Sterling Cap on WS 601A

[Dan Carmell]

I received this pen earlier this week and really like it, although I haven’t inked it yet. But there’s good and bad news about the cap. The good news is that’s it’s quite beautiful. The engraving is very good and the gp clip lines up properly with the pattern, which is one of my favorite patterns. All together with the blind cap jewel, it’s a great looking cap. 
 

However, the inner clutch ring of the cap is scratching up the barrel badly when capping/uncapping. With a light, I can see that the design of the sterling cap’s clutch ring is different. I looked at my 601 and 2 flighter 601A caps and all three have the same clutch ring; the sterling cap has a different one. Whether that is the problem or the problem is unique to my cap/clutch, I can’t say. The seller gave me a decent discount and I’ve ordered a replacement barrel, so I have time to think about how to fix the clutch device. 
 

Here’s a quick snapshot of the 601A next to a sterling capped Parker 51. Wing Sung’s photos of the cap are superb, so don’t judge it by my mediocre photo. But think, for well under $200, you get an 18K nib, a sterling cap, an integral filling system, and a timeless design. It’s a bargain, a beautiful bargain. 

[Number99]

On 4/15/2022 at 1:41 PM, Dan Carmell said:

I received this pen earlier this week and really like it, although I haven’t inked it yet. But there’s good and bad news about the cap. The good news is that’s it’s quite beautiful. The engraving is very good and the gp clip lines up properly with the pattern, which is one of my favorite patterns. All together with the blind cap jewel, it’s a great looking cap. 
 

However, the inner clutch ring of the cap is scratching up the barrel badly when capping/uncapping. With a light, I can see that the design of the sterling cap’s clutch ring is different. I looked at my 601 and 2 flighter 601A caps and all three have the same clutch ring; the sterling cap has a different one. Whether that is the problem or the problem is unique to my cap/clutch, I can’t say. The seller gave me a decent discount and I’ve ordered a replacement barrel, so I have time to think about how to fix the clutch device. 
 

Here’s a quick snapshot of the 601A next to a sterling capped Parker 51. Wing Sung’s photos of the cap are superb, so don’t judge it by my mediocre photo. But think, for well under $200, you get an 18K nib, a sterling cap, an integral filling system, and a timeless design. It’s a bargain, a beautiful bargain. 

Hello.

 

 Thanks to your post, I was able to gain a better understanding of the Wing Sung 601A, thank you.

 I found a blog post about the 601 family.

 The explanation of the pen tip is easy to understand. There is no mention of a sterling cap there, but I viewed it as an outline.

 I've come across other articles about Wing Sung "永生", and older Chinese vintage pens and lost pen factories, so I'll paste the link address.

 We have confirmed that the translation mode of the browser is valid. (They may be Traditional Chinese and / or Simplified Chinese, which may be mistranslated, so it's a good idea to set the detection language to automatic translation mode.)

 

 Then ... the ads are a bit of a good kind.

 

 Wing Sung 601 family. https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/114587126

 

 About Wing Sung "永生鋼筆". https://www.itsfun.com.tw/永生鋼筆/wiki-1176922-7350712

 

 Lost Chinese old fountain pen. https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/368394904

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Flounder]

I'd be curious to see a photo of the cap's insides, regarding the scratching issue. Thanks for making this interesting thread.

[Dan Carmell]

4 hours ago, Flounder said:

I'd be curious to see a photo of the cap's insides, regarding the scratching issue. Thanks for making this interesting thread.

I’ll try to get a decent shot of that tomorrow. I haven’t tried yet to see what particular edge or sharp corner is making the scratches, more than one from the pattern of scratches. It looks like WS used a new part and didn’t smooth it at all. It resembles other clutch mechanisms I’ve seen and my plan is to take it out and see if I can smooth the rough edges. 

I’ve looked carefully at the steel 601 and 601A caps and the clutch mechanism is completely different. I took a quick photo to show the barrel scratches from perhaps 12-15 recappings. I had to force the flash to get the scratches to show.

 

I’ve got a barrel on the way when Shanghai opens up and, strictly in the interest of science, a second pen on the way to see if the problem was unique to my pen or widespread, which would be a shame to have a defective part coupled with that beautiful cap. 
 

Thanks for reading!

[Dan Carmell]

20 hours ago, Number99 said:

 

 Then ... the ads are a bit of a good kind.

 

 Wing Sung 601 family. https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/114587126

 

 About Wing Sung "永生鋼筆". https://www.itsfun.com.tw/永生鋼筆/wiki-1176922-7350712

 

 Lost Chinese old fountain pen. https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/368394904

 

Those old ads are wonderful, thank you for the link. It would be sad to think that the only visual record of some pens may be in the ads, with perhaps no pens from a certain model is existence. 
 

it was interesting to see 601 models or trim variations I haven’t seen before. Those nib close-up photos were very good.