High End Chinese Fp?

[pkoko]

Does China make any high end FP that compete with big boys from Europe and Japan?

 

I am not talking about limited edition ART pieces but actually well-made user grade pens like TWSBI.

[Bluey]

In quality in a lot of cases the Chinese ones are better than the European ones, but often not quite as good as the Japanese ones. In general of course. It wasn't always like that.

You're paying for the name in most cases, and there isn't a connection between price and quality anyway.

 

What sort of pen are you looking for?

Edited August 9, 2016 by Bluey

[pkoko]

I am looking for Lamy 2k or Pilot 823 of Chinese pens.

[Bluey]

I think you may be out of luck I'm afraid. As far as I'm aware the only Chinese pens I have heard of are either aerometric or cartridge converter pens.

 

 

Edit

This may be useful. Apparently there are piston fillers

http://www.rickconner.net/penspotters/chinese.html

Edited August 10, 2016 by Bluey

[Mech-for-i]

Well, that depend on how you grade the pens. Chinese Pens , for obvious reason, are manufactured for writting Chinese, which is very different than writing in cursive Latin text. So first thing first, one got to sway the expectations. There are plenty of good Chinese fountain pen in the say $50 to $150 range ( which I consider user grade price but not the economy price range ) that are very decent user and build well also.

 

If you want piston type , stay with the TWSBI .

[pkoko]

There are plenty of good Chinese fountain pen in the say $50 to $150 range ( which I consider user grade price but not the economy price range ) that are very decent user and build well also.

.

 

Examples?? Other than Hero 100, 1000, & 800 (I own all three)

[celesul]

Sort of. There are nice gold nibbed pens being made and sold in China. But they aren't really marketed in English. Many of them are only available places like ebay or aliexpress: not a buying experience that makes you comfortable dropping much money, as you expect customer service will necessarily be unimpressive (if you buy a Lamy 2000 and the nib has a problem, which definitely happens, you can talk to Lamy and get it dealt with. If your Hero has a problem and you don't speak Chinese, things aren't so easy). Also, given that English writers are not the target market, Chinese pens don't tend to come with the nib options we might desire.

[Bluey]

Also, given that English writers are not the target market, Chinese pens don't tend to come with the nib options we might desire.

Debatable. So why do they typically come in medium and broad? Surely if they were for a Chinese market they would be much finer like the ones designed for a Japanese market

[celesul]

Debatable. So why do they typically come in medium and broad? Surely if they were for a Chinese market they would be much finer like the ones designed for a Japanese market

I'd say the default is still fine for many Chinese pens, particularly Hero, which is the brand that comes to mind as having some nicer gold nibbed pens.

 

Either way, you can write Chinese with a medium or broad nibbed pen just fine (although the broad nib wouldn't be so good for school workpages), so it makes sense that they're findable, though not in school pens. But italic and stub Chinese pens are vanishingly rare (there is one Hero calligraphy set, but that's all I can think of). Fude nibs, on the other hand, are fairly accessible. I had been thinking more of the fancier nibs when I made that claim.

[Bluey]

That's fair enough. I'm thinking of Jinhao and Baoer because they seem to be by far the most common.

[Seele]

That's fair enough. I'm thinking of Jinhao and Baoer because they seem to be by far the most common.

 

Jinhao/Baoer might be successful on the international market but in China, they're practically unknown. The point remains: there's not much of a variety of nibs produced in that country, and of course none of those things like oblique, italic, stub etc.

 

Back to the point again: there were some newer firms with loftier aspirations, but for the locals, if they'd want to spend a bit more for a "high end" pen they'd go straight for the imports, and everyone would dream of a Montblanc of some description! An example is the brand Lanbo who made true high-end pens, with a patented built-in nib flossing mechanism. It didn't last too long.

[Mech-for-i]

First thing first, it might be some study and background info in need here. Chinese pen made for their home and Asian market are again , as I stated for writing a different language, so they tend to standardize on one nib size , and give an option of another couple. Typically that mean their standard is what most consider Fine or Fine/Medium depending on your brand and made preference. The option is usually EF ( its called so even in Chinese ) which is well, EF , and then there's the Fude nib or simply termed by Chinese Mfr. the calligraphy nib. While this might be not a common option in western market. Its rather common in Chinese and some Asian market as of course its used to write in a sort of pseudo brush stroke style. Italic nib would be considered Art nib category for them. For line variation in Chinese writing a calligraphy nib or even better a true brush is way better. The standard and EF are catered for everyday use , and for writing, not for showing fancy penmanship.

 

Also Hero and likes of Chinese pen Mfr tend to standardize on a few nib / feed across models and line up and instead of offering different nib sizing, they simply offer the nib itself for users. Say the typical Hero 616, its not hard to get the standard ( F ), EF, and Calligraphy nib independently. Ditto to most others.

 

True high end pens among Chinese pen Mfr are either those high end gold nibbed model from big name, or more likely individual small shop custom made or hand crafted models.

[richardandtracy]

There are expensive Chinese pens.

Duke do some eyewatering price pens, and I think the price reflects the quality of workmanship & materials. The design quality - well, that's very subjective.

Take a look at this sale for an example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Duke-Gold-Inlaided-Jade-18k-Dragon-World-Gold-Fountain-Pen-/221401869879?hash=item338c946e37:g:TqQAAOxyjxlTMk5s or this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Duke-18k-Solid-Gold-Dragon-Fly-Past-Temple-Of-Heaven-Fountain-Pen-/390701459561?hash=item5af79f2869:g:E5sAAOSwc0FUoXsK

 

Hero also do some very high end pens: http://www.ebay.com/itm/HERO-2009-18K-DRAGON-PHOENIX-24KGP-GOLD-NET-18K-FP-/162018770073?hash=item25b9123c99:m:mGdG77_90HM2xPyWjaxUqDQ or http://www.ebay.com/itm/HERO-3000-18K-FOUNTAIN-PEN-THE-IMPERIAL-COURT-GOLD-NET-BODY-COLLECTION-PEN-/171853485082?hash=item280344141a:g:WnkAAOxyOlhSyVsP

 

I have no experience of these pens - simply put, I can't afford them - so I have no idea what they are like as writing pens, or whether they are a fancy jacket around a poor nib & feed. However, it looks like a market the Chinese are edging into and if they apply quality techniques learnt manufacturing Apple iPhones, these will end up being as good as anything on the planet.

 

Regards,

 

Richard

[Jobesmirage]

That Hero 3000 has such a beautiful inlay...

 

Higher end pens... really there are expensive pens out there but if youre looking for a high grade user pen, youre thinking of the Hero 100 or 1000. Gold nibbed, pens with a reliable tested filling mechanism. I like to think of them as a modern Parker 51 since they are inspired from the 51. They are easier to take apart with the tool and dont require shellac-ing to repair them but they are just as reliable as the 51.

 

If youre looking for something special, I recommend this guy who makes piston fillers and piston filler bodies for the Hero 100 pens as well as the LAMY Demonstrator Clones:

 

https://shop65754562.world.taobao.com/?spm=a312a.7728556.2015080705.5.TVuRax

[lovemy51]

i bought a couple of Hero's back in the day when Isellpens.com use to carry them. they came with a 10k or 12k nibs. very good writers with a lot of spring. i would even go as far as to call them semi-flex.

 

let see if i can find a pic to post......

 

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n419/peterpaul_rguez/P6175829.jpg

Edited September 11, 2016 by lovemy51