Duke Lucky Clouds D135

[celesul]

I'm reviewing the Duke Lucky Clouds fountain pen. It has 2008 on the cap, but I think that refers to the Olympics there then. I was rather sleepy when I wrote the handwritten review, so I'm afraid it has some mistakes and is not as complete as I'd like. As such, the typed review will probably be more informative, more coherent, and contain fewer spelling errors.

 

 

Appearance & Design:

It looks fairly pretty, although I'm not exactly in love. It's a bit flashy for daily use for me. Also, as a rule, the larger the pen, the less decorated it should be, in my opinion.

 

Construction & Quality: This pen is well put together. Everything is aligned properly, fits together, and feels durable. This is a nice pen, and certainly feels much, much more expensive than the $7 it cost me.

 

Weight & Dimensions: This is the reason I don't think I'll be keeping this pen. This pen is large for me, and I dislike the shape. Also, the cap is too heavy to post, which makes me unhappy. I suspect that the size would make plenty of people happy, but I'm not one of them. I'm not very fond on the clip on the cap as well. It's much too stiff.

 

Nib & Performance: The nib on this is very nice. It isn't nearly as much of a nail as I'd expected, and it's very smooth. Unfortunately, it dries up a bit if you don't write with it for a while (a day or two). I don't think this is unusual, but I've some pens that I've just never had dry out on me, no matter how long I leave them. Once this pen gets started though, it writes wonderfully. It's a nice pen that objects to being ignored.

 

Filling System & Maintenance:

Cartridge/converter, shipped with a fairly nice converter.

 

Cost & Value: This pen is absolutely fantastic quality for the cost.

 

Conclusion: I'll be looking to sell or trade this pen. It's a good pen, but it just isn't very comfortable for me to hold. I adore my Hero 616 and 330 for comfort, and I can honestly even deal with the Lanbitou Mini Missile. I like small pens that I can post.

 

 

Duke logo

 

 

 

 

 

Size comparison with a (fake, but correct size) Hero 616

 

Edited November 18, 2011 by celesul

[rwilsonedn]

Great review, and especially thanks for showing us the hand-written version. Your writing is wonderful to look at, and you are getting very nice line variation on your capitals. Pretty much eliminates the "all Chinese pens are nails" theory.

Thanks!

ron

[th3]

Good and very informative review. Thanks.

 

I like your pictures and your handwritten review, good penmanship and adept use of the pen. What ink did you use?

[celesul]

Thank you very much for the compliments. The ink is Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses.

 

It requires a fair bit of pressure to get much variation, about as much pressure as the Noodlers Flex Pen, although that pen offers a wider range of line widths. Regardless, it is very much not a nail. (My Hero 616 also offers a tiny bit of variation, but I could stab a page with my Hero 330 or Bookworm 709 and there will be no flex).

[Sailor Kenshin]

Nice review---like others here, I love your writing.

 

I'm a big fan of Chinese pens... as you can probably tell.

 

Is the section metal? (My monitor is made of phail). If section isn't metal I might be willing to buy or trade.

[celesul]

Nice review---like others here, I love your writing.

 

I'm a big fan of Chinese pens... as you can probably tell.

 

Is the section metal? (My monitor is made of phail). If section isn't metal I might be willing to buy or trade.

 

Thanks ^///^

 

I also very much like my Chinese pens! I want to try some other cheap pens as well, but so far the Chinese ones are the easiest to obtain, and very excellent. I also really, really don't go for large pens, and a lot of the Chinese pens are small to medium size. This one does make me want to try a smaller Duke eventually. I'd be so scared of losing expensive ones!

 

The section is not metal. It's a slightly rubbery feeling section, although not terribly cushy. I'd certainly be interested in trading.