Impressions From My Recent Shopping Spree

[katerchen]

Over the last three months I've bought a bunch of inexpensive pens off of eBay. The usual caveat applies : depending on how you roll the QC dice, your experience could be totally different from mine.

 

General observations:

• JinHao was consistently the best, followed by Hero
• Baoer and Picasso were a mixed bag. (More on the disappointment side of the mix)
• I don't care much for the slide-type converters on the Hero's, so in the keeper pens I replaced them with Schmidt converters. Since they are out of sight anyway and function as they should, I didn't consider them negatives overall ... just don't like them (not sure how to explain this better)
• The nibs in the Baoers especially felt very thin and flimsy. I don't think I'll buy any more of that brand.

 

The order follows how I perceived the pens, best to worst.

 

Outstanding

• Kaigelu 316. This pen is an unapologetic Parker Duofold Centennial clone. Well, clone is probably a strong word, but the similarity is unmistakable, right down the the 3.5 turns that it takes to uncap the pen.
  
  Build quality is excellent. The pen is a bit on the heavy side and it's an perfect writer. It also has a standard #6 nib, so you have a lot of freedom to get the exact writing experience you desire.
  
  I still can't believe the quality that $20 bought me.
  
• JinHao 699. This was a cheap little thing ($6), but I am very happy with it. If you like the Lamy CP1, you will like this pen. I gave my first one to my daughter to play with and ordered 5 more, some of which I will keep and some I will gift away with a Goulet sample vial from the Ink Drop shipment. Yes I am like a crack dealer, giving away the first baggie for free

Very good

• JinHao Century. Another Parker inspired pen. I got the blue acrylic version
• Hero 1000. This is a fairly close clone of the P51, but heavier, due to the metal barrel. Very reliable writer with a 10K fine gold nib (didn't know they made a 10K alloy, but hey). It's a nail, but smooth. The most expensive one in the bunch at $40.
• Hero 7009. I got these off of milestone_hk -- he ships much faster than the other Chinese sellers I bought from, probably because he is located in HK. I got both the fine and the Fude versions (the latter I probably won't use a lot, but I just had to have it for $10).
  
  The Fine version I ended up using on a regular basis. Nice, no-frills writer.
• JinHao x750 ... the gold standard of inexpensive yet well built Chinese pens. Can't add much more content here than others already have. (Except that I borked up the nib with a failed stub grind and had to replace)

Good

• Baoer 051. This was the one Baoer that was actually an exception to the rule and felt pretty nice. It's a knockoff of the Monteverde Impressa, but stands on its own right. Good writer, quality build.
• Duke 116 in Rosewood colored finish. I put Noodler's Antietam in this one to match the ink to the outside. Reliable writer. Nib was a bit dry at the start, so I had to tweak it.
• Hero 1023. Came in a very lavish presentation box. Another milestone_hk purchase, so I had it in a week. Good writer, made it to my carry case.
• Picasso 902. Deep shimmering red with gold accents. Good writer. Bit on the slim side. Naturally, I had to put Diamine Red Dragon in it. Came in a classy display box.

OK, I guess ...

• Jinhao 950. White porcelain with a blue dragon motif. I knew it was going to be an impractical pen, due to its weight and girth, but I had to have it for its looks. It is a very good writer when it's freshly filled, but the nib dries out in a day, even when capped. I'm not sure why. This is the reason it's not placed one category higher.
• Baoer 507, the Eight Horses. It's not a bad pen and the embossing isn't very obtrusive, so it can be easily used as a daily pen. It has the flimsy Baoer nib I wrote about at the start.
• Baoer 801. This is a *very* small and thin pen, which wasn't obvious from the pictures (I could have read the description I guess, that had the dimensions). Has the flimsy, though actually reliable Baoer nib in fine width. Never had any startup issues with it.

Meh

• Baoer 388. Sonnet clone. I actually ordered a few different colors. All of them came with misaligned tines; flow and line width was all over the place
• Kaigelu 356. Another Sonnet clone. It was better than the Baoers, but I still don't like it.
• Wing Sung 322. Very cheap feel with an icky aluminium cap.
• Picasso 907, mit einem Roten Ring, heh. So I had to have it, but was disappointed. Dries out easily and beside that came with a misaligned, scratchy nib.
• Picasso 916. Pretty much mirrors the 907 experience.

 

So there you have it. I think for a while I am done with Chinese pens, although I may buy a few more K316's to round out the color collection.

 

-k

 

[titan75]

Hi katerchen,

 

Nice analysis on so many Chinese pens, any chance of posting pictures you have taken of the pens?

 

 

 

Cheers,

Alan

[LittleSkink]

this is really helpful thank you, I have some cheap Chinese pens but will get a few more

 

My first was a Kaigelu (a Sonnet clone) that was less than great, paid over the odds for UK supply too - it put me off Chinese pens for a couple of years

 

Then I got a Jinhao X450 on a whim and loved it

 

The next Jinhao, a X750 wasnt quite so well finished and my youngest daughter quickly pinched it

 

In last week have ordered Jinhao 159, 699, 15 and 500, looking forward to seeing what arrives in the post

 

Once the Jinhaos arrive will be looking at one or two Hero / Duke pens too. And I doubt I will have spent as much as one of my western pens has cost

Edited February 9, 2017 by LittleSkink

[rwilsonedn]

Thanks for a really useful overview of these pens.

ron

[DavidHL]

This was very useful! Thank you!