Hong Dian 3016

[Holon]

There seem to be more and more pens with an all-black/stealth color scheme. The relatively new Hong Dian 3016 is one of them. I haven't heard of Hong Dian before and the 3016 was kind of a spontaneous instant buy. But there is already a thread about a very similar pen from Hong Dian here.

I have it for four days now and inked it with Lamy black. It's a small metall pen, good build quality (very good considering the price is about 15$), it feels solid and long lasting.

The barrel is coated with some kind of black rubber, maybe this won't last as long as the rest of the pen, but it feels good and not cheap at all. The section, cap and the end of the barrel are not black, more like a very dark grey with some brown/gun-metal. The finish is matte and not slippy, looks and feels good, without any flaws.

The nib (I went for the EF, it's also available in F and bent) is supersmooth, slightly on the wet side (for an EF) and quite stiff. It is a really good nib, I like it a lot. It's about the size of a #5 nib, but I didn't try to swap it.

The pen posts secure, but the cap is very heavy, and most of the weight is at the top of the cap. For me it's way too backheavy posted. But for me almost all pens feel unbalanced if posted, so don't take my word for it.

The clip is spring loaded and fun to play with, with little wobble to the sides. I don't clip my pens anywhere, but I tried it for this review and it seems very secure to me and easy to clip on, if you don't use the little lever. It's harder to lift the clip with the lever, but possible with one hand.

The cap is snap-on, feels good and tight. It doesn't wobble and you need some force to rotate it.

No problems with drying out or hard starts so far, it always wrote with the first stroke. But it only sat for no more then 20 hours, cap up and horizontal.

The threads on the section (for the barrel) had some dust on it, but after wiping it off, the threads are smooth. At the end of the threads is a o-ring (hard to see on the photos), which feels a bit weird and tight, if you start unscrewing the barrel. Maybe it's purpose is to secure and tighten the fit of section and barrel, but that's just a guess. Because it's a metall pen, I don't think it's for eyedropper reasons.

The pen comes with a glass converter, which seemed like good quality. But when I unscrewed the barrel for the photos, there was a bit ink inside it. I hope the converter just wasn't pushed far enough into the section or my converter is leaking, but I will update this review when I found the problem/leak.

 

Alltogether the 3016 is a great pen with an even better nib for a great price. A little too thin and small for me, but I grip it at the front of the barrel/end of the section, and that's OK. The step to the section is rounded and doesn't bother me.

I might even buy a second one with a F nib.

 

 

 

Section: 9-11mm (tapered)

Barrel: 12 mm

Capped: 138 mm

Uncapped: 118 mm

Posted: 145 mm

 

Weight (inked with converter): 49,3 g

Uncapped: 25,7 g

Cap: 23,6 g

 

 

[MuddyWaters]

It's of course a blatant rip off of the Faber Castell e-motion. I find it unfortunate when new designs do get ripped off, especially unique ones, but oh well.

[Holon]

It's of course a blatant rip off of the Faber Castell e-motion. I find it unfortunate when new designs do get ripped off, especially unique ones, but oh well.

 

I didn't thought of the e-motion until I read your comment, but of course there is a remarkable resemblence. I don't want to start a ethics discussion about copying/cloning, but I understand a rip off as a kind of clone (english is not my native language) and the Hong Dian is not a clone, because the dimensions and proportions are very different. It's like a slim version of the e-motion.

[Guettaby]

Nice review, too small for my large hands Hate post pens

[jackjupiter]

I too have bought one. I was enchanted by its stealth and Faber-Castell-ish looks. I was expecting a cheap Chinese clone from a company I never heard of.

However, once I opened the package, I was Faber-Gasted. This is no cheapo pen. It's extremely well made. The nib, (EF) amazingly smooth and it turns out it is a very reliable writer. "First time, every time".

This pen feels very solid in the hand. Every part fits perfectly. If you look at the color inside the cap, it is the same as it is on the outside. This is not just spraypainted. The engraving on the cap is very well done. There are no mishaps on this pen. I was so impressed with this pen that I got other Hong Dians, specifically the Black Forest, 516 and 517s. I was not disappointed. All are just as impressive. Whatever this company is doing, they're doing it right.

[virtuoso]

My daughter presented me with a Hong Dian Black Forest EF. I was shocked by how well it writes. Its construction is fine; the nib is a stiff,very smooth ef(a real ef) and comes with a nice converter that actually works. All in all a shockingly good pen.

 

Steve aka virtuoso

[Tas]

Just placed my order for one with an EF and Fude nib. Thank you for your review and reassurance.

[Honeybadgers]

I've got one of the other models and I am very, very impressed with the build quality. The cap snap hasn't gotten loose or worn, and the EF nib is very, very good. I also like the finial jewel

 

The only slightly "cheap" aspect is the way the clip looks. But it works great. Overall, these are a heck of a deal. They come in a nice box too.

Edited May 6, 2020 by Honeybadgers

[Tas]

I've got one of the other models and I am very, very impressed with the build quality. The cap snap hasn't gotten loose or worn, and the EF nib is very, very good. I also like the finial jewel

 

The only slightly "cheap" aspect is the way the clip looks. But it works great. Overall, these are a heck of a deal. They come in a nice box too.

Phew. Thank you. Glad to hear it.

 

A late-night impulse buy An Ef and fude nibbed Faber-Castell looky likey for £19.99. Had to be worth the gamble.

[Beechwood]

Imagine the pride in your voice when someone asks you what type of pen you are using.

 

'It's a Hong Dian'

[Tas]

Imagine the pride in your voice when someone asks you what type of pen you are using.

 

'It's a Hong Dian'

Ha.

Pen snobbery is indeed a thing. I've seen it.

 

Me, if it gives me pleasure and writes first time every time, I don't care if it's a Yard o Lead or a Ding Dang Dong

 

My Ahabs, nib creepers; my Wing Sungs and Preppys give me as much pleasure as to use as my Mont Blanc and Pelikan.

 

 

[Beechwood]

Ha.

Pen snobbery is indeed a thing. I've seen it.

 

Me, if it gives me pleasure and writes first time every time, I don't care if it's a Yard o Lead or a Ding Dang Dong

 

My Ahabs, nib creepers; my Wing Sungs and Preppys give me as much pleasure as to use as my Mont Blanc and Pelikan.

 

 

 

The person at the head of Montblanc Marketing Department is now standing on the window ledge.

[sansenri]

looks nice.

I know it's an old story, but I wonder whether we would have ever caught the resemblance if they had just designed a straight clip (just slightly arched following the cap profile).

They are just an inch from own design, but no...

Someone here said we're induced to buy it because it looks like a Faber Castell

I'm not convinced...

Despite the favorable comments I might not be buying one because of that (but that might just be me)

[Tas]

It's here.

It's loaded with Aurora Black.
It's blooming lovely

Smooth, solid and perfect flow. Couldn't be happier with a £19.99 pen.

 

Now . . . can anyone instruct me on how to use a fude nib?

[Karmachanic]

Now . . . can anyone instruct me on how to use a fude nib?

Line width should change variably with angle to page.

[Tas]

Line width should change variably with angle to page.

That's like saying you ice skate by alternately pushing legs out to one side

 

My fude attempts looking nothing like beautiful Asian calligraphy and I'm upset

[Tas]

I may be wrong, but I'd wager these guys make the Hugo Boss pens.

Same nib unit swaps into mine. Same build quality. Same feel. Very impressed.

My Fude nib is now living in my Higo Boss pen. Very happy :)

[A Smug Dill]

I already have a HongDian model 1850 'Black Forest' and a model 6013 'Black General', and found them to be physically rather small — and most importantly, short — to use comfortably for a significant amount of writing. However, I was always attracted to that particular finish, and repeated tempted to get the 'Birch Forest" when it was available around US$11. Now that I see both the 'Black Forest' and 'Birch Forest' available for around US$6 — that's just one-third of what the new, gorgeous blue variant is selling for — I just can't resist. However, which nib should I get this time?

Given I already have all three nib variants (in black) on hand, I thought I'd do a 'shootout' before I decide; and now that I've done the work, I may as well post the result here, in case anyone else finds it useful.



All three nibs wrote wetly — almost too wetly for my preferences — and smoothly in normal orientation with the Lamy T53 Obsidian ink I used. The bent nib produced some fine lines when reverse-writing, but wasn't very smooth, and the ink flow could not adequately support my cursive English writing, especially the sometimes 1.5cm-long squiggle that pass for the crossbar on my lowercase 't' these days. (0.5cm-long squiggles as shown above are OK.) A little bit of smoothing on micro-mesh, which isn't what I want to do to a black-coated nib, helped a little but it isn't nearly perfect. On the other hand, I always appreciate it when a nib can deliver different line widths, almost in the way I can select different styles in Microsoft Word for a given line of text on the page without my switching pens.

My fude attempts looking nothing like beautiful Asian calligraphy and I'm upset

I saw this just now (doing a web search to do with the HongDian pens, no less), and I'm both humbled and green with envy:


Source: ebuy7.com

In particular, being able to produce the sort of 'line variation' shown for the regular 0.5mm nib is what I aspire to. If I had the motor control and technique, then perhaps I could live with a 'Japanese medium' or 'Western fine' nib provided that it could deliver the thin hairline between two globs as well as the sharp pointy tails at the end of a stroke/swish. Even when I'm not writing in hanzi/kanji (or, for that matter, kana), I still expect to see the sharp tails on the ends of my lowercase 'g' and 'y', and hairlines leading into a lowercase 's', so that's so not "only an Asian writing thing that doesn't concern writing in English."

Edited July 28, 2020 by A Smug Dill

[Tas]

I already have a HongDian model 1850 'Black Forest' and a model 6013 'Black General', and found them to be physically rather small — and most importantly, short — to use comfortably for a significant amount of writing. However, I was always attracted to that particular finish, and repeated tempted to get the 'Birch Forest" when it was available around US$11. Now that I see both the 'Black Forest' and 'Birch Forest' available for around US$6 — that's just one-third of what the new, gorgeous blue variant is selling for — I just can't resist. However, which nib should I get this time?

 

Given I already have all three nib variants (in black) on hand, I thought I'd do a 'shootout' before I decide; and now that I've done the work, I may as well post the result here, in case anyone else finds it useful.

 

 

All three nibs wrote wetly — almost too wetly for my preferences — and smoothly in normal orientation with the Lamy T53 Obsidian ink I used. The bent nib produced some fine lines when reverse-writing, but wasn't very smooth, and the ink flow could not adequately support my cursive English writing, especially the sometimes 1.5cm-long squiggle that pass for the crossbar on my lowercase 't' these days. (0.5cm-long squiggles as show above are OK.) A little bit of smoothing on micro-mesh, which isn't what I want to do to a black-coated nib, helped a little but it isn't nearly perfect. On the other hand, I always appreciate it when a nib can deliver different line widths, almost in the way I can select different styles in Microsoft Word for a given line of text on the page without my switching pens.

 

I saw this just now (doing a web search to do with the HongDian pens, no less), and I'm both humbled and green with envy:

 

Source: ebuy7.com

 

In particular, being able to produce the sort of 'line variation' shown for the regular 0.5mm nib is what I aspire to. If I had the motor control and technique, then perhaps I could live with a 'Japanese medium' or 'Western fine' nib provided that it could deliver the thin hairline between two globs as well as the sharp pointy tails at the end of a stroke/swish. Even when I'm not writing in hanzi/kanji (or, for that matter, kana), I still expect to see the sharp tails on the ends of my lowercase 'g' and 'y', and hairlines leading into a lowercase 's', so that's so not "only an Asian writing thing that doesn't concern writing in English."

I concur with your findings My EF writes well and wet; my Fude seems to have the same issues as yours . . . which is why I ended up taking the plunge and buying the Duke 551 Confucious.

 

Now to my eye, your hanzi/kanji is every bit as good as the examples you've shown above. We are often too self-critical of our own abilities - I was swooning over your latest "Don't just tell us show us" post.

 

(PS. If you really want to feel bad, take a minute to pop over to @inkjoy_the_pen - those sharp little tails there make me go all gooey inside )

 

Thank you for posting your findings. I know it will help countless others make up their mind.