Wing Sung 629- the pen everyone should hate

[rochester21]

In the last few months i have spent a small fortune on various Pelikan and Montblanc fps and then i also ordered a few chinese pens, just to have a look at the new kids on the block. Among these, a Wing Sung 629. As soon as i picked it up i was already overly impressed. Generally speaking chinese pens try to emulate western design and look a bit cheesy, but there is nothing off about the design or build quality of this 629. The F nib is soft and perfectly smooth(it`s a western F btw), it writes just as well upside down with excelent flow. The body is large, but the weight is just right, posts very well. The piston has almost no play and is very smooth(unlike my brand new M400 and M200, which also have worse nibs). I cannot comment on long term durability, but for 30 dollars this is an amazing fountain pen, and i don`t even like piston fillers!

 

As far the writing exprience goes this pen even surpasses similar looking japanese models which i generally prefer, Pilot C74, Sailor 1911 standard and Platinum 3777 come to mind. It is that good. The plastic body seems to be thick and sufficiently sturdy, can`t imagine it being brittle or anything. The quality is up there with these more expensive models. 

 

The only clue that this is a cheaper pen comes from the fact that the nib imprint is pretty shallow and it`s not perflectly polished, like most chinese nibs. Seeing how well the nib and feed perform i can`t really complain but that`s the only imperfection i could observe on this Wing Sung 629.

 

I am a sucker for having spent so much money on all these similarly looking pens from western brands when all i actually needed was 3 Wing Sung 629s with various finishes(because there a quite a few options available). Talk about wasting money. 

 

Good thing i didn`t spend $700 more dollars on that MB146 i was checking out at some point in time, i would have literally hated myself right now. As for the M200, M400 and M600 i recently purchased they are more for show than actual writing, because the Wing Sung 629 outperforms them with ease.

 

Do a blind test with the 629 against any other cigar shaped fp, piston filler or otherwise, and you will see for yourselves how good it is. 

 

I hate this pen and you will too. It makes the other options redundant. You don`t need them. All you need to be fancy and write well is this $30 dollar WS 629. Nobody is paying me to say this(but they definitely should). I should apologise however for the awful picture, but i just didn`t have the patience to do a proper visual comparison. There are video reviews on youtube but it looks better in person and just feels right. This is a proper fountain pen, i promise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[txomsy]

Thank you for the interesting review, and glad that you found a pen that matches so well your needs.

[cat74]

With the flat tops the 629 makes me think of a Sailor Pro Gear - will have to google to see if the dimensions are similar.

I've been looking at Pro Gears but the price seems much - maybe a clone as a test drive first?

Tried the clone of the Pro Gear Slim and it's just a tad well..slim! or small

[Dan Carmell]

I think the 629 was one of the first pens that convinced me that some really well made pens were coming out of China. You might like a new pen from another Chinese pen maker, Hongdian, the N12. It is the size of a Pelikan 800 and certainly has a strong resemblance to a Pelikan of that size. I have it in blue and I think it’s a great pen, I like their nibs. 

[KBeezie]

And then as of 2025... they're putting that number 629 towards what would be a 630 with a 14K gold nib in either flat or rounded ends. 

[Penguincollector]

  If you like the 629, try the 699. I have the 14k version with a piston and it’s wonderful, as is the 698, which is a flat top with an excellent 14k soft fine nib that is like butter. I found it for $50, and the 699 for $70 on Aliexpress.

[Dan Carmell]

The 629 and 699 are great pens, much underrated. When I bought my 699 with the 14Kt nib, it was only available in transparent blue—and as a piston filler! Yes, I have a 699 marked pen that not a vac filler (and its cap bands are different). So when more colors and the vac filler were available with the WS 14Kt nib, I got another as a vac filler. 

 

Photos below show the cart/converter 628 with a 26mm (aka #5) 14K nib, the two 699s, 629, and the 630. Last photo shows the 629 with a sterling 629 LE. 

 

I notice in the AliExpress ads—you can see it in KBeezie’s screenshot above—the cap bands are blurred, I think because you may get one that says ‘Wing Sung’ or ‘Jun Lai.’ 
 

On AliExpress, the 14Kt nib was first exclusive to the light blue (often translated as ‘lake blue’) version but the nib choices were the same. I notice this version of the 629 is still the only color with the ‘linked’ triple band, like the 630. 

 

[bugsydog55]

For the folks out there that have been fans for years, this isn't news.  For the people that couldn't aspire to anything better than a Wing Sung, this gives them that "See!  Told ya so!!" moment they've been wanting for years.  For the rest of the community it shows that the stigma of "Chinese=Cheap" is not necessarily the rule of the day.  This goes to highlight the fact that there are some very good pens out there that won't break the piggy bank when compared to Western pen makers.  That is something we need to think about in this crazy world we live in.  As far as our hobby goes, we get to enjoy the world so seek out these good things and expand those horizons.  You could be surprised.

[KBeezie]

On 3/16/2025 at 12:23 AM, Dan Carmell said:

the cap bands are blurred, I think because you may get one that says ‘Wing Sung’ or ‘Jun Lai.’ 

My 630 is a "Jun Lai" band, just figured it was yet another name for it, like the other spelling of Younsheng on amazon, and then the nib itself says Wings. 

[Shanghai Knife Dude]

On 3/16/2025 at 1:11 AM, KBeezie said:

And then as of 2025... they're putting that number 629 towards what would be a 630 with a 14K gold nib in either flat or rounded ends. 

More than that. 

 

For 629, there is plastic/aluminium thread, piston/vacumatic refill. 

 

Unable to tell how many variations (both colours and mechanisms) in 629,601 currently on offer now. Junlai is definitely in the vanguard. 

[iampencollector]

The Wing Sung 629 is excellent value and performs far above its price, no doubt. But as a collector, price-to-performance isn’t my only consideration.

I enjoy experiencing different brands, designs, and nib characters. I don’t write constantly—I use pens mainly to relax and appreciate them.

That said, I do have a personal upper limit. I’m not looking at ultra-luxury pricing like Montegrappa levels, and I wouldn’t buy a pen that costs as much as a MacBook Air. At that point, I’d rather put the money into something like an AI server to run local models.

Different tools for different kinds of enjoyment—and that balance works for me.

[iampencollector]

On 1/29/2024 at 8:08 AM, Dan Carmell said:

I think the 629 was one of the first pens that convinced me that some really well made pens were coming out of China. You might like a new pen from another Chinese pen maker, Hongdian, the N12. It is the size of a Pelikan 800 and certainly has a strong resemblance to a Pelikan of that size. I have it in blue and I think it’s a great pen, I like their nibs. 

I started out with a Hongdian 1837, and that’s what got me hooked on fountain pens. Since then, the collecting bug kicked in. The only downside is that Hongdian doesn’t really offer many pens with 14K gold nibs.