What is your favorite Chinese pen maker ?

[fatfinger]

The best is probably Duke.

 

But I choose Jinhao for the smooth, but not too smooth nibs. At one-half the price of most Dukes.

 

How can you beat a heavy, brass-bodied pen which writes superbly for $12 delivered? I like heavy: it slows down my skittery hand. And I write 16-page, 8.5x11" letters! Weight apparently doesn't bother me.

 

The quality of metalwork, etc. is close to Duke. Jinhao apparently use plastic threads betwen the section & body; Duke uses steel inserts.

 

Dukes will probably last a lifetime, longer than Jinhao. BUT--maybe not!

[Strang]

I have a Haolilai #801F that I love. It is the least expensive pen in my collection but it outperforms several pens that I own. I also have a Hero Y2K but it is much too heavy and the F nib is way too fine for my liking.

[lovemy51]

At first, I thought Haolilai was my favourite brand, but then I remembered my Hero 329 which I use for work. It rolls around in the car, other people use it, it is even used on carbon paper and is generally abused at least as much as a ballpoint. Somehow, it takes all this without giving me a problem. So I guess Hero gets the number 1 slot.

 

aren't they great?

[MikaLa]

None of the above! I've tried three Chinese pens and they are all junk. Two Heros leaked (they weren't great writers) and an unbranded cheapo that kinda resembled a Parker Place Vendome, that wrote well until it came apart in my hand.

 

+1. I have tried Hero's and Wingsung, and am yet to write with a good Chinese pen. Unfortunately.

[JSorrell]

Ok, I got my Jinhao's in, and I can't imagine using any other pens for a while now. I love these two pens to death. They're the perfect size and weight for me. They also write fantastic. I'm now a big fan of Jinhao pens.

[456123]

1. Haolilai

2. Hero

3. Duke

4. Jinhao

5. Wing Sun

 

Haolilai #601F is my favorite; high quality construction and actual nib flex. An Asiatic feel of lacquered brass with gold specks. I am fairly tired of plastic resin pens that cost near nothing to make and cost a fortune to purchase. Always writes well and has never dried up. Very smooth flow; wet writer. Wrap around Gold Nib is stamped Haolilai M 22 KGP (12k gold plated); width is Asian Medium. Features a nice grip section that won't slip in your hands. High quality twist converter. Cost: $19

 

*Haolilai Model #801F (resin model) is known to flake and have converter failures. Cost $45. I do not own this pen.

 

Hero 200A is a buttery smooth wet writer that is an ideal size and weight for long writing sessions. The pen lacks nib flex and the pump style converter may be unreliable as I had other cheaper Hero converters fail. Stainless steel and Parker look alike. This features a 12K gold (not plated) nib that is fine. Features a nice grip section that won't slip in your hands. Cost $25 for the steel model or $28 for a few microns of gold plated accents on the steel.

 

Hero M660 "The Hero M660 is one fine looking pen with it's beautiful gold filigree cap. The 660 is a classic high polished lacquer. This is a good solid medium weight pen pen and considered mid sized. This features a 12K gold (not plated) nib that is fine. -isellpens.com"

No nib flex or only a hint of it. Pump filler. Similar writing experience to the Hero 200A. A classy pen for business but the gold banding can look almost printed from some angles. Cost $45

 

The quality of Hero pens varies widely. The solid gold nib pens seem to be of much higher quality than the steel nib pens; of which I own several. The pump style fillers are a pain but can be replaced with twist style converters. I had a $10 steel nib Hero 75 explode in my hands when the pump converter was pressed.

 

Duke pens vary widely in quality. I have a Duke blue pebble with a nib that just spins in circles because the metal threads won't tighten; it also has a pump converter that is hard to fill. I also have a Duke Crane that is of very high quality for only $19 with a iridium coated steel nib. Duke makes solid gold nib pens but they run around $90+ and lack nib flex. Duke Beijing Opera will run you $120. Duke Dark Sea Pearl $90. Duke Temple of Heaven $600. Duke Ink Converters of the twist type seem of a higher quality than most on the market. Duke pens seem to use more metal parts and less plastic than many other makers. My Duke steel nib pens write much better than my Hero steel nib pens; but the Hero gold nibs seem superior to both.

 

Jinhaos are heavy large pens but smooth writers. They feature a definite Asiatic appearance that can be overbearing for some western tastes. Most are gold plated Western Mediums. The line width is similar to a Waterman Phileas. Not even a hint of nib flex. Price varies a lot from vendor to vendor but expect to pay from $9-$30. Most come in a decent wooden box. Twist converters. Most are buying these pens for their designs over their utility as daily writers; due to their size and weight. I own two and use them for envelopes, short letters, and signatures. They do not like most high recycled content papers.

 

Wing Sung pens are older and somewhat scratchy writers that do not perform well when held at angles. Gold plated steel nibs mostly. Permanent aerometric fill ink system. Sheaffer looking nib. No nib flex. Fine points. Cost $5-$8. Worth considering over a Hero steel point pen of similar cost.

 

*I do not own any Fuliwen pens but I am told they are of high quality. Cost $90+

*I have no experience with Huashilai and Boer. I have heard good things about Boer though.

*I do not own any Picasso pens but I am told they are of decent to high quality. Bold designs.

*Kaigelu pens I know little about and I own none of them. I hear they have no nib flex and some closely resemble Parker Duofolds.

[Titivillus]

hero

[LePhare]

Oh dear, I have 46 Chinese pens.............. much to my surprise. I like a heavy pen so many Jinhao's suit me very well. I have a very good cheap Classic (White wave) and the Bookworm 675 (Yellow marble) also is a great favourite.

 

My love is a Picasso 916 Malaga in red. A little light, but a joy to use.

 

Then there's the ..................................

[donwinn]

I really like my Duke pens, but I also really like the Heros and the JinHaos I have, so for me, it is a tossup.

 

Donnie

Edited September 22, 2008 by donwinn

[mmoncur]

I vote for Hero for variety and designs - I thought I was going to collect one of each Hero model for a while, but there are so many I think it's impossible.

 

And for Jinhao for looks. The two Jinhao I have are the best looking modern Chinese pens I've ever seen. Also excellent writers, and less variable than Hero in my experience so far.

[richardandtracy]

By quantity, I have to say that Hero is my favourite Chinese pen manufacturer (Hero 616 x 6, and I've used my daughter's Hero 330). However, I really don't like fine nibs all that much.

 

The nib on my Jinhao 1200 is the best nib I have in a Chinese pen, but the weight of the pen (30g + 21g cap) is excessive, and I don't use it often.

 

I have a Leonardo blue laquer pen which is my favourite Chinese pen. The nib flows well, and I can guarantee that it'll write on the lousy writing paper at work when filled with BSB (I can guarantee that it'll write on two pages too, but that's better than not making a mark). The pen looks delightful, but is showing bad signs of wear after only two months use. The nib is nice, not as good as the Jinhao, but good enough, and the weight is light enough to be used all day while having some heft (20g body).

 

I have two nice hooded pens that I cannot really count yet as I haven't used them for long enough. The Dux 612 and the Bahadur 612 (the latter may not be Chinese, its name sounds as if it may be from India/Pakistan and one person has indicated to me that this may be the case). Anyway, they are both high quality Hero 329/331 replicas, and are both somewhat better than the Heros to my initial thoughts.

 

Regards

 

Richard.

 

 

 

[andy1m]

Hero for me, I like very fine nibs. So far only Hero available in Indonesia. May be our place is very humid so wider nibs will bleed a lot. I own many Hero pens, 330 (5pcs), 331 (4pcs), Hero 50 (4pcs, my favourite), Hero 841 (3pcs also my favourite), 216 (2pcs). Will certainly try more Chinese pens when I visit China. Happy hunting!!!

[matthewst1]

I like my little Hero 616s for knockabout/giveaway pens; but the Jinhao Zhuge Liang I have is just sublime. Big, smooth nib and very, very solid construction (albeit heavy!) makes it a winner. I need to try some more like Dukes and such; but for now - Jinhao is a winner. They come in lovely boxes too! The only gripe I have with Chinese pens is the lack of expression in any of the nibs. You get what you pay for; I suppose - but its still awesome value!

[lalindsay225]

It's hard to pick just one! I have gotten to be a fan of Chinese pens. I love Duke, for one. All of my Duke pens are great writers and very solidly made. One of my all-time favorite pens is my Haolilai 601F, which someone above also praised. And Jinhao pens have amazingly smooth nibs, right out of the box.

 

Lisa

[GreenVelvet]

Haolilai #601F is my favorite; high quality construction and actual nib flex. An Asiatic feel of lacquered brass with gold specks. I am fairly tired of plastic resin pens that cost near nothing to make and cost a fortune to purchase. Always writes well and has never dried up. Very smooth flow; wet writer. Wrap around Gold Nib is stamped Haolilai M 22 KGP (12k gold plated); width is Asian Medium. Features a nice grip section that won't slip in your hands. High quality twist converter. Cost: $19

 

I'm with you that this is a great pen, I have one too - but flex? I don't experience any flex from mine. Am I missing something??

 

I am also very fond of Duke.

[TuttiNYC]

I find Duke to be the best balance of looks, quality and writing.

[dogpoet]

The three Chinese manufacturers I have pens by are Jinhao, Shure and Huashilai. Of those, one of the Jinhaos (the Confuscius memorial) is the best by a mile, so Jinhao. That said, there's nothing much wrong with the Shure, and the Huashilai is an excellent pen for the pittance it cost as well. When you can get something that comes with a converter included for less than a quid, you'll likely put up with a few deficiencies, but I've yet to find any: smooth, wet nib (not as good as the Jinhao, but still plenty good), comfortable in the hand, a pleasant design, the whole bit. Not bad for a pen that cost less than one of those horrible plasticky school pens you buy in a discount stationers..

 

I'm thinking I need to get one of those Hero P51 knock offs as well. Are the 200A and the M660 the only ones with gold nibs? I thought the 616 was supposed to be their most impressive model.

[FaustianSlip]

I really didn't know anything at all about Chinese pens before coming here, so this thread has been very informative. Just put in bids on some pens on eBay:

 

1 Hero 868

3 Bookworm G48s

1 Hero 70-L (I think that's the model- some of the English in these auction notices is a bit iffy)

1 Crocodile CR10

 

There's a set of two Baoer pens I have my eye on, as well (I'm waiting to see what the price looks like tomorrow), and I love the Jinhao Long March pens, so I'll probably end up with one of those, eventually. I figure that with the ones I've bid on, even if one or two are rejects, getting six pens for under ten bucks negates a lot of faults. I also really like the fact that virtually every auction includes a converter with the pen; after buying a bunch of Noodler's inks last week, I'm pretty much done with cartridges unless I have no other options.

[ZeissIkon]

1 Hero 70-L (I think that's the model- some of the English in these auction notices is a bit iffy)

 

I was looking at one of these earlier; they have a flat, two-sided nib like a Parker 180. Seems to me there was another Hero model (360?) with this nib, but Hero seems to be producing new models at a rate of about six a week these days -- design something, make a run of them, store or recycle the tooling and on to something else, I guess. As long as they're as good as my 257, I'll be happy with 'em...

[FaustianSlip]

I was looking at one of these earlier; they have a flat, two-sided nib like a Parker 180. Seems to me there was another Hero model (360?) with this nib, but Hero seems to be producing new models at a rate of about six a week these days -- design something, make a run of them, store or recycle the tooling and on to something else, I guess. As long as they're as good as my 257, I'll be happy with 'em...

 

If I win the auction, I'll let you know how it writes. It actually looks a lot like an inexpensive (but much-coveted, given I was only ten) Parker that I had when I was in elementary school in the U.K. I blame the British Empire for my fountain pen addiction, incidentally; we were required to write any and all work that was actually turned in for marks in fountain pen (the only exception was maths). I'd never written with one of the things before I lived over there, and once I got back, I was loathe to give them up. It's a shame that we don't do that in the U.S., in a way; I found that it improved my penmanship a lot.

 

Anyway, I'll definitely return and report with any findings about these pens once I get them and get a chance to try them out. Even if only half are really worth using, I'll be pretty satisfied.