Wingsung 612A And Sheaffer 440 Comparison

[a-pen-for-a-sole]

i really enjoy writing with a hooded nib pens. my first pens are all chines pens. i started with hero and now i enjoy wingsung 612A. recently i purchased one sheaffer 440 inlaid nib. i will just compare these two pens and give accurate data. the 612A is all steel pen, not as heavy as 440. but both the pens are well built. the barrel of 440, though not steel, but can withstand the rough use. both the pens are well built and i fell, both have the same strength. but, i give one point extra to 612A. so, wingsung scores 8 and the 440 scores 7.

the next is the look of the pen. barrel and cap of 612A is having fine stripes, which gives a good look to the pen and the finish of the pen is also good. the clip of the pen is an arrow, resembling parker. the 440, clip of the pen bears the famous white dot and nothing much to say about the outer beauty of the pen. when we open the caps, the real battle bigins. the wingsung has a hooded nib and 440 has the beautiful inlaid steel nib. here, if wingsung uses an arrow mark or any other symbols like its model 101, definitely it becomes a good competitor for 440. but, thats not the condition here. hence, the 440 easily wins. wingsung scores 7 and 440 scores 9.

performence. its the most important conclusion. i wrote several pages with wingsung 612A and sheaffer 440. both are versatile performers. no compromise. the balance of 440 is excellent than 612A, i CANT say 612A is inadiquate. but, it fights back for a respectable place. 440 balances well than 612A, no doubt. but, 440 marginally wins with 8points and 7 for 612A. 612A drops a wet, thin line and climatic conditions doesn't bother the pen much. ie, climate in andhrapradesh, india is too hot these days. hot air and increases the evaporation of the ink and drys it quickly and the fountain pens with long nibs struggle more as the transpiration surface is more and hence, the nibs dry up quickly, resulting in less supply of ink to the tines. 612A is a hooded nib, hence the atmospheric conditions has only 2 to 5% negative effect on it. 440, having a longer nib, starts suffering from transpiration. the line, suddenly becomes thin, while we stop for a pause, when writing and the pen starts with very thin line. here the nib becomes disadvantage for 440. both of them write very well in normal conditions. the line is precise of 0.5mm in wingsung, while 440, has little larger width. for me, i fellt that, wingsug wins because, a pen should perform well in all the weather conditions. hence, i give 8 to 612A and 7 to 440.

both have aromatic fillers, wingsung has non removable aromatic filler and 440 has removable filler. the performance doesn't effect. but for convenience of cleaning, 440 is much simple.

finally the cost, 612a for 7$, and 440 at 37$. 612a is a clear winner. 612A, is really relay-able writer and will stand well in the competition and 440 has to take the defeat.

finally, both of them are great writers, have very good name in the marketplace. for practical people wingsung stands high in all its ways. 440 is not that practical as that of 612A, but still its a beautiful pen with its own craftsman ship and design. wingsung gets 8 and 440 gets 7.

please, reply me for any suggestions.

LAST words, Chinese pens are not having consistence in manufacturing, i have one pen of 612A, which has lot of starting trouble. its cap is also very tight and i have to struggle to pull it out. but, the 440 are also not born with perfection, one pen had improper tines and i had sent it back to the seller. one pen having leak at its removable filler. so, my experience say that, low cost vintage pens can be bought, but we cant expect any perfection from them. we have to get serviced with any professional before we use them, to get the finest results.

THANKS FOR READING THIS.

SRIRAM

 

[Seele]

Thank you for the comparison test purely from a user's point of view; certainly these two pens are different in too many ways, but it is still valid for a user to rate each one's capabilities.

 

One thing worth mentioning about true Wing Sung pens: the ones available now are all old stock, and the last examples at that, and as Wing Sung has ceased production they have no support at all, except what's offered by the individual vendor. These factors combine to make Wing Sung pens appear to suffer from quality variation more than in reality, but as I have perhaps a dozen hooded nib Wing Sungs, I believe that those which are of higher grades, such as the 6xx models, should offer much better hit rates, and even if not quite right, they can be put right quite easily.

 

My own steel-clad 612A pretty much corresponds to your findings. One point I like to add is this: when you put the cap on, there is not a definite stop for the edge of the cap to close against. There again it is a very small point, and I am happy with the pen itself; among lower-cost Chinese-made steel-clad pens with hooded nibs, the 612A is pretty much the standard against which all others are judged.

[a-pen-for-a-sole]

Thank you for the comparison test purely from a user's point of view; certainly these two pens are different in too many ways, but it is still valid for a user to rate each one's capabilities.

 

One thing worth mentioning about true Wing Sung pens: the ones available now are all old stock, and the last examples at that, and as Wing Sung has ceased production they have no support at all, except what's offered by the individual vendor. These factors combine to make Wing Sung pens appear to suffer from quality variation more than in reality, but as I have perhaps a dozen hooded nib Wing Sungs, I believe that those which are of higher grades, such as the 6xx models, should offer much better hit rates, and even if not quite right, they can be put right quite easily.

 

My own steel-clad 612A pretty much corresponds to your findings. One point I like to add is this: when you put the cap on, there is not a definite stop for the edge of the cap to close against. There again it is a very small point, and I am happy with the pen itself; among lower-cost Chinese-made steel-clad pens with hooded nibs, the 612A is pretty much the standard against which all others are judged.

hello sir,

i am happy to see your reply. is your pens cap not stopping after touching the steel barrel body of the pen? i have 10 pens, all of them behave well by stopping their decent at the barrel. yah, its small point. i accept the truth that, wingsung has no support for there pens. how ever we can buy some nibs on online. except that, i too did not find any support. whats your opinion on wingsung 101, with 14k gold nib. its very famous in the past? i am planning to buy one for 45 $ and shipping 5 $ . i will be attaching some photos of both 612A and 440 with their writing samples. that makes the discussion much better and efficient.

thanks

sriram

[Seele]

As you probably know that counterfeiting is not uncommon in Mainland China, even the mass-produced and inexpensive Hero 616 and Wing Sung 612 are counterfeited, the more high-cost pens like the Hero 100 and Wing Sung 101 are of course not immune from that. I hope your vendor is going to make sure that what you are getting is indeed an authentic 101.

 

Speaking of Wing Sung, I understand there are three different types of counterfeits. The first type copies those from the classic era, such as the 612; these are more often found on Taobao. The second type are of different - and more modern designs, bearing the Chinese name Wing Sung and the original logo which looks a little like a dart board, but in English branded as Yongsheng, the Mandarin rendering of Wing Sung; for the natives they only look at the name in Chinese so they would pass muster. From reports I have received, these are of appalling quality, as the makers have no incentive to stand behind their products anyway. The third type are totally new designs, but bearing the English name Wing Sung; I do not know if they are related to the second type.

[a-pen-for-a-sole]

i am really surprised to know that hero 100 and wing sung 101 are counterfeited. i am not able to believe this. i recently bought two hero 100s. both the pens arrived just one week back. i dont know wither they are fake or original. one has a little long nib than the other. but, both of them are having smooth nibs. the pens are well balanced in my hand and i did not still start writing with them. now i am little disturbed, about my purchase.

 

one good news is, last night, i bought a parker super 21 with an octanium fine nib. i felt really happy to join the parkers family. this is my first parker in my life. till today i did not touch a parker 51 descendants. i hope you will be definitely having much better experience with the parkers. its a new old stock. . i want to do a comparison test with the parker and wingsung. both are hooded nib beauties.

 

thanks for letting me know about counterfeited pens. i will ink my hero 100 and check them up. have a great day.

[Seele]

Authenticating the Hero 100 is one of the most discussed topics on pen forums in China. Due its very nature, a counterfeit cannot be expected to exhibit a certain set of tell-tale signs, it is getting increasingly tricky to identify them. For instance, details in the font used for the "Made in China" markings on the cap can vary, Hero uses one font but counterfeiters may or may not use the same font; if the font is different then it's not authentic, but if it is the same it does not automatically mean that it is. Taking the pen apart and examine the nib goes a long way as counterfeiters cannot be expected to use solid gold nibs, but this is hardly a practical proposition. For me I would only buy from the most trusted vendors.

[bbbiswas]

Authenticating the Hero 100 is one of the most discussed topics on pen forums in China. Due its very nature, a counterfeit cannot be expected to exhibit a certain set of tell-tale signs, it is getting increasingly tricky to identify them. For instance, details in the font used for the "Made in China" markings on the cap can vary, Hero uses one font but counterfeiters may or may not use the same font; if the font is different then it's not authentic, but if it is the same it does not automatically mean that it is. Taking the pen apart and examine the nib goes a long way as counterfeiters cannot be expected to use solid gold nibs, but this is hardly a practical proposition. For me I would only buy from the most trusted vendors.

The FONT used may sometimes be the only clue to a fake pen. I bought a fake Montblanc 145 from China online. It was in all respect same as the pen made in Hamburg. The legends on the capring, clipring were same look. Even the glow test for the "PRECIOUS" resin was red. So was afraid if it mixes up with my genuine 145s I will not be able to sort out the fake one. So I flattened the barrel end with a file. But then one day I discovered that the serial number on the clipring was in ARIAL font whereas the originals use OCR A font. I mailed the Chinese seller about this font mistake that made the fake imperfect. In reply he thanked me for this info. Now every year on Chinese New Year's day he sends me greetings.

[a-pen-for-a-sole]

The FONT used may sometimes be the only clue to a fake pen. I bought a fake Montblanc 145 from China online. It was in all respect same as the pen made in Hamburg. The legends on the capring, clipring were same look. Even the glow test for the "PRECIOUS" resin was red. So was afraid if it mixes up with my genuine 145s I will not be able to sort out the fake one. So I flattened the barrel end with a file. But then one day I discovered that the serial number on the clipring was in ARIAL font whereas the originals use OCR A font. I mailed the Chinese seller about this font mistake that made the fake imperfect. In reply he thanked me for this info. Now every year on Chinese New Year's day he sends me greetings.

are you encouraging the counterfeiters? if he could do a montblanc fake, he will do a fake sheaffer and even a parker 51. even a pelikan. then the pen industry will face the crises. there should be a fare competition between the Chinese and the Europe. i do have wingsung 612A, its a fare competition to parker. we cant say that, wingsung is a fake parker. but, using the same name and same model is the worst, and shameful act. how could you support him?

[bbbiswas]

are you encouraging the counterfeiters? if he could do a montblanc fake, he will do a fake sheaffer and even a parker 51. even a pelikan. then the pen industry will face the crises. there should be a fare competition between the Chinese and the Europe. i do have wingsung 612A, its a fare competition to parker. we cant say that, wingsung is a fake parker. but, using the same name and same model is the worst, and shameful act. how could you support him?

I really do not support fake manufacturers as existence of fake pens put all of us into the risk of paying the high price of the authentic but getting the fake that is truly worthless no matter how those look or function. But actually I was so impressed by that man's/company's ability to clone to 99.999% perfection I thought I have been able to catch him wrong on some count. I thought I have beaten him/them in "FIND IF YOU CAN" game. I could not resist conveying that I have sharp sight to detect a fake. Also I felt that if I warn other pen buyers as to how this fake masterpiece can be detected through a website then also the message will reach the faker(s) and they will remove the imperfection and beat all.

[a-pen-for-a-sole]

I really do not support fake manufacturers as existence of fake pens put all of us into the risk of paying the high price of the authentic but getting the fake that is truly worthless no matter how those look or function. But actually I was so impressed by that man's/company's ability to clone to 99.999% perfection I thought I have been able to catch him wrong on some count. I thought I have beaten him/them in "FIND IF YOU CAN" game. I could not resist conveying that I have sharp sight to detect a fake. Also I felt that if I warn other pen buyers as to how this fake masterpiece can be detected through a website then also the message will reach the faker(s) and they will remove the imperfection and beat all.

biswas, appreciate your sharp and ambient knowledge on fountain pens. i too wish to have such a great knowledge and learn more from you and also from this forum. instead of telling him the flaws that he made in the manufacture, you might have clicked few pics and posted in this forum and opened our eyes. many of them might have learnt to beat the counterfeiting and settle on safe side. you might have become a light house in the dark ocean of fakes and give us some guidance. any way, its not too late. just tell us about the person or the website, doing counterfeiting and post them in pelikan forum. every one will appreciate your knowledge and courage. thanks for the reply.

[zdeveric]

Hello bbbiswas,

Can you instruct me where did you buy the fake Montblanc 145?

[Thier.]

As a real work horse, I own that good old Sheaffer 440 XG. Yes, it's far from being in good condition ... It's no more an eye catcher pen ... I'd like to know how many kilometers he wrote, the amount of liters of ink he drank during those years but something that I'm sure is that I never have had a single problem with it.

I use to work with 3 fountain pens, changing from one to another when it runs out of ink but I always keep my beloved 440 not very far from me : we travelled all over the world, riding my bike all around Europe, it's always in one of my pocket, it's always with me when I'm working ....More than a pen, it's a friend : he wrote love letters, he signed so many papers, I used it to write a letter to tell my friends that my father died, when I ordered my new bike or bought my house, he signed the contacts .... It's THE pen !!!!