Must Buy Chinese Fountain Pen: Highly Reliable Chinese Fountain Pens In China

[liapuyat]

I like the Jinhao X750 and the Baoer 388. Both are a bit on the heavy side but they write rather well.

[Lovesink]

I have several Jinhao X750's now and they are my workhorses (next to my Expert II). Really great value for money, low price so not a big risk to buy & try one. And they are nice gifts for pen loving friends and relatives................ X450 is fine as well, but I prefer the thicker grip of the X750.

 

So definitely recommended.

[jjaberg]

I have several Jinhao X750's now and they are my workhorses (next to my Expert II). Really great value for money, low price so not a big risk to buy & try one. And they are nice gifts for pen loving friends and relatives................ X450 is fine as well, but I prefer the thicker grip of the X750.

 

So definitely recommended.

 

+1 I have several X450's and one X750. They're all nice pens - striking appearance and smooth writers - I've given an X450 as a present - but I probably prefer the X750 if I had to pick one.

[funkypeanut]

I have a Picasso 908 in orange lacquer, and it's a gorgeous pen and a smooth writer, but the cap weighs about 3 times what the pen itself does. It's too short for me to write comfortably with it unposted, but it's rather unwieldy when posted. Other than that, it's a great pen.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Hero 1026, still available, looks fairly elegant and gets heavy useage (a black-and-silver pen with smooth M nib).

 

Whatever anyone else says, I loves my 616s. There's always one or more in my daily-user pile.

 

I have a silver Picasso fude pen that's not at all terrible. I would like it much more if it did not have a metal section (a personal quirk).

 

The Doctor pen by Hero is slim and sleek and smooth to write with.

 

If the lowly Wing Sung 703 had a hoity-toity name and form, people would be knocking one another aside to write with it. Yes, the nib is that nice.

[Bluefinntuna]

I have 2 Baoer 388's. They are good writers but don't expect the gold plating stay on for long.

[UDog]

I have a Jinhao 757 and Zhen Jue 221 both are inexpensive and wonderful writers. If anything ever goes wrong, I can just toss them out.

[paolino_paperino]

Just received my first hero 100, a flighter, bought from eBay.

It has several manufacturing defects: misaligned clip, mangled cap clutch, hyper-scratchy nib.

So far, I'm only satisfied with my Jinhao 325, having tried several brands and models.

[Atrata]

Note that I have purchased 2 other Jinhao and a couple of Regals and been less happy - I think it is a sort of lucky dip

 

Interesting. The Regals I bought are among the smoothest nibs in my collection. Even smoother than the Sheaffer No Nonsense and Safaris (as a point of comparison). I'm thinking of purchasing more Regals in the future. The two Regals I bought are the Thames and Ritz from Ipenstore.

 

I have a Regal Lane and am quite happy with it. It is an excellent little carry-around pen - not too expensive, and while I wouldn't be happy if I lost it, I wouldn't be tearing my hair out with grief either. The only drawbacks, in my opinion, are that it is a slightly wetter writer than I prefer, and I don't much care for the unfinished look of the base of the cap. But those are nitpicks. It is a small, slim pen (which not everyone likes, I know) but has a good solid feel to it.

[oneill]

Note that I have purchased 2 other Jinhao and a couple of Regals and been less happy - I think it is a sort of lucky dip

 

Interesting. The Regals I bought are among the smoothest nibs in my collection. Even smoother than the Sheaffer No Nonsense and Safaris (as a point of comparison). I'm thinking of purchasing more Regals in the future. The two Regals I bought are the Thames and Ritz from Ipenstore.

 

I have a Regal Lane and am quite happy with it. It is an excellent little carry-around pen - not too expensive, and while I wouldn't be happy if I lost it, I wouldn't be tearing my hair out with grief either. The only drawbacks, in my opinion, are that it is a slightly wetter writer than I prefer, and I don't much care for the unfinished look of the base of the cap. But those are nitpicks. It is a small, slim pen (which not everyone likes, I know) but has a good solid feel to it.

[studiohead]

Well, top on my list will be the Jinhao X750 though your luck might vary depending on the nib and the nib section. (Go for the complete steel version, seems to have a slightly better build, no photos here, need to get back to the office after the Lunar New Year Holidays to take some)

 

Highly recommended will be the Baoer 388 (Wholesale price is 15 RMB or about USD$2.35), my staff in the office are using this as their daily writer.

 

The one that I am using in my rotation currently is the Duke 209 in Matte Black Gold Trim. Nice nib writes extremely well. (I dare say can be compared to a Lamy Safari in terms of quality of nib, I get the nice same line/color and feedback from it using Pilot Iroshizuku's Kon-Peki)

 

 

Couple of items to note, it is the Lunar New Year period (Spring Festival/Chinese New Year) so most Chinese will be in their hometowns visiting. Don't expect to get much variety or service from eBay sellers especially those based in Asia. There are good sellers in the US which will have better quality checks and postage times then getting one from eBay.

 

If you are visiting China to pick them out, find out who are the wholesalers and buy a few, you can get a better price then Recommended Retail at the Pen Counters at the Departmental Stores/Bookstores.

 

Last bit of advise, Hero/Doctor/Winsung typical have squeeze filler systems. Most other brands will have a piston converter of International Size. This is important to note if you like to change inks, as cleaning them are slightly bit harder the C/C pens.

[KrazyIvan]

I need to update my recommendation to a Kaigelu 316 Century Star. Very nice pen for the money. Screw on cap instead of the usual click type. The converter also screws in to the section. I have the charcoal color and it has some very nice depth to the acrylic.

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7001/6718448665_7bb98fc491_z.jpg

Kaigelu 316 by IvanRomero, on Flickr

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7013/6718443059_987b9c8399_z.jpg

Kaigelu 316 Nib by IvanRomero, on Flickr

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7011/6716808619_b6a1838217_z.jpg

Kaigelu 316 Cap by IvanRomero, on Flickr

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7161/6718451517_6388aec057_z.jpg

Kaigelu 316 Shimmering Acrilic by IvanRomero, on Flickr

[krishna]

I studied in India and I used a Hero 616 all through my schooling and my undergraduate education. The Hero 100 is a very good replica of the Parker 51 and even has a gold nib ! It all boils down to finding a good retailer cause they probability of getting a bad 616 is pretty high on Ebay. Please check the reputation of the dealer and the comments he has got before buying pens from him

[jslallar]

Could you please recommend me 3 or 5 Chinese fountain pens that consistently deliver high quality and excellent value?

Chinese fountain pens that look very good and perform wonderfully.

Thanks.

 

BRAND:

MODEL:

 

Answer if you have a lot of experience about Chinese fountain pens or if you have been in this forum for a long time and can remember the top best Chinese fountain pens that are a pleasure to use.

 

 

If it is Chinese you are looking for, you need to visit http://www.isellpens.com

by far the biggest collection of Chinese pens I have seen.

No relation. Not even a customer, just enjoyed the site.

[cjabbott]

I have particularly liked:

 

Hero 330 - moderately wet f/xf nib

Hero 616 - same flow as 330

Baoer 388 - surprisingly wet medium nib

Baoer Sonnet 3018 - sort of dry f nib

 

These can all be had at www.isellpens.com, of whom I am a happy repeat customer.

[amk]

I'd be very interested to hear from British collectors on their experiences of buying cheap(ish) Chinese pens on ebay, particularly as regards customs and delivery - has it been a pain free experience?

 

Thinking of getting a Kaigelu 316, which looks very much my kind of pen. (So far, my 'collection' over the years includes a number of Waterman and Cross pens and one solitary Sheaffer which I don't much like, plus a couple of dip pens for calligraphy.)

[bicfan]

Jinhao 159. A clone of the Mont Blanc 149. MASSIVE, BEHEMOTH of a pen.

 

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/JINHAO-159-Black-lacquer-High-grade-M-NIB-FOUNTAIN-PEN-new-/310369836490

 

I needed to spread the tines a little bit to get the flow where I wanted it.

[John Cullen]

I tried a couple of Jinhaos and they were smooth but they were wet mediums.

 

The one Jinhao I had with a Fine point was really bad.

 

If any of these pens comes with a smooth fine nib, that would be nice, but it seems most on ebay are medium.

So if you are looking for a nib that lays down a Fine line, you may have trouble finding one.

 

But like I said, my experience is limited here.

[Sasha Royale]

I have two Jinhao fountain pens from Ebay. An x750 ($6.89)

and an x250 ($3.58). Each with free shipping. They write well.

The feed can dry out, but a quarter turn of the converter

fixes it. The x750 is bigger.

 

It is worth a try. If you hate it, you can pass it

to one of the neighborhood kids. Or pull it apart

to see how it works.

Edited February 19, 2012 by Sasha Royale

[Blot]

 

Zhenhao( I never managed to get another piece)

 

 

I have one of these and really like it. I got it from here My link