung in my opinion looks better. Its certainly much cheaper. I don't have an Eco in order to compare the nibs but I'm so happy with this I'm not going to buy an Eco.

[garyc]

I have both a TWSBI 580 and an Eco, both with 1.1 nibs and actually prefer the Eco, simply for the nib - being not quite so broad and wet and suiting my writing style. But the 698 demonstrator really took me aback with the smoothness of the fine nib, something that I had not experienced before. If Wing Sung offered a 1.1 italic nib I would be onto it like a shot.

Edited May 14, 2017 by garyc

[Lugworm]

1.1 stub would be nice. Maybe one could be retro fitted like when I put a Bock nib on a Jinhao.

[catalyst]

Pilot sell a Plumix with a 1.0 italic stub. I have not used it with the WS but it works great on other pilot pens like Metro's and Kakuno's. I have gotten 3 and 2 were excellent out of the box, one needed a little 12,000 grit to be smooth. They are about as good as the goulet or nemosine stub nibs.

 

... If Wing Sung offered a 1.1 italic nib I would be onto it like a shot.

 

 

1.1 stub would be nice. Maybe one could be retro fitted...

[Helen350]

I retrofitted my Wing Sung 698 with the Pilot Plumix Medium Italic. Perfect fit.

[displacermoose]

I got my 698 in the mail today (ivory with silver trim), and am very impressed. I try not to get too excited until I've used a pen for at least an entire fill, but I greatly prefer the styling over my TWSBI Eco. The shape of the tipping feels a bit strange to me, but since it isn't designed for western writing I can hardly fault it. I'll probably reshape it a bit after I get a better feel for how I want it to write.

[sciumbasci]

I just realised that the pen has a big ring near the piston knob. Does it post?

[displacermoose]

Mine doesn't.