Hei Long Jiang

[hari317]

Brief Introduction:

 

The pen under review was a gift from a Japanese pen collector who is also a cherished friend. It was actually a surprise gift for me. The name of the company that made this pen is "Hei Long Jiang" which means "black dragon river", this is also the name of a city in China so this pen is probably named after the city in which the factory is situated. My friend wrote that this company was one of the few to survive the cultural revolution and that this pen was manufactured sometime in mid to late 70s and distributed exclusively to school headmasters.

 

The pen came packed in a simple cardboard slide box:

 

Top View:

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Hei%20Long%20Jiang/IMG_3426.jpg

 

First side:

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Hei%20Long%20Jiang/IMG_3427.jpg

 

Second side:

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Hei%20Long%20Jiang/IMG_3428.jpg

 

It will be nice if someone can translate what's written, probably the address of the factory?

 

First impressions:

 

HUGE. This is a huge pen, probably designed as a desk pen to be used on the headmaster's table. the material has a feel like ebonite, but the pen is clearly not turned but molded so I guess it is some type of resin but I cannot determine what type.

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Hei%20Long%20Jiang/IMG_3418.jpg

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Hei%20Long%20Jiang/IMG_3419.jpg

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Hei%20Long%20Jiang/IMG_3420.jpg

 

The pen uses a squeeze filler system to hold ink, The ink sac is very large and holds a lot of ink.

 

The clip design is very fancy with a red colored stone set on the clip. The clip itself is quite practical to use as it slips on easily on thicker fabric too.

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Hei%20Long%20Jiang/IMG_3421.jpg

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Hei%20Long%20Jiang/IMG_3422.jpg

 

Wrting Perormance:

 

The pen is fitted with a really top class golden steel nib. The nib has a genuine tipping with the weld seam clearly visible. The pen needed no adjustemnt out of the box. The slit was properly tapered, the tines balanced and the feeder nicely heat set to the nib contours. The feeder is made of ebonite and is of a Parker type design.

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Hei%20Long%20Jiang/IMG_3423.jpg

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Hei%20Long%20Jiang/IMG_3424.jpg

 

In comparison with a Deccan Masterpiece, and MB149:

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Hei%20Long%20Jiang/IMG_3425.jpg

 

Dimensions:

Capped: 6 1/4 inches

Open: 5 3/4 inches

Posted: 7 inches

Section Diameter: 13mm

 

The flat end jewels have the same design:

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Hei%20Long%20Jiang/IMG_3429.jpg

 

Overall:

 

This is a cherished pen for me. A nice departure from the usual metal construction Chinese pens, This is not a knockoff of any existing pen and has its own original shape. The flat ends complement the size of the pen quite nicely.

 

It will be nice to know more background information about this pen or the company that made it.

 

Cheers,

Hari

[Yuki Onitsura]

That looks like quite a nice pen. And good god, it is HUGE!

 

Yuki

[hari317]

That looks like quite a nice pen. And good god, it is HUGE!

 

haha, yes it is. Thanks Yuki.

[rwilsonedn]

Hari:

Thanks for a great review. The more I read about early Chinese pens the more fascinating the subject seems.

ron

[adam11]

Well, that's a very big stone indeed

[hari317]

Hari:

Thanks for a great review. The more I read about early Chinese pens the more fascinating the subject seems.

ron

 

Thanks Ron. This is my first old Chinese pen and hope to learn more about these pens. I was born in the late 70's, and when I was in school, We used to get very nice Chinese pens of the Brand LILY which had really nice inlaid nibs like the Sheaffer PFM ones. By the early 80's most of the reputed Indian pen manufacturers had closed shop, so good pens at a reasonable price for Indian students was the Hero, 330 and 329 being very popular.

 

Best,

Hari

[richardandtracy]

Hari,

 

Thanks for the review. It's an interesting pen, even if the clip jewel is rather ostentatious.

 

Can I ask why do you say the 'pen was clearly not turned'? It looks to me from the side photo of the jewel as if the cap lip was turned & not fully polished - but this could be an added in piece to secure the cap lip rings. I have produced kit pens with a finish at least as smooth as that seen on the body of the pen. The real tell-tale for determining if something was moulded is to find the mould parting lines.

 

All in all, it's a nice looking pen from a manufacturer I've never heard of before.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[Abhik]

Hello Hari,

It's a wonderful pen. I have also not seen this pen in our part of India. May be this company has never marketed their product in India.

Size wise it is huge but how is writing comfort? Is it light weight? Stone looks like a ruby! How is the nib width? Fine or Fine -Medium like most of the Chinese pens manufactured during '70s?

You reminded me of Lily pens. I have two Lily pens. Those were nice writers.

Enjoy your vintage Chinese pen.

Abhik

[georges zaslavsky]

really interesting pen:) It has the same filling system than on the p 51 aerometrics, the feed looks like the ones found on the vacumatics and I also noted that the left time is thicker than the right one, isn't that problem when you write??

[hari317]

Thanks for the review. It's an interesting pen, even if the clip jewel is rather ostentatious.

Thanks Richard, yes I would be a little afraid to carry this pen in my pocket;)

 

Can I ask why do you say the 'pen was clearly not turned'? It looks to me from the side photo of the jewel as if the cap lip was turned & not fully polished - but this could be an added in piece to secure the cap lip rings. I have produced kit pens with a finish at least as smooth as that seen on the body of the pen. The real tell-tale for determining if something was moulded is to find the mould parting lines.

 

Bingo! In fact the mold parting lines on the section, on the multi start barrel threads lead me to believe that this pen is molded, the pen has a distinct faint smell of phenolic resin/bakelite.

 

It's a wonderful pen. I have also not seen this pen in our part of India. May be this company has never marketed their product in India.

Size wise it is huge but how is writing comfort? Is it light weight? Stone looks like a ruby! How is the nib width? Fine or Fine -Medium like most of the Chinese pens manufactured during '70s?

You reminded me of Lily pens. I have two Lily pens. Those were nice writers.

 

Thanks Abhik. I suspect this pen was not as commonly distributed as the other Chinese makes like Wing Sung/Hero/White Feather/Lily etc. It is a wet writer, the pen is very comfortable uncapped and is very light in weight. I think the stone is resin, the nib width is FM as you suspected. do you have the inlaid nibbed Lilys? i have a few Lily desk pens, have you seen them? maybe they wil be good material for a future review.

 

really interesting pen:) It has the same filling system than on the p 51 aerometrics, the feed looks like the ones found on the vacumatics and I also noted that the left time is thicker than the right one, isn't that problem when you write??

 

Thank you Georges. The tines are slightly slit asymmetrical(good observation!) but it does not affect the writing.

 

Best,

Hari

[lovelytofu358]

Hello. Hari.

 

Nice review! I like the drangons on the cap ring.

 

Words written in the first side could be translated "90 Special Model Superior Iridium Gold Pen"

second side: "Hei Long Jiang Gold Pen Company-address:Qiqihar------" just as you guessed.

 

Wit my limited Chinese, I googled this company to see if I could find some more information.

This is what little I found about the company and the pen.

 

Hei Long Jiang is actually not a city but a province of northeast China and according to the address printed on the box,

the company was situated in one of major cities called Qiqihar in the province. I found one website saying it has been a while

since the company stopped manufacturing pens.

(http://tw.page.bid.yahoo.com/tw/auction/b50745461)

 

Hope this helps.

[returnofpenguy]

Hari,

 

A very nice pen. You are one lucky guy to get such a pen as a gift. It reminds me of old Indian pens.

[dogpoet]

Very nice looking pen. Thanks for sharing that.

[hari317]

Nice review! I like the drangons on the cap ring.

Thanks Lovelytofu. I had missed the two dragons on the cap trim ring. Thank you for translating the box inscriptions and the useful background information on this company.

 

A very nice pen. You are one lucky guy to get such a pen as a gift. It reminds me of old Indian pens.

Very nice looking pen. Thanks for sharing that.

Thank you returnofpenguy and dogpoet for your kind comments.

 

Best,

Hari

[adichew]

The complete address of the pen-maker as on the side of the box is:

 

Qiqihar City, Dongyuan Alley No.4