Hongdian

[Arcticart]

My experience with Hongdian pens and especially their nibs has been very positive as well. So far I have four of them, and I wouldn't hesitate buying more.

 

1851 fude nib, 920 "EF", 517S "F" and 6013 "F". All of them have been excellent writers out of the box.

 

That 1837 is really tempting.

[MuddyWaters]

Can someone explain the difference between the 1843, 1850 and 1851? They seem to be the same pen model with different colours. Is that true?

[Notgatherox]

On 5/30/2021 at 12:50 AM, pgomme said:

Does anyone have a Hongdian 660 (wooden)? If so, what do you think?

 

Recently got one. Still putting it through the test - but I quite like it as of now. Writes a smooth line and doesn't skip. I love the wood smell.

 

Of my wooden pens (I have the Delike Sandalwood (Shepherd), multiple Moonman M1s, M3), it's the only one that doesn't suffer from ink drying out if unused for a couple of days.

 

Only gripe I have with it was the extremely tight clip - to the extent that it was almost useless. Opened it up a bit by forcing it onto a notebook, and it's okay now.

 

Let me know if you have any other queries and I'll try to answer them.

 

 

~Epic

[pgomme]

1 hour ago, Notgatherox said:

 

Recently got one. Still putting it through the test - but I quite like it as of now. Writes a smooth line and doesn't skip. I love the wood smell.

 

Of my wooden pens (I have the Delike Sandalwood (Shepherd), multiple Moonman M1s, M3), it's the only one that doesn't suffer from ink drying out if unused for a couple of days.

 

Only gripe I have with it was the extremely tight clip - to the extent that it was almost useless. Opened it up a bit by forcing it onto a notebook, and it's okay now.

 

Let me know if you have any other queries and I'll try to answer them.

 

 

~Epic

 

Thanks for the input. I bought one myself - I think it's the sandalwood version - when I got a good price on AliExpress.

 

I agree about the clip - overly tight.

 

I got the EF nib - reviews for HongDian say they write wet, and the EF is more like a F. After giving the alignment, the nib wires with some feedback, and a bit dry in my opinion.

 

 

[Aether]

Is the sandalwood actually sandalwood? Does it have that nice aroma.  Was looking at the versions and would go for it if it is fragrant, otherwise it's the black version pour moi.

[Notgatherox]

On 6/6/2021 at 2:47 AM, MuddyWaters said:

Can someone explain the difference between the 1843, 1850 and 1851? They seem to be the same pen model with different colours. Is that true?

 

Hi MuddyWaters,

 

You would be correct - I checked with Hongdian customer service on Taobao and they told me it was only appearance.

 

Attaching the photo of the conversation, with a translation.

 

Me: Hello, can I check what's the difference between 1843, 1850 and 1851?

CS: Mainly appearance difference, the rest is the same.

Me: OK, thank you

 

 

 

~Epic

[Notgatherox]

6 hours ago, Aether said:

Is the sandalwood actually sandalwood? Does it have that nice aroma.  Was looking at the versions and would go for it if it is fragrant, otherwise it's the black version pour moi.

 

Hi Aether,

 

I can't tell if it's actually sandalwood - but it does smell the same as my Moonman M1 sandalwood.

 

I find the aroma quite nice - understated.

 

According to the Taobao site there are four versions of this pen, namely swartizia spp [common name guyana rosewood] (红檀木), ebony (黑檀木), mahogany (酸枝木) and mahogany (钛黑檀木). The mahagony has black clip, the ebony has gold clip.

 

Attaching the product pictures from Taobao for your reference.

 

 

~Epic

[A Smug Dill]

24 minutes ago, Notgatherox said:

Attaching the photo of the conversation, with a translation.

 

Me: Hello, can I check what's the difference between 1843, 1850 and 1851?

CS: Mainly appearance difference, the rest is the same.

Me: OK, thank you

 

I appreciate your sharing and translating it, and that it is the HongDian specialist store's ‘official’ response. I must point out, though, that model 1843 has a screw-cap, while models 1850 and 1851 have snap-caps.

[A Smug Dill]

2 minutes ago, Notgatherox said:

According to the Taobao site there are four versions of this pen, namely swartizia spp [common name guyana rosewood] (红檀木), ebony (黑檀木), mahogany (酸枝木) and mahogany (钛黑檀木). The mahagony has black clip, the ebony has gold clip.

 

I believe the fourth model is also made of ebony and not mahogany, notwithstanding the barely visible English word ‘mahogany’ in the corresponding marketing image, and the difference from the second (‘ebony’) model is only in the metallic trim.

[Notgatherox]

Just now, A Smug Dill said:

 

I believe the fourth model is also made of ebony and not mahogany, notwithstanding the barely visible English word ‘mahogany’ in the corresponding marketing image, and the difference from the second (‘ebony’) model is only in the metallic trim.

 

I would believe you to be right - I was wondering why the mandarin names and the english names didn't match up. On that note, I understand 檀木 to be sandalwood but apparently I was wrong XD

 

 

~Epic

[A Smug Dill]

16 minutes ago, Notgatherox said:

On that note, I understand 檀木 to be sandalwood but apparently I was wrong XD

 

That was my understanding as well.

 

According to Wikipedia https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/檀木:

檀或檀木，不是一個具有精確意義的字、辭，不盡然是一種木材，或一類木材的統稱。有時候指一種香木，有時候指質地堅韌、紋理細緻的一種硬木，有時候指兼具以上這兩種特性的木材。

⋮

另外，在市面上，以檀為名的還有：紅檀（Swartizia spp.鐵木豆屬，也有將Dicorynia Guianensis雙柱蘇木冠以紅檀商品名……）、綠檀（可能是Guaiacum癒瘡木屬，或Bulnesia維臘木屬）、黑檀ebony可以是又稱非洲柚木的Guibourtia spp.以及又稱烏木的柿屬黑檀Diospyros spp.等。據說市面上稱檀木的樹種多達60種以上。

 

and then https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/酸枝木:

酸枝木指的是黄檀属植物木材，可分为黑酸枝木（巴西黑黄檀等）、红酸枝木（交趾黄檀等），在英文中叫做rosewood。英文的rosewood有时也可以指香枝木（降香黄檀）和其他蝶形花亚科植物的木材（如紫檀）… 

 

so I guess it covers all of the above, although I can't see where mahogany comes in.

[Aether]

34 minutes ago, Notgatherox said:

 

Hi Aether,

 

I can't tell if it's actually sandalwood - but it does smell the same as my Moonman M1 sandalwood.

 

I find the aroma quite nice - understated.

 

According to the Taobao site there are four versions of this pen, namely swartizia spp [common name guyana rosewood] (红檀木), ebony (黑檀木), mahogany (酸枝木) and mahogany (钛黑檀木). The mahagony has black clip, the ebony has gold clip.

 

~Epic

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, and for the Taobao images.  Not sandalwood then.  Genuine sandalwood* would push the price up considerably.  Probably not swartizia spp either as that is a wood from Peru as I understand it, though it may grow in Asia?  The labelling of wood types used in Chinese pens is hit and miss it seems.  Makes me wonder if the ebony version is actual ebony or some other similar appearing dark wood.

 

*sandalwood is not a generic term in my understanding, and relates only to those species in the Santalum genus.  Using it as a label for other woods seems to be an error.

[A Smug Dill]

25 minutes ago, Aether said:

The labelling of wood types used in Chinese pens is hit and miss it seems.

 

True, especially if you look only at the labels in English:

[pgomme]

13 hours ago, Aether said:

Is the sandalwood actually sandalwood? Does it have that nice aroma.  Was looking at the versions and would go for it if it is fragrant, otherwise it's the black version pour moi.

 

I haven't noticed much of an aroma. To be sure, I checked my order to verify that I ordered the sandalwood; I did.