Thoughts on Chinese Lacquer pens?

[penmainiac]

Hello folks, I was wondering if anyone has any information on Chinese lacquer fountain pens? More specifically, what makes Chinese lacquer stand out compared to other types of treatments? Is it more durable, have a higher shine etc? The majority of the time I associate Chinese pens as cheap and low quality, but I’d love to get some light on this!


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[eachan]

I think most lacquered pens are Japanese. Despite inventing the process, the Chinese don't seem to apply it to pens, so far as I know.

[jar]

"Chinese Lacquer" is simply another common name for Urushi; a natural lacquer made from the sap of the sumac; a sap that contains many of the same ingredients found in poison oak, ivy and sumac. When cured it is impervious to most things and so is a good sealant for objects ranging from dishes and statues and scabbards and leather and furniture and fountain pens and armor and helmets and ... pretty much any solid object. It's used as decoration on buildings and temples and has a long history of such uses.

It can be shiny or matte or dull depending on how it is cured and finished. It can feel warm or cold, smooth or tacky again, depending on how it is cured and finished. The urushi tends to become increasingly transparent as it ages and so it is often layered in multiple colors. In such cases over time the underlying color tends to become increasingly prominent.

Urushi was first used in China but is now grown in much of Asia including Japan, China and Indochina.

Layered urushi:


Maki-e decorated urushi:


Burnished rather than polished urushi:


The technique has been used on products including fountain pens from almost every manufacturer.

Here is a French ST Dupont Chinese Lacquer pen:


and one from Swiss Caran d'Ache:


and the American firm Danitrio done by a Taiwanese Master:

[pajaro]

Jinhao 450 fountain pen, looks like a lacquered pen to me. I don't know the price of these pens, because my wife gave me the green and black one I have.

All the lacquered pens are urushi? What about the lacquered Parker Sonnets? It does seem that lacquered pens are fairly common today.

[jar]

Jinhao 450 fountain pen, looks like a lacquered pen to me. I don't know the price of these pens, because my wife gave me the green and black one I have.

All the lacquered pens are urushi? What about the lacquered Parker Sonnets? It does seem that lacquered pens are fairly common today.

Not all lacquered pens are urushi and not all urushi is equal.

The characteristics of different batches of urushi will vary depending on where it is grown and when and how it's harvested and the final product will vary based on how the urushi is strained, how it is applied, how many coats and the curing & finishing process between each coating.

There are also artificial rather than natural lacquers that can produce similar initial appearances.

On items from the various masters it can take months to produce a single item with days or weeks between each application as well as extensive careful curing and then different types of polishing or burnishing between each layer. At the other extreme the lacquer can be sprayed on and rapidly cured in an automated conveyor type process.

While beautiful objects can be made by all the various methods the time and effort and hand-work items will of course end up costing considerably more.

[pajaro]

The Jinhao X-450 is Chinese. It seems like a pen that is more expensively made than the inexpensive Chinese pens I have bought, but all of them work very well. I think this answers the original question somewhat. I think there are more Chinese pens similar to the Jinhao X-450.