Saintpaulia
January 1st, 2014, 07:45 PM
As we near the end of the Chinese 'Year of the Snake' and prepare for the New 'Year of the Horse', I feel it is an appropriate time for me to offer to you, my fellow, multi-cultural, Citizens-of-the-World geeks, five Chinese-made pens that I have had for a few years now, and which I find I am not using enough to warrant their continued inclusion in my working collection.
I will list these five Chinese-made pens separately here on this forum, and the fifth and final pen to be offered is, in my own personal opinion the "pièce de résistance" --the Jinhao 165. In fact if I don't sell this pen I won't be disappointed at all. It will simply mean that I am destined to keep it. And no it isn't really solid gold, but it might as well be. Keep on reading.
Why do I feel this way? Because this pen is just so beautiful! It may not be made of pure gold but it sure looks like it is. The brass is etched in such a way as to give the appearance of gold filigree (see photo number 1). Some call it the barleycorn pattern but I find that much too declassé (what the hell is "barleycorn" anyway?!). No, no, this is gold filigree catching the sun's first rays coming in from the garden on a warm spring day and lighting up your life!
Everything about the Jinhao 165 is like pure gold. Apart from the cap and barrel, even the cartridge converter has gold parts. The nib is two-toned with a golden margin. And the pen is hefty in hand with the feel and weight of gold! It weighs 32.37 grams. Capped it measures 140 mm. and posted 162 mm. I prefer to use it unposted. The grip section is made of a simple but effective black plastic which gives good grip to the fingers. The diameter is 8.5 mm., small enough for the smaller hand but big enough for others.
The number 3 nib is finely etched and delivers a fine to medium-fine line. Flow is excellent from the feed. I don't mean to sound like an elitist, but frankly y'all, pull this baby out at the next big meeting and watch your colleagues out of the corner of your eye. Ha! you may even hear some involuntary gasps!! And after the meeting the bolder ones may shyly come up and ask, "What is that pen you have? It is a fountain pen isn't it? And what a pen! Wow! Where did you get such a fantastic thing?". Heh, heh. Yeah like the song says, "This could be the start of something big!".
Now after that paean to this pen's greatness and superlative looks, you may be saying to yourself, "Self, that is the pen for me but he already said he doesn't care if he sells it or not. Fat chance I can afford it". Or some variation on that theme. But do not be despondent! It is true that this is the Grail Pen of my Chinese collection, but frankly my dear, it is too heavy for me. I simply do not use it as it deserves. So it would be the height of crassness, not to mention wastefulness, if I didn't try to find it a deserving home.
So, this pen can in fact be yours, if you avoid the stampede and act NOW! I am willing to part with this fountain pen equivalent of a solid gold bar for the extremely reasonable price of only $24.95 post paid (US customers only). I know, I know, I shouldn't give it away. But hey it's a New Year and time to give back to the fountain pen community some of the joy I have received. That's it. That's my gift to you, you lucky so-and-so.
I will list these five Chinese-made pens separately here on this forum, and the fifth and final pen to be offered is, in my own personal opinion the "pièce de résistance" --the Jinhao 165. In fact if I don't sell this pen I won't be disappointed at all. It will simply mean that I am destined to keep it. And no it isn't really solid gold, but it might as well be. Keep on reading.
Why do I feel this way? Because this pen is just so beautiful! It may not be made of pure gold but it sure looks like it is. The brass is etched in such a way as to give the appearance of gold filigree (see photo number 1). Some call it the barleycorn pattern but I find that much too declassé (what the hell is "barleycorn" anyway?!). No, no, this is gold filigree catching the sun's first rays coming in from the garden on a warm spring day and lighting up your life!
Everything about the Jinhao 165 is like pure gold. Apart from the cap and barrel, even the cartridge converter has gold parts. The nib is two-toned with a golden margin. And the pen is hefty in hand with the feel and weight of gold! It weighs 32.37 grams. Capped it measures 140 mm. and posted 162 mm. I prefer to use it unposted. The grip section is made of a simple but effective black plastic which gives good grip to the fingers. The diameter is 8.5 mm., small enough for the smaller hand but big enough for others.
The number 3 nib is finely etched and delivers a fine to medium-fine line. Flow is excellent from the feed. I don't mean to sound like an elitist, but frankly y'all, pull this baby out at the next big meeting and watch your colleagues out of the corner of your eye. Ha! you may even hear some involuntary gasps!! And after the meeting the bolder ones may shyly come up and ask, "What is that pen you have? It is a fountain pen isn't it? And what a pen! Wow! Where did you get such a fantastic thing?". Heh, heh. Yeah like the song says, "This could be the start of something big!".
Now after that paean to this pen's greatness and superlative looks, you may be saying to yourself, "Self, that is the pen for me but he already said he doesn't care if he sells it or not. Fat chance I can afford it". Or some variation on that theme. But do not be despondent! It is true that this is the Grail Pen of my Chinese collection, but frankly my dear, it is too heavy for me. I simply do not use it as it deserves. So it would be the height of crassness, not to mention wastefulness, if I didn't try to find it a deserving home.
So, this pen can in fact be yours, if you avoid the stampede and act NOW! I am willing to part with this fountain pen equivalent of a solid gold bar for the extremely reasonable price of only $24.95 post paid (US customers only). I know, I know, I shouldn't give it away. But hey it's a New Year and time to give back to the fountain pen community some of the joy I have received. That's it. That's my gift to you, you lucky so-and-so.