Kaco Master 14k Fountain Pen- Best Chinese Pen Ever with a great Soft Springy Gold Nib

[punjabi]

This is a review of “Kaco Master”. It’s the best Chinese Fountain pen I have come across till now.Kaco is a young company which makes some great products. Kaco since its inception in 2011 have launched many pens & accessories . This “Kaco Master” is among their most premium offerings .This has German Made Gold Nib , it doesn’t feel like it’s made by Jowo or Bock. It feels a bit different from those both. I think they are made by special order or made by some other company ! 

 

Pros-

– Great 14k Gold Nib 

– Well Tuned Out Of The Box

– Soft & Springy Nib 

– Minimalistic Design 

– Top Notch Construction

– Great Price

– Great Packing & Presentation

– Hourglass Shaped Section

– Have Premium Look 

– Suitable For Long Writing Sessions

 

Cons-

– Only comes in one colour i.e. Black for gold nib. Although the steel nib version comes in many colors.

– Don’t post securely.

– I can’t expect anything more at this price !!!

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Packing- Great, The pen comes with a great grey metallic case, which comes in a black box over which “Kaco” is engraved. The metallic oval case has a foam insert in it where the pen can rest. This foam ensures that the pen doesn’t get scratched with the sides of the metal case.

 

Specifications-

– Nib Size -Fine Nib 0.5mm 

– Filling Mechanism: standard cartridges and converter 

– Capped Pen length: 154mm

– Section Length: 25mm 

– Section Diameter: 12.5 mm

– Uncapped Pen Length : 133mm

– Diameter: 16.5 mm 

– Pen weight: 27.5g

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Appearance & Design- Good, The pen has a classic design. It’s made of great quality black resin which has been highly polished. The clip is of gold color & fit into a clip-shaped recess in the cap & almost aligns with the cap of the pen .The clip is strong & is very functional. It is unique & looks good in my pocket. The clip has a small logo of “Kaco” over it .The pen size is around 133 mm uncapped & 154 mm capped. It doesn’t cap securely.This pen is made in very nice black resin, it is super shiny & feels premium in hand . I wish they had other colors too.

It has an hourglass-shaped section & a number #6 14k nib in Fine with “Kaco” logo engraved over. It has a plastic feed. The section is long & threads of the cap are precise. This nib looks good & is similar to JOWO nib but it’s not JOWO. The nib suits the pen size & looks good. This pen is very comfortable for long writing sessions too.

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Construction- Very Well Made, The construction of this pen is top notch.The pen has been polished well & has been given a mirror like finish on both clip as well as body. It looks pleasing to the eyes , but as a result it attracts dust & micro scratches may be noticeable. The pen is elegant & is a perfect minimalistic office pen.

Filling System- This is a simple C/C pen. The converter is interchangeable with a Schmidt K5 converter. It has metal reinforcements in the mouth & it is perfectly functional. You can use standard international cartridges too 

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Nib Performance- Amazing , Kaco Master has  #6 nib which is very springy and relatively soft.It is surely better than JOWO/BOCK nibs. This nib has a slight forward curve which makes a different writing angle which is different from others, I think it’s some unique Chinese grind. This is very smooth & gives a distinctive feel while writing. The nib is similar to European Fine Nibs.On the box, it’s written the nib is made in Germany but nib doesn’t look like common nibs i.e. JOWO or BOCK .

Conclusion- True Master, This is the best Chinese pen I have ever used & one of the best pens available at this price. I bought it for around $120. The pen is very well made & has a great 14 k gold nib. It has a minimalistic look,which is amazing. The glossy black color looks good but I feel there should be more color options in this pen. I really can’t expect anything more at this price. It is true value for money given the quality, ergonomics and writing experience. It’s a masterpiece about which most people don’t know about !

[IlikeInksandIcannotlie]

Where did you buy the pen from?

[punjabi]

6 hours ago, IlikeInksandIcannotlie said:

Where did you buy the pen from?

AliExpress

[Sagarb]

Brilliant review 👍

[MidSouthern-Dad]

The nib unit is a Schmidt FH452 with a #6, 14K gold nib.  I have a Guider Zimbo that uses the same Schmidt unit, and I wanted a gold nib for the Guider.  I was initially going to take out the nib from the Kaco, and throw the body away.  However I found that the Kaco pen body is actually a very comfortable one to write with for extended sessions.  So now, the Guider has the Kaco's nib, and the Kaco has the Guider's steel nib.  Why the preference for the Guider Zimbo?  It's an eyedropper pen that holds 6 ml of ink, while the Kaco's Schmidt converter holds about 1 ml.  I did mention extended writing sessions!

 

The Schmidt nibs in steel or gold are very, very smooth.  The only thing that I noticed on my gold nib is that the slit stops just 1 mm short of the breather hole.  This is probably an error in manufacturing.  It hasn't affected the writing performance of the nib though.

[A Smug Dill]

35 minutes ago, MidSouthern-Dad said:

The Schmidt nibs in steel or gold are very, very smooth.

 

I wouldn't say that. The Schmidt gold-plated steel F nibs on my seven Moonman (M100 and M220) and two Kaco Edge pens are very precise — and I love them for it, so much so that I ordered another three Kaco Edge pens with those nibs, currently in transit from China to me — but they aren't smooth and lacking in kinaesthetic feedback compared to, say, Pilot steel nibs that put down similarly narrow lines of ink on the page.

[IlikeInksandIcannotlie]

Huh. Any other opinions on the Schmidt gold or steel nibs? Are they smooth, or do they have feedback (any sort, Pilot's draggy feedback, Sheaffer's pencil-like, Sailor's almost-like-a-rolling-ball type?)

[MidSouthern-Dad]

I have the fine Kaco-Schmidt 14K gold nib, and the steel Guider-Schmidt medium nibs.  Mine happen to be very smooth.

[donnweinberg]

Thanks for your great review at the top.  I recently obtained a new one and also like it.  In fact, it is "growing on me" the more I write with it.  I also would want the 14K available on the red and white models.  In addition, as I prefer medium and broad nibs, I wish such wider nib tips were available.

 

One question:  Is the nib removable as a nib-feed screw-in/out assembly or are the nib and feed "friction fit" and have to be pulled out of the section?

[donnweinberg]

I can confirm that the Kaco Master nib is a friction-fit type.  I checked AI Perplexity to find out whether one can purchase the 14K Kaco Master nib alone, but it doesn’t appear to be offered that way. I wonder why Kaco doesn’t offer the red and white versions with a 14K option.