Jinhao 100 Centennial

[WJM]

 

Parker Duofold's design is undoubtedly one of the most iconic fountain pen designs of all time. I don't actually own any Duofold, but the Chinese fountain pen industry past few years was generous in delivering inexpensive alternatives. Jinhao 100, or "Centennial" is Jinhao's take on the classic. Their second one I believe, as years ago Jinhao released the dufold-ish "Jinhao Century" or "Jinhao Celluloid" - which I don't have.

 

As far as the model's name goes, this time Jinhao was rather uninhibited. They actually first marketed the model as "Jinhao Centennial", which they obviously took after the copied Parker model - Parker Duofold Centennial. When Parker used that name releasing Duofold's remake in 1988, it was supposed to commemorate an actual centennial of the company's founding. I doubt that Jinhao's history goes that far and obviously this is just a rip off of the name. "Jinhao Centennial" would yet be acceptable, however some some eBay sellers went one step further and advertise it is as "Jinhao Duofold Centennial" (!). The alternative name of the model is Jinhao 100 and it should be enough - actually calling it the same name as Parker's original model is really pushing the limits. 

 

Although it would be funny if next Jinhao released a Parker 100 copy as "Jinhao Duofold". And I would totally buy it. 

 

Jinhao 100 was, I believe, the first Chinese Duofold's copycat which was released in solid colors and not exclusively eye-catching acrylics like Kaigelu 316 or Moonman M600s. It's s good thing - as much as I like these avrylics, not all pens have to be gaudy and a little more understated one is a welcome alternative. First the Centennial was released in December 2019 in four colors, solid "red" (more like dark orange in reality), ivory white, brown-ish grey and "yellow" (more like light orange).

 

The one I have and review here is the "red" one with golden trims. This color scheme is obviously an homage to the "Big Red", the most iconic Duofold color scheme. Some time after the first release a whole variety of different colors was added, this time mostly in vivid acrylics. Most recently the solid yellow and solid black were released, although the black one was sold out almost instantly - unfortunately. 

 

Interestingly, Jinhao 100 is also the first Duofold's look-a-like which is based not on the Parker's 1990's design but rather on the 2016 Duofold's release with the single, wide cap band instead of the earlier two bands. In one of the later batches Jinhao "Big Red" was available also with silver trims instead of golden ones and even with the brand's name engraved on the barrel, making the pen a spitting image of Parker's 2016 remake of the "Big Red". 

 

However, unlike Moonman with their M600s, Jinhao was smart enough to not put an arrow clip on their pen and went for a simple ball clip with the Jinhao logo instead. This is actually sort of a brilliant move, as it both remains faithful to the vintage-like design - early Parker's in 1920's also had ball clips - and it avoids copying the 2016 Duofold Centennial to the detail. Ball clips are common and not associated with any particular brand. 

 

As it comes to how Jinhao Centennial works, there's rather not much to say. If you wrote with one Jinhao, you wrote with all of them, and this model is no different. It's all a very basic, standard stuff. It's a cartrige/converter pen and uses the same type converter as earlier Jinhaos (X450, 159, 992 etc.). Mine accepts Pelikan cartridges, although I've heard differing opinions about how much "international" standard Jinhaos are, so I guess experience may vary. Eyedroppering is not possible, as the section/barrel threads are metal. 

 

The nib is a standard Jinhao #6 medium nib. It's the same as in earlier Jinhao pens with #6 size nibs, so there aren't any surprises here. I have a mostly good experience with those nibs and this one also works well. 

 

The nib and a plastic feed are friction fitted into a plastic housing, which can be easily unscrewed from the section. Unfortunately I haven't seen spare nib units for sale anywhere, which is a shame, especially that the housing is proprietary and none other will fit. 

 

The pen is substantial but light weighted and it's very comfortable in the hand. As with most of Duofold's copycats it doesn't post well, although I'd say it does so better than the other ones, if one really has to post it. 

 

The conclusioin with which I'll end this review, suprising as it may be, is that Jinhao 100 is the best Duofold look-a-like I've had experience with. Mostly because it's the only one that I found completely satisfactory out of the non-existent box, while the competition required some tweaks.

 

The stock Moonman nib in M600S was usable enough, but I quickly swapped in for a PenBBS nib; same thing in my Moonman M800. Didn't feel such need with the Jinhao nib - it's in my opinion better than Moonman's.

 

Kaigelu nibs are better than both Moonman and Jinhao, but the unmodified 316 suffers from its infamous balance problem caused by the metal barrel finial. Jinhao doesn't have this issue.

 

Honourable mention to Conklin Duragraph, a duofold-ish pen made in China for an American company. It costs 3-4 times as much as any of the above and had 3-4 times more problems than any of the above. Out of the box mine was almost unusable. 

 

Jinhao was good just as it came, without any modifications or to tinkering needed. 

 

Overall I'd say that the modified Kaigelu 316 with the barrel finial replaced for a plastic one is probably still my favorite of these Duofolds copycats, but this Jinhao isn't far behind. 

 

 

From top: Jinhao 100 Centennial, Moonman M600s, Pelikan M200, Wing Sung 601. 

[OCArt]

Thanks for posting this. Recently some 'new' Kaigelu 316 pens have appeared with reduced weight and some new colors too.

[raivtash]

jinhao 100 is my favorite duofold copy by far ...

there are two newer versions kaigelu 316; the gen 2 has black ends; the ends on gen 3 are same as the barrel.

the gen 2 is lighter and more balanced than gen 1 but still much heavier (around 42g) than a duofold or a jinhao. jinhao 100 is almost identical to duofold in weight (28g) and dimensions. the sections of gen2 kaigelu 316, jinhao and duofold are interchangeable!!! i use my duofold sections on my jinhaos.

 

 

[WJM]

Could you give some info or links to these  Kaigelu 'gen 2' and 'gen 3'? I've seen the new colors on eBay but apart from that the pen looks identical as the old 316,including the black finials.

[raivtash]

It looks like gen 3 currently is only available on taobao. The listings on ebay probably are all gen 2. Gen 1 and gen 2 look same but the components are different (they are not interchangeable). gen 2 kaigelu is interchangeable with jinhao.

[raivtash]

4 hours ago, WJM said:

Could you give some info or links to these  Kaigelu 'gen 2' and 'gen 3'? I've seen the new colors on eBay but apart from that the pen looks identical as the old 316,including the black finials.

by the way, how do you like the moonman? It looks like a really nice color.

[OCArt]

7 hours ago, raivtash said:

jinhao 100 is my favorite duofold copy by far ...

there are two newer versions kaigelu 316; the gen 2 has black ends; the ends on gen 3 are same as the barrel.

the gen 2 is lighter and more balanced than gen 1 but still much heavier (around 42g) than a duofold or a jinhao. jinhao 100 is almost identical to duofold in weight (28g) and dimensions. the sections of gen2 kaigelu 316, jinhao and duofold are interchangeable!!! i use my duofold sections on my jinhaos.

 

 

What is the red pen fourth down from the top?

[raivtash]

1 hour ago, OCArt said:

What is the red pen fourth down from the top?

Aha... that’s a Parker duofold jasper red.  

[MuddyWaters]

11 hours ago, raivtash said:

by the way, how do you like the moonman? It looks like a really nice color.

 

Mine fell apart and I never liked the nib anyway. 

[OCArt]

Well no wonder it caught my eye!

15 hours ago, raivtash said:

Aha... that’s a Parker duofold jasper red.  

 

[WJM]

On 2/6/2021 at 1:54 AM, raivtash said:

by the way, how do you like the moonman? It looks like a really nice color.

 

Honestly, the Moonman M600S color choice doesn't do much for me. I picked the brown not because I was particulary enthusiastic about the color but rather because I didn't really like the other ones. But I'd have to agree it is a very good looking acrylic.

 

Here's another Jinhao 100 in beautiful, green color. Some differences to the "Big Red" reviewed above. The charriot logo on the cap top is different - clean golden color, as opposed to the antiqued one of the orange one. The nib is also different - it lacks the traditional Jinhao "18 kgp" nonsense and has "F" stamped instead. Whether it's really different from the standard Jinhao medium I don't know and I'm not going to find out, as this pen is going to be a gift and I'm not filling it. 

 

Unfortunately these photos don't capture the color very well - in reality it's dark, but very vivid, intense green. 

 

 

 

 

 

[raivtash]

17 hours ago, WJM said:

 

Honestly, the Moonman M600S color choice doesn't do much for me. I picked the brown not because I was particulary enthusiastic about the color but rather because I didn't really like the other ones. But I'd have to agree it is a very good looking acrylic.

 

Here's another Jinhao 100 in beautiful, green color. Some differences to the "Big Red" reviewed above. The charriot logo on the cap top is different - clean golden color, as opposed to the antiqued one of the orange one. The nib is also different - it lacks the traditional Jinhao "18 kgp" nonsense and has "F" stamped instead. Whether it's really different from the standard Jinhao medium I don't know and I'm not going to find out, as this pen is going to be a gift and I'm not filling it. 

 

Unfortunately these photos don't capture the color very well - in reality it's dark, but very vivid, intense green. 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes. I agree. I have the same green and I live it very much. It looks like jinhao changed the finial for gold colored trim. The finial matches better now. I like the new nib too. I have a dozen of these pens in different colors now with a few more on the road. Will share a photo soon.

[Jorge]

On 2/15/2021 at 10:57 AM, WJM said:

 

Honestly, the Moonman M600S color choice doesn't do much for me. I picked the brown not because I was particulary enthusiastic about the color but rather because I didn't really like the other ones. But I'd have to agree it is a very good looking acrylic.

 

Here's another Jinhao 100 in beautiful, green color. Some differences to the "Big Red" reviewed above. The charriot logo on the cap top is different - clean golden color, as opposed to the antiqued one of the orange one. The nib is also different - it lacks the traditional Jinhao "18 kgp" nonsense and has "F" stamped instead. Whether it's really different from the standard Jinhao medium I don't know and I'm not going to find out, as this pen is going to be a gift and I'm not filling it. 

 

Unfortunately these photos don't capture the color very well - in reality it's dark, but very vivid, intense green. 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, Jinhao has started to use these new "F" #6 nibs in their newer models Centennial 100 and wooden 9056, vs. the previous #6 medium "18KGP" present in older  models X450, X750 and 159.

A similar change was implemented a few years ago with their #5 nibs (992, 500 and others)

I find these new "F" #6 nibs significantly better than the former "18KGP" ones, but, unfortunately, they do not seem to be available as spares for the time being.  

If anyone has identified a source for them, please kindly share. Thank you in advance.🙂

[Emver]

I agree entirely about the Jinhao 100.  In fact it is probably now my favourite pen for one good reason which I'll come to shortly. All of the Jinhao pens seem to be great value for money, and I've particularly liked the X450, X750 and the huge 159, all of which have great build quality and lovely finish.  The 100 looks even better and writes beautifully.  I like the fact that it has similar styling to the original Parker without actually copying it, and I've even grown to prefer the Jinhao ball-ended clip. 

 

The Moonman 600S looks even better than the Jinhao with those two narrow cap bands, in my opinion. The Jinhao's broad band looks just a bit gaudy for me.  But the Moonman seems to come with a fine nib which doesn't suit me at all, so I haven't tried one yet. I could buy a different nib I suppose, but then the pen would cost well over double the price of the Jinhao.

 

Today I received a Delike New Moon with a bent nib, which the seller described as a Moonman Delike, although I don't see any evidence of it being a Moonman pen.  I ordered a Green Marble one but they sent a Dark Rose one without explanation (actually a rather nice colour).  The styling is a bit nondescript, but inoffensive.  The bent nib doesn't flex at all and writes like a medium/fine standard nib, but I have to say that it is extremely smooth with good ink flow. I think I might get to like it.

 

But back to the Jinhao 100 and the reason I like it so much - it doesn't seem to dry out. I've had both of mine for a couple of months, and neither of them has yet failed to write first time.  That's the first basic requirement of any pen for me, no matter whether it's a Parker, a Sailor, a Montblanc or a cheap Chinese import - if it doesn't write when I pick it up, I won't usually pick it up again. I don't want to prime it or shake it or dip it in ink - a pen's job is to write.  I'm not sure how the Jinhao 100 achieves this reliability, but it could be the small sealing ring part way inside the cap.

 

So to those of you who haven't already tried one, try one now. It's one of those pens which make you immediately want to buy another, just in case you lose the first one.

[raivtash]

my collection

[Jorge]

2 hours ago, raivtash said:

my collection

Is it me, or you have "upgraded" some of your Jinhaos with Parker style clips?

[raivtash]

9 hours ago, Jorge said:

Is it me, or you have "upgraded" some of your Jinhaos with Parker style clips?

Yes. A close up of my favorite Franken.

[TSherbs]

Looks nice

[OCArt]

1 hour ago, raivtash said:

Yes. A close up of my favorite Franken.

Looks nice, where do you get the clips from?

[Jorge]

14 hours ago, raivtash said:

Yes. A close up of my favorite Franken.

Great result! Not just the clip but also the nib! Would you kindly share where do you source them from?