Identify This Chinese Fountain Pen From The 80's

[Stefan-Ionut-Marius]

Can someone identify this chinese fountain pen from the 80's ?

I had one ln the beginning, of my school years and it had a 14 k gold nib , but i can't remember the producer and the model number .

Edited July 30, 2018 by Stefan-Ionut-Marius

[Mech-for-i]

well this look like an old model from the brand Nanjing ; but that same style ( including the printed graphics ) AFAIK had been used by other brand too, mostly 2nd / 3rd tier / local Mfr .. notably Tiantan

Edited July 31, 2018 by Mech-for-i

[rochester21]

Also, gold-nibbed chinese fountain pens are rather rare. The vast majority of them just had a goldish color. I actually wonder how many chinese pens back in the 70s/80s had a real gold nib(at least 14K). 9k, 12k might have been more common.

 

Logic tells me they were few and far between, they were considered luxury items and mostly meant for politicians and what not. There was a real craze after all chinese-made fountain pens in the countries found under soviet rule, where people didn`t really have access to western brands.

 

Having a chinese fountain pen(especially one with some gold content) in countries like communist Romania was a big deal. It was a status symbol, something that westerners couldn`t possibly understand because they had access to the free market all along.

 

This explains the huge fondness for them found even today including on younger people(in the mid 90s chinese pens were still the norm for kids starting school). Mind you, even though the soviet block made their own pens, the chinese ones were considered the best. In some ways, they were.

Edited July 31, 2018 by rochester21

[Stefan-Ionut-Marius]

Well I currently have some gold nib pens , from Hero ( 100 , 163 ) and one from Wing Sung 698 the gold nib version .

[Mech-for-i]

well not being there its not for me to tell how its like in communist era Eastern Bloc ... but in its home market , gold nib on a fountain pen in those days are not that rare though they are still very much status symbol but of a different kind. Those who were seen having a gold nib pen are usually the officials, or in profession that dictate respect ( Teachers, Medical Doctors, Engineers .. just about any professional personnel who need their writing archival ) But the same those pens are expensive alright in those days and likely in limited supply too.

 

The said pen in concern though, might be an export only model which is not a surprise. In those days the Mfrs tend to give the export market some added flare and models that are not available home. This practice was still around into the early Y2K but certainly no more these days

[rochester21]

Those who were seen having a gold nib pen are usually the officials, or in profession that dictate respect ( Teachers, Medical Doctors, Engineers .. just about any professional personnel who need their writing archival ) But the same those pens are expensive alright in those days and likely in limited supply too.

 

My point exactly.

 

As for the models intended for export only, this is interesting, but not uncommon. This sort of thing affected all industries, for instance cars made for export during the Cold War had extras not available for the domestic market and were also better built. I`m sure the fountain pen industry was no different in that regard.

 

I guess Hong Kong was spared to an extent of the restrictions that some countries had at that point in time, since it was under british rule. Would like to chat more about fountain pens and history, but i guess people don`t care much about that anymore. At least until WW3 happens.

Edited July 31, 2018 by rochester21

[Tefolim]

Tiantan aka. Temple of Heaven seemed to have fp in the design.