The Jinhao 599 – A Stylish Chinese Pen With Strangely Familiar Germanic Leanings…

[Jamerelbe]

People prefer the metal ones to the plastic ones, then? I have one of the plastic ones (transparent orange: fifteen years ago I'd have said it was imac looking) and it's okay, but I've used much better Jinhaos.

 

I like the fact that you can swap different #5 nibs into the plastic pens, but probably prefer the feel of the metal - and the nibs (though finer) are pretty good too!

[dogpoet]

Thanks. More the feel in the hand and being a bit more solid than anything else, then.

[Omaslover]

I would personally skip both!

[titrisol]

People prefer the metal ones to the plastic ones, then? I have one of the plastic ones (transparent orange: fifteen years ago I'd have said it was imac looking) and it's okay, but I've used much better Jinhaos.

I kept on e of the plastic ones on my desk as a casual writer since may and the body broke where the back screws in.

And the same happened to the ones I gave away to mi millenial colleagues.. poor construction not worth buying (except for the converters I guess)

[bobje]

Have purchased several of these, experimented with stubbing nibs, etc. The construction quality has been admirable.

[MontPelikan]

Hello,

 

a short video review and writing sample of this little pen could be found here:

 

https://youtu.be/VKx_RMuzURs

 

or at

 

quickfountainpenreview.com

 

Thank you for watching!

 

MontPelikan

[loubapache]

I have a couple of these and enjoy them very much. They fit my hand perfectly and the tripod grip is also aligned the exact direction I liked. The nib size (F) is about a Japanese medium and beautifully wet.

[Honeybadgers]

The funny part to me is that the single fill of visconti sepia probably cost you more than the entire jinhao 599 cost jinhao to make.

 

I am not a fan of the 599, especially that awful pilot varsity/petit1 nib. the standard #5 F nib is quite nice, however, and can be had on the much better, better made, same price, and not-ripoff designed 992.

 

Overall, If you're on the cheap and want a lamy (I always suggest skipping the safari and going for the al-star) but are unsure about how the triangle grip feels, this is absolutely a good pen to buy in that regard, since they cost a buck.

[Jamerelbe]

The funny part to me is that the single fill of visconti sepia probably cost you more than the entire jinhao 599 cost jinhao to make.

 

I am not a fan of the 599, especially that awful pilot varsity/petit1 nib. the standard #5 F nib is quite nice, however, and can be had on the much better, better made, same price, and not-ripoff designed 992.

 

Overall, If you're on the cheap and want a lamy (I always suggest skipping the safari and going for the al-star) but are unsure about how the triangle grip feels, this is absolutely a good pen to buy in that regard, since they cost a buck.

I quite like the nib on the metal 599 - it's far harder to find substitute nibs of different sizes to swap in (I'm not aware of other compatible designs), but if you like to write a fine line this is right in the slot.

 

My only problem (personally) with the pen is that its cap is not as airtight as some. If, like me, you like to ink up a lot of pens at once and leave them unused for a while, you may get some dry-out...

[Honeybadgers]

Overall, there are much better pens for the price - the hero 9026 is a much better, uniquely designed, hooded nib pen that is genuinely better than the 599 in every respect. It works. like a proper fountain pen should, and just writes so nicely, at a price of about a buck fifty, that the 599 just can't compare.

 

Now, if the 599 started coming with a plastic that was either fiberglass reinforced (a-la the makrolon of the lamy 2000) or was simply a high enough quality to match the lamy safari, I'd recommend the jinhao every time.

[bob_hayden]

These normally write a bit wider than I would like. There is a model with a hooded nib advertised as XF so I bought one of those. It wrote just like the rest. More recently on eBay one vendor was offering white and yellow ones that claimed to have an XF nib but the nib was not hooded so I bought one of those. The nib looks just like the usual ones which are marked F but this one was not marked at all. It wrote slightly WIDER than the two F nibs I had inked!-( It also burped even though it was cartridge filled. Nib is OK -- a bit of a nail.

[bob_hayden]

Wow, this thread has really quieted down! I have some news. I just received a pen advertised as a Jinhao 399.

Jinhao 399 Fountain Pen Business Student Medium Fine Nib Fashion Writing Tools

In the listing it looked an intriguing Dark Lilac and a "pearlescent" finish was promised. At less that $2US postpaid I could not resist. In person it looks pretty much like other purple plastic Safari clones except that it has some tiny sparkles mixed into the plastic like a cheap toy. Compared to the 599, it is pretty much the same. The most obvious change is that it reverts to the original Lamy paperclip clip. The traditional Jinhao nib is retained (rather than reverting to the Lamy style) and performs as expected for this nib. Inside, the section is clear, which I count as an improvement because it is a much better guide to how much ink you have left that the window in the barrel which is poorly placed and a bit like reading tea leaves to use. The black "belt around the midriff of the 599 is replaced by a chrome ring.

[Jamerelbe]

Wow, this thread has really quieted down! I have some news. I just received a pen advertised as a Jinhao 399.

Jinhao 399 Fountain Pen Business Student Medium Fine Nib Fashion Writing Tools

In the listing it looked an intriguing Dark Lilac and a "pearlescent" finish was promised. At less that $2US postpaid I could not resist. In person it looks pretty much like other purple plastic Safari clones except that it has some tiny sparkles mixed into the plastic like a cheap toy. Compared to the 599, it is pretty much the same. The most obvious change is that it reverts to the original Lamy paperclip clip. The traditional Jinhao nib is retained (rather than reverting to the Lamy style) and performs as expected for this nib. Inside, the section is clear, which I count as an improvement because it is a much better guide to how much ink you have left that the window in the barrel which is poorly placed and a bit like reading tea leaves to use. The black "belt around the midriff of the 599 is replaced by a chrome ring.

 

You're right, they look pretty interesting! My first question with these would be, how do they perform in the air-tightness stakes? I found that with my metal Jinhaos, there was a tendency for the nib to dry out over time. Not a problem if it was your "daily driver", but a bit of a problem if (like me) you like to keep multiple pens inked up at a time...

[bob_hayden]

I can't speak to that from experience. The plastic parts look like they are made from the same molds as the 599, but the different clip could mean a better or worse air seal where the clip enters the cap.