Click Tm Gold Filling Mechanism Fountain Pen - Half Transparent Brown

[bob_hayden]

This will be a comment and brief review. The short version is that this is a reasonable pen but the eBay description does not match the pen I received. I did get a refund (by opening a case) but the seller refuses to admit any error and has not changed the listing. The main point is that it is listed as a piston filler with a gold filling mechanism (the title of this post is copied from the eBay listing) when in fact it is an eyedropper with no filling mechanism. If you want an eyedropper this might be a good choice, but if you want a piston filler you may be disappointed.

 

 

The barrel has a spiral pattern cut on the inside wall that creates an interesting pattern when ink is present. The pattern changes dramatically as the ink moves around inside. The cap on mine was not translucent brown but rather opaque black with gold swirls. The gold looks like plastic toy imitation gold and is quite tacky.

 

 

 

Overall fit and finish are similar to bottom end Chinese pens. However, everything is functional and most importantly there has been no sign of ink leakage after being filled for a month. The section to body threads may be like pipe threads -- tapered to fit tightly. When I filled the pen the ink went about 40% of the way down the threads and has stayed there ever since. Neither I nor the seller put any kind of grease or sealant on the threads. The body seems to have a large capacity but there seems to be a lot of evaporation. At least I can say that the ink level is down quite a bit with very little use, yet I have seen no signs of leaks or burping.

 

 

The nib is attractive. No width was given but it is in the F to XF range and is very smooth for how fine it is. There is some very uniform tooth. There is some spring to it and the feel is firm but not nail-like. Overall, it is a very good nib for $7.50US postpaid from India.

 

The clip was on crooked and the plastic plug in the top of the cap looks cross-threaded. The clip is smoothed at the edges and where it would press against your shirt -- a nice touch. The cap posts very securely.

 

One reason for this post is that people seem to be forever looking for eyedroppers on FPN, or asking if an inexpensive pen can be converted for use as an eyedropper. Here is an inexpensive pen made to be eyedropper.

 

 

 

 

 

[truthpil]

Thanks for this. It's a good reminder that there are plenty of Indian eyedropper pens out there of equal price and quality to Chinese pens that were never meant to be used in such a way. Some Serwex pens are even cheaper and work wonderfully. I wrote hundreds of pages of notes in graduate school with a Serwex eyedropper pen that came free with another purchase from FPR. The nib was great and the pen easy to clean. I just don't like eyedropper pens because of the burping issue...almost ruined a friend's couch when I let the ink level get too low on a hot summer day.

[bob_hayden]

In the US of A the Serwex pens on eBay run $10-16 US while the one above currently sells for $7. FPN is global so perhaps it is a good thing we can put national flags on our posts;-) I did extensive tests of cheap paper for fountain pen suitability but was all too aware that most of it would be irrelevant outside the US and some might be irrelevant on the west coast! I would rate the nib on this pen equal to the cheap Jinhaos but it is MUCH narrower which might be the deciding factor. From a distance this looks like a German piston filler while the 992 looks like a German school pen, but up close this one looks less polished than the Jinhao.

 

Personally I am often lazy and use cartridges, and would prefer a piston filler to an eyedropper anyway. I only know about this one because it was advertised (then and now) as a piston filler. There are Click piston fillers at the same price, though I do not know how you can tell in general which pens are accurately described. The piston filler I am referring to had a transparent body so I could see the mechanism inside.

[Chrissy]

I'm not keen on the idea of an eye dropper pen. I just wouldn't trust it to not start leaking.

[Chrissy]

Your one looks very Pelikanesque though.

[Sasha Royale]

Your pen closely resembles my CLICK Neo Tulip fountain pen, which is piston-fill. Unlike your pen, with the striking pattern, mine is ordinary. I wonder if the CLICK Neo Tulip comes in piston AND eyedropper.

[bob_hayden]

Your guess is as good as mine! Looking on eBay in the US of A, I can see what looks like a piston inside the Tulips you can see through though it is not real distinct in most cases. There are opaque ones with an ink window which show no sign of a body end that unscrews for filling like the transparent ones have but one photo showed the section removed and it looks just like mine with no provision for fitting a cartridge or converter so I am guessing that is an eyedropper. Then I see wholly opaque Tulips that do appear to have a removable or at least twistable end. Mine appears to have that, too, but it does not come off or twist, and there is no piston inside.