Remember: HongDian in Sterling silver ?

[mke]

A "long" time ago, Hongdian made a Sterling silver pen.

Q1: Do you remember the model nr.?

Q2: Any picture link?

Q3: Now this is a question for owners of this pen and might make you unhappy.

 

A pen is allowed to be classified as a Sterling silver pen in several countries if it is constructed from a Sterling silver shell over brass. So, is the Hongdian pen made from solid silver tubes or is it made from silver tubes over brass?

[inkstainedruth]

No clue, sorry.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[SpencerianDream]

Technically “Sterling” just refers to the purity of the piece of metal that is stamped. So it’s totally legal, probably everywhere in the world, to make the pen with a thick barrel of solid silver. It’s also legal, probably everywhere in the world, to make the pen with a brass/plastic barrel and a very thin overlay of sterling silver. The only thing that might get a pen company in trouble is the phrasing in their ad when they describe the second one. “We’ve made the barrel with solid sterling silver” would be true, deceptive, and probably legal, to describe a thin tube overlay. “The barrel is made of sterling silver” might be ok too. 
 

That being said I’ve never observed a pen personally that uses this theoretical thin tube of silver over a thick tube of base metal. I almost think the extra manufacturing steps would add enough cost to offset any gains. Silver is $32.00 US per ozt. Gold is nearly $2900.00 right now. So such layering makes a lot more sense with gold unless you intend to retail your pen for the price of a new car.