Jinhao "Dragon Protects Precious Stone" Fountain Pen

[dadoody]

You guys just sold me. *begins searching*

[dadoody]

Greetings,

 

I believe in order to give a thorough review of a pen, you have to have something to compare it to. So I'll tell you I own Sheaffers, Parkers, Lamy, Pelikans, Pilots and Montblancs, pretty well rounded. I own cheap pens such as the parker reflex and expensive quality pens such as the 75th Anniversary 149. Just figured I'd give some background to lend credence to my review:

 

I ordered this pen and got it yesterday. I was a bit frustrated @ 1st because it was too dry. After reading this article: http://www.pentrace.net/article052501085.html , I used heavy pressure to split the tine, and then a little more reverse preassure to fix the tine after I left a too big gap.

 

It now writes very wet and smooth. I love this pen.

 

Also, hcsk8ter, please post a larger picture of your avatar pic.

[Randal6393]

Hcsk8ter,

 

Glad you are enjoying your Jinhao pen. I have a few of them and love them for their great performance. Only drawbacks, to me, is that the nibs are a bit narrow -- I usually like a Broad nib to convert to an italic nib, about 1.0 mm or so. Only a few Chinese pens in that category.

 

To my hand, the Jinhaos seem weighty. They are in the "do not post the cap" group, write much better unposted, IMHO.

 

Bought my Jinhaos, Heros, etc. at Todd Nussbaum's store, <www.isellpens.com>. He has a very good line of inexpensive (as well as expensive) Asian pens. There are several other online merchants that sell Jinhaos as well. I feel everyone should have one of these beauties in their penbox, just for the experience.

 

Enjoy,

[Tricia]

I have one of these (the one in the original post) and it's the only pen I own that I've never actually used. It's just too heavy for me. I do so love the dragon, though.

 

 

 

[publius]

I think I may get one of these to wear as part of a costume. It ought to be possible to convert it to a ring-top, so as to hang it from a chain…

[oldnavy1988]

Thank you for a wonderful review. I have decided to take your suggestion and have placed an order.

Greetings,

 

I believe in order to give a thorough review of a pen, you have to have something to compare it to. So I'll tell you I own Sheaffers, Parkers, Lamy, Pelikans, Pilots and Montblancs, pretty well rounded. I own cheap pens such as the parker reflex and expensive quality pens such as the 75th Anniversary 149. Just figured I'd give some background to lend credence to my review:

 

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/9821/jinhao1jp9.jpg

 

Construction: 8/10

Let me start by saying this is one gorgeous pen and pictures don't even do it justice. I chose this pen in particular because of its ornate decoration. In essence, a scuplted dragon circumnavigates the midesection of the pen protecting a precious cast iron stone. The dragons's eyes are two ruby colored stones and are perfectly placed and well done. This is a heavy pen. 48 grams! That's right. When you sit in a chair and write with this pen, you will feel important. The pen's midsection is a cast iron alloy finish and is a heap of metal. On either end of the pen are black resin caps both of which have threaded gold plated threading. Why you ask? Not only does this pen screw down on the threads to close the pen when you put it away, it has identical threading on top so when you post the pen, it will never dismount, since it screws down as well. Say goodbye to falling pen caps! This pen will make you drool! Lastly, the dragon sculpted into the midsection is gorgeous. It is ornately done. The dragon's raised claws, it's flowing plumes of feathers and its coiling tail: WOW !! The only drawback to this version of the pen is this....DRUMROLL PLEASE....The pen has no clip. Not sure why, maybe its weight but if you plan on carrying this pen, it should be in a secure pocket or a pen case. The good news is, there is a version of this pen that is slightly more money that has a ruby-colored stone and a clip. So that takes care of that.

 

Nib: 10/10

When I bought this pen, since it wasnt expensive, I didn't expect much, but I couldn't have been more wrong. This nib is quality. It is a 22 Karat Gold Plated Nib decorated with a dragon's head and ornate etchings the quality of a Montblanc fountain. It is sold as a medium nib, but writes more like a medium-fine.

 

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/369/jinhao2ta5.jpg

 

How does it write? Isn't that the only thing that matters? That's what I thought. Well let me tell you this thing can do what it's meant for as well. It's not just sitting pretty. Boy can it write. Ink flow is excellent. It glides on regualar paper and is not too wet. For a pen, at this price it is top draw. Hands Down. No complaints.

 

Filling: 8/10

Unforuntately as much as I'd like to drool some more over this pen, it is a piston converter. It does hold a reasonable amount of ink. But coming from someone who owns an ink guzzling 149, piston converters are piston converters. The converter is well made, is etched in a rose colored cast iron "Jinhao" and is well constructed. Again very well made.

 

Value 10/10

Ok, you need to sit down for this. If someone handed me this pen and let me look it over, and write with it, not knowing anything about it, I would think it was a high price limited edition pen. It's not....high priced that is. It was....still sitting down?....ready?....ok fine...$36 US dollars including shipping from Japan. Not only was the pen worth it...I'm hungry for more Jinhaos. This pen has the quality of pens hundreds of dollars more and is very well made, heavy and quality. You need this pen.

 

Conclusions:

This pen is an excellent pen for the money. It writes well and is made with pride and quality. The only drawback to this pen and not to me but i'm sure it may be for some people: It is a heavy pen, some people would probably not write for hours on end with this beauty, although it doesn't bother me. The other drawback, again not to me, since I always carry a pen case, not pens in my pocket, is the lack of a pen clip. However, thinking about it...it would weigh down a shirt pocket, this pen belongs in a case! Also, this is a scuplted pen, you "feel" it when you write with it. It's bumps and curves do not affect the ability to write with it, if anything I think it enhances the writing experience. Where to buy this pen? The only place I've seen it, and where I bought it, www.ebay.com search "Jinhao Dragon" which should do it. Great. Super pen.

 

I hope you enjoyed this review and found it informative. Please post lots of feedback. This is my first review, and if you don't respond, I'll dig a hole in my wall and bury myself inside and never review a pen again. Just kidding.

 

Enjoy.

 

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/4690/jinhao3wh0.jpg

 

[shrinknib]

Hi there

I agree with the above responses- what a great review for an exceptionally INTERESTING pen.

Why have you not replied yet...thought you were only going to retreat if there were no responses...hmmm..what should we make of that??

 

PS I'd love to see the avatar in large size too!

[seniorminnion]

 

just recieved the above pen - only about a week from China to the UK.

 

- Stunning looking and wrote immediately - VERY heavy and maybe a little too broad a line for me - but wrote with it for a couple of hours without any problems at all - very smooth .

 

- the carving doesn't make the pen uncomfortable to use - even though you'd think it would .

 

- all in all - I'm pleased with it - and if you don't want to write with it - you could always carry it in your pocket and use it as a cosh !!!!

[JinhaoMaster]

Good to see everyone loves jinhao! I really recommend the X450, the dragon protects the precious stone and long march pens (really sorry for hijacking the thread!) but i love em all!

[jd50ae]

Hmm, I've been quite underwhelmed by Jinhao -- their fit and finish aren't in the same league as the first-tier pens from what I've seen (not much, admittedly).

 

 

ok ok

you buy one and if you don't like it you can give er sell it to me.

wow, a real brain storm and with no one's help.

I really really will buy it from you.

Edited April 12, 2009 by jd50ae

[hcsk8ter]

Glad to see everyone is enjoying this pen. If you have any inquiries, feel free to pm me directly!

[dadoody]

I need to revive this thread to explain how wonderful this pen is and has been. This review drove me to buy this pen (along with the cheap under $20 price) over 1 year ago.

 

I've mainly been using heart of darkness in mine and fill the converter it comes with.

 

This pen has consistently been writing smooth as butter, the looks have not degraded and this heavy decorative pen is NOT falling apart. I keep this in my pocket and bang around a lot, and there isn't a dent, scratch, or tarnish that shows.

 

This pen writes better than the $30 Lami Safari I bought and dislike immensely - horrible pen in my opinion with over-hyped reviews. I use a fine nib that only writes smoothly when adjusted to have higher ink flow - it gives broadlines in this case. Skips consistently no matter how much I adjust. Dislike.

 

This pen writes better than the Pilot Cavalier in Fine point that I paid 45+7 for converter for. The Pilot is a nice pen, writes smooth and consistent and has nice fine lines, but is slightly too thin for my hands. It also can only be used @ certain angles effectively, while the Jinhao can be used in more angles. The Jinhao is more forgiving.

 

This pen writes better than other Jinhao I bought as well - the F8R Dragon's Offspring pen. This broad one that look wooden-y. Horrible pen. Scratchy and leaky, and the plastic grips fall apart in your hand. Literally.

 

 

 

This has stoney, heavy, dragon pen is one of the best writing pens of all fountain pens I have. The only one that competes with it well is my Cross Century I pen that was $60 back in the 90s.

 

For the price, this pen is stupendous. I would buy another if I wasn't so anal about having 2 of the same exact pens. If they made other ones of this type with the same nib and rusty stone color. There is a Kwan-Yin version I would be apt to buy if it was the stoney rusty color and not the ugly golden orange color that it is.

Edited May 6, 2010 by dadoody

[sticks]

I too love using my Dragon pen. It writes beautifully and is a pleasure to use. My students think it's great too - and it takes a bit to enthuse cool 16 to 18 year olds! In fact, it has inspired some of them to throw away their biros in favour of a gamut of wild looking pens, with Jinhao proving extremely popular. That has to be good!

[Chris]

I bought two Jinhao pens with the cheap-looking plastic converter in. Both are smooth but the X750 tend to run dry after half a page and needs the convertor to be given a twist, whereas the X450 seems better.

 

I tried pulling out the nib and feed (! !) since I had only spent a few pounds including postage from China. The slits in the feed were rather bunged up with bits of plastic swarf which I removed with a scalpel. Although this improved things, it is still not perfect. But hey, it only cost almost nothing and works for half a page or so!

 

Chris

[oneill]

It is safe to say that we have started a Legion of Jinhao and Baoer lovers

[thrage1]

I think the Jinhao 'Dragon Protects Precious Stone' FPs also come with a golden design. I'm not sure though...

Just a question (though I think it should be put in another forum...), how do you find out which number Jinhao pens are?

 

The pen comes in either in silver, ash, and golden color.

 

I agree that the pen is amazing for the price, I do have one problem with the pen, it is slightly uncomfortable to write with depending on where you hold the pen.

[Spector]

heh, jinhao pens are nice but sometime the designs are just a tad ostentatious. A bit more elegance would be preferable more like the pelikans or lamys

[cmurdock]

This is my first post on the page and if any one wants to see what the one with the clip looks like which is the one i just orderd (in black) you can see it at www.isellpens.com this one also has a slightly different converter and a 18 karat nib instead of being plated

[SidandNancy]

On the back of this thread, I've been looking to get one of these pens. Can't seem the find a gray one though. The silver and the gold ones are a touch too ostentatious for my liking.

[SidandNancy]

Got mine on Friday - took a while to track down the gray one, but finally found one.

 

This is a brilliant writer!!! It's really heavy, so don't know how it would go if you were writing with it all day. Definitely wouldn't post it.

 

Writing sample:

 

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc31/lmrk5705/Pens/IMG_1960.jpg