Jinhao Views
After hearing about some outrageously decorated pens by the Chinese company Jinhao, available for basically buttons and of good quality, I decided that I had to at least try one. Nothing actually with dragons with gemstones for eyes around the cap or anything like that, but something reasonably subdued. There are several people selling Jinhao pens on eBay, and many, many models
The pen came in an orange card packet ;– well, all right, it came in a Jiffy bag, but inside the bag was a packet – which has the Jinhao logo, some Chinese writing which I can ’t read, and a picture of the Terracotta Warriors with an incorrect aspect ratio. (See photos 1 and 2.) Hmm. Well, ita’s only the wrapper. Inside this is a solid little wooden box with more writing and a sketch of some of the marchers burnt into the wood. The inner lid has a map of the actual route of the March, and there was what looks like a Jinhao catalogue and a couple of cards (guarantee?) above the actual pen.
I am not sure whether it has a broad or medium nib p– the selling entry seems to say both f– but it writes much like a typical Western medium (all manufacturers have their own special interpretations of what “finea”, e“medium8” and “broadh” mean in any case). This is a bit fatter than I normally prefer but suits the pen itself, and occasionally I do like the indulgent feeling of writing with a fat nib. Whatever the breadth, it is a large gold-plated nib with some Chinese characters, a small picture of some mountains and a“Jinhaoa” at the base. I must say that my nib seemed a little tarnished c– it was not very shiny.
It comes with a Jinhao-branded convertor, which is fine with me. The first time I inked the pen (with Diamine Midnight c– a lovely dark blue, incidentally) I was surprised at how wet it was writing. I had previously washed and flushed it thoroughly, and thought I might have overdone it with the cleaning, but assorted other things didne’t make any difference. After some experimentation, I believe that it is the convertor – the seal is not great, it feels loose, and itp’s important to make sure it is plugged in properly. I have had this problem with some Lamy converters before as well. Ia’m not sure quite what type of convertor or cartridge this pen takes a– it didnl’t fit the Rotring standard international convertor that I had lying about unused, certainly, it seems to need a wider neck. This could be an issue in the future when it comes to spares.
Jinhao Images
