High end Chinese pens?

[KrazyIvan]

Okay, but where are you getting this information from?

[RocketRyan]

They all look pretty cool actually.

[mmd]

Okay, but where are you getting this information from?

My friend told me and they have a small online store on taobao.com . My friend also mentioned some other pen makers but I just cannot recall at this moment.

[mmd]

They all look pretty cool actually.

They are amazing works and this maker definite have huge potential considering the fact that they are crowd-funded for just several months. I'm a little worried about the import/export and the nib. #5 seems a little small and I hope they could make #6 Jowo threaded pens. I will definitely "smuggle" one of their pens when I come back to China if I could resist purchasing one in the next three months.

[dr.grace]

They do look very interesting. Maybe you could communicate to the seller via your friend that there might be a lot of interest in western countries, and they could sell via Amazon or eBay, or even on fpgeeks and FPN.

China has such a huge developing consumer base, many of whom have experience with fountain pens, so IMO it's surprising that the big pen companies generally have such mediocre designs.

[matteob]

Those last pens do look the business. If you have contact with them and there is interest maybe a group buy could be set in motion?

[mmd]

Be patient people. I can contact the seller and I'm also happy to help with the shipping/handling, which I have a better idea now. The shipping from China to US will be $12 for the first 1kg and $3 for every 500g afterwards. It takes approximately 7 days to arrive and I could possibly do the distribution afterwards. But before all of that, I need to make sure the pens are as good as I was told.

[RocketRyan]

Fingers crossed.

[sidpost]

Interesting. I'm curious about the Chinese pens as well.

[RocketRyan]

We wait with baited breath.

[Z-Tab]

The red/black combo and unusual cap dimensions on that last pen are quite striking. I would also be interested in a pen like that with a #6 nib unit or threaded to accept Pelikan M800 or (even better) M1000 units.

[RachelP]

I just came across this thread so I hope it's not tool late to reply. Quality Chinese pens are a favorite subject of mine. I find myself often annoyed when people assume all Chinese pens are cheap knock-offs of American or European pens. there are quite a few Chinese pen companies that do wonderful pens, usually along with the cheaper sort, but either way, most are their own styles and designs. The premier Chinese company is probably Hero of Shanghai. Very wide range of models, including knock-offs of the Parker 51, one model of which has a very nice gold nib. But they also have independent models, including an elegant blue marbled pen, with an excellent soft gold nib that gives some nice line variation and is always smooth. I had a wonderful gold nib 660, now almost impossible to find for sale. It had one of the most flexible modern nibs I've come across. I gave it to a friend when we were in china together. Kaigelu does all levels, including some with gold nibs. I had a very nice one, with an unusual vertical striped cap and a striking gold clip. Soft gold nib. This one I gave to a friend who had sold off many of his pens to help a neighbor who had hit hard times. I found that so remarkable i sent him three good quality pens. I also have an elegant marbled Duke, again with a soft 14k nib. Possibly my favorite quality Chinese pen is a Picasso, called "Dream of Maya." Striking cap based on a Picasso painting, gleaming black barrel, and a soft gold nib. It also came in a gorgeous piano black box that I have pressed into other service (too nice to simply put away). Thanks for reading.

[RocketRyan]

It's a shame that the gold nibbed Chinese pens are reasonably unknown, I think they would be popular. Thanks for the information.

[mmd]

Recent acquisitoin, a true high end Chinese pen. Golden Star Zodiac Dog. It's a really really beautiful pen. Gold plated solid silver filigree over Platinum plated solid silver body and two semi transparent enamel dogs over the filigree. I got it used so the gold plating on the filigree wears off a little bit but I still think it's a quite striking pen. The filigree is very intricate and I believe is also hard to manufacture. The only pen I've seen with a comparable filigree is a Visconti Taj Mahal. The enamel dog has a nice transparency with good color variance so you could kind of see the filigree below the dogs. The pen has a big gold nib, and you can see the size comparison with a Waterman LeMan 100. Overall, a true high end pen but not very pratical because it's very heavy (~2oz) and the filigree will hook onto fabrics if you want to carry it around. However, I think it's a very good addition to my collection and it's a steal at the price I paid for.

[RocketRyan]

Impressive looking pen, how does it write?