Jinhao 599 fountain pen review

This was a long time in a-coming but here it is: a review of the Jinhao 599 fountain pen I picked up on eBay almost a year ago for $2.75, including shipping from China. If you're looking for a similar bargain you might have to do what I did: watch several auctions at once and place minimum bids on the ones that are closing soon. Eventually you'll win a pen.

What is the Jinhao 599?

Apart from the obvious - a fountain pen - the Jinhao 599 is very clearly a Chinese clone of the German Lamy Safari / Vista. My copy is transparent smoke plastic, which puts in it line with the Lamy Vista.

The 599 isn't an exact replica, and that is also very obvious. However, plenty of design cues were poached straight from Lamy's classic line of fountain pens. More on this later.

Why would anyone, then, buy such an imitation? Well, the answer that comes to mind is that the Jinhao 599 is very cheap for a fountain pen, rather understated as Chinese pens go, and comes with a international sized piston converter, which can't be said for the Lamy Safari family.

Packaging

I'm afraid I don't recall if the pen came in a box or not. I believe it was inside a rather cheap-feeling cardboard box which I disposed of shortly.

Body, construction, and dimensions

My Jinhao 599 is, as previously mentioned, made out of transparent smoke-colored plastic. There are other variations out there, in a multitude of colors. I was also surprised to find out recently that there's a version made entirely out of metal (brass if I'm not mistaken), but covered in glossy paint, such that it resembles the plastic Lamy Safaris are made of. Those metal 599s look so good in the eBay pictures that I was tempted to buy a whole dozen of them in all the colors.

Here are some dimensions for the Jinhao 599:
Length capped: 137 mm / 5.4 in
Length uncapped: 129 mm / 5.08 in
Length posted: 165 mm / 6.5 in
Cap length: 65 mm / 2.56 in

Here's the weight, compared to other pens I've tested:
Jinhao 599 (with cap) - 17.8g - 0.63oz
Jinhao 599 (without cap) - 10.5g - 0.37oz
Pilot Vanishing Point (with cartridge and blind cap) - 30.5g - 1.08oz
TWSBI 530 (no ink) - 25.7g - 0.91oz
Lamy AL-Star (with converter) - 21.8g - 0.77oz
Noodler's Ahab (no ink) - 18.8g - 0.66oz
Pilot Prera (with converter) - 16.1g - 0.56oz

As you can see, this is among the lightest fountain pens that crossed my path. I don't mind that, it actually feels good to pick up.

The body construction looks very decent, and there are no blemishes or sharp edges. It feels very well machined. The Chinese have really got this inexpensive manufacturing down to a fine art. Of course, there are controversies regarding this, but let's not go there.

The resemblance to the Lamy Safari/Vista is strong, as mentioned. Unfortunately I don't have my Lamy AL-Star anymore, to compare, but the cross-section of the body is almost a mirror image to the Lamy: a flattened circle. The Jinhao log is embossed at one of the ends, almost in mockery to Lamy's identical design.

To add insult to injury, the Jinhao's section is also triangular, same as the Lamy's trademarked one. Some people don't like the feel of the triangular grip but I like it just fine.

The cap is slightly different, with a shiny flat black and opaque finial holding the clip. If there's one thing that distinguishes the Jinhao 599 from a Lamy, it's the clip. Compared to the Lamy's thick wire clip, the Jinhao's is rather pedestrian, in the form of a flat chromed blade with rounded edges and a slightly curving tip. It's also split along the middle and features a tiny logo which I believe resembles a horse-drawn cart. Like the Lamy, the Jinhao's cap is snap-on.

The cap posts firmly and securely on the end of the barrel.

Finally, the section is separated from the barrel by a chrome trim ring, again deviating from a Lamy.

The Jinhao 599 one-ups the Lamy family by including an international piston converter (it also accepts international cartridges). It's not the highest quality but it does its job. In contrast, a Lamy converter costs almost twice as much as what I paid for the 599 itself, and is also proprietary, meaning that it only accepts Lamy converters and cartridges. Now that's what I call value!

A closer look at the nib

The nib, along with the feed, also differ from those in a Lamy pen. They are, in fact, quite pedestrian, and look like any other nib and feed you've seen before.

I have no idea what size the nib is. It feels somewhere between a medium and a fine. Let's say Japanese medium or European extra-fine.

The nib is engraved, rather delicately and precisely, with the word "Jinhao" and "18KGP" below that. If the 18KGP is meant to signify a gold nib, that must be a joke because this nib is quite hard and stiff. Besides, the price point invalidates the presence of a gold nib.

If you're wondering whether the nib and the feed can be pulled out easily, well, the answer lies in the image below. Yes, they can be pulled out with your fingers.

But does it write?

I wasn't too impressed with the Jinhao X750's performance when I reviewed it the first time or the second time around. This made me a bit wary about the 599. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it wrote quite well, considering the price point and how hard the nib is.

The nib is smooth and the tines were well aligned right out of the gate. If the ink is primed correctly, it doesn't skip at all, and writes consistently, although it does seem to prefer better quality paper. I used Noodler's Heart of Darkness in it and I have to admit that, perhaps due to the thinness of the nib, it doesn't come out as dark as I would like. I'm guessing another ink would do it more justice.

Here's a sample written with the Jinhao 599 on Clairefontaine 90g paper.

Final words

Being 95% satisfied with the Jinhao's 599 performance, I plan to make it my permanent work instrument, replacing the Kaweco Sport Classic that I've been using for so long. I'll probably change the ink with something else, but I'm looking forward to using this pen in an official capacity. It also helps that the design is very understated, as Chinese fountain pens go, since they usually tend to be gaudy and flamboyant.

What more is there to say? The Jinhao 599 was one of my best purchases and I can't recommend it highly enough, especially at this price. If you are patient you too can snag one for less than $3, shipped. It's well worth it. There's always the chance that quality control is spotty and your version might be a dud, but hey, at least you're not spending dozens or even hundreds of dollars on a pen that won't write out of the box.

Jinhao X750 revisited

A while back (well, about 2 months ago) I decided to revisit my Jinhao X750 fountain pen. As a quick reminder, Jinhao is a Chinese fountain pen brand and can be found cheaply on eBay. My own pen sports a broad nib, which seems to be quite rare on the X750.

Nostalgia dictated that I give this pen another try, even though it didn't score perfectly in my original review. So I loaded it up with Noodler's Heart of Darkness and gave it a whirl. Without further ado, here's what I like and dislike about it, bearing in mind that these points may or may not be true for different-sized nibs.

What I Like

• Price. Back at the time I paid $8, shipped, but recently (after buying 3 more Chinese pens for very little) I realized that I could have gotten it for even less.
• Heft and build. While close inspection will reveal a certain roughness to its construction, it feels very solid nonetheless. Being all-metal (most likely brass), it is heavy and feels indestructible.
• Styling. It's not the most handsome pen out there. In fact the X750 is a bit kitschy if you ask me, what with the unevenly stamped checkerboard pattern, but its quirkiness is partly what lends it its charm.
• Comes with an international-sized piston converter. Much more expensive pens still eschew a converter and it really makes me question why those companies can't be bothered to include one.
• Easy to disassemble. The nib and feed can be easily pulled out from the section using your fingers. Cleaning is, thus, a breeze.

What I Dislike

• A little bit kitschy and a little bit gaudy.
• The nib is a hard nail.
• The broad nib isn't a good writer. It skips often and simply can't suck enough ink to work properly. This makes for an annoying writing experience. At some points the feed will saturate with ink and start to write better but it doesn't last. Which brings me to the next point...
• The ink dries quickly in it. It seems that the nib isn't sealed properly inside the cap, which causes the ink to dry and evaporate. As a result, the ink runs out quickly even if you leave it sitting on your desk.
• The ink drying issue amplifies the nib skipping.
• The clip is too stiff, basically not well designed at all. I don't find it attractive either.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are plenty of things not to like about the Jinhao X750, with only a few positives. The balance might improve in favor of "likes" if a different nib were used. We shall see. I have acquired 2 other Jinhao pens (different models) with medium nibs and I'm curious to see if those perform better. For now, I would suggest to either stay away from the broad nib or to hunt for a really good deal on this pen, hopefully no more than $3 or so, if you can snipe it from eBay like I did for some of the other Chinese pens I bought.

Stormtrooper defeated by Jinhao X750

And now for something different...

A while back I got one of these little plastic Star Wars stormtroopers, because I always wanted one, and I'm a big Star Wars fan (the original series, not the new garbage Lucas puked out more recently). Because these little guys are very posable, I decided to play around a bit with the stormtrooper and the Jinhao X750 fountain pen, which looks like some sort of torpedo from the future.

Here's what actually happened...

TK-421 knew he was on the fast track for promotion when Lord Vader personally assigned him to the task of unloading the new X750 experimental weapon (codename "Jinhao") from Vader's personal shuttlecraft. He was already imagining himself in the soft, crisp, officer's uniform. It was about time. He'd had enough of this blasted tin-can armor. But first thing's first...

"Damn, this thing's heavy," he thought as he picked one end of the "Jinhao" off the sterile floor of the shuttle's hold.

"Whew, at least I got the heavy end off the ground," he panted as he gathered his strength for the final effort.

"There, momma didn't raise no quitter," he grinned, just before...

"Dammit all to hell!" was his last thought before the blackness took him.


The "Jinhao" super weapon didn't kill poor TK-421 that day, but three months later Han Solo did.

THE END

Jinhao X750 fountain pen review

A long time ago, back in November of 2011, I posted a very short snippet about a new fountain pen that I acquired. Since these types of pens are not very mainstream (to my knowledge), I turned this into a game by masking the photo and asking my readers if they can identify it. It didn't take long for the pen to be identified. I guess I did a poor job at obfuscating it. Anyway, that pen, and the subject of today's review, is a Chinese Jinhao X750 with a broad nib.

It took me this long to review the pen because I've been using it for several weeks with multiple inks.

This was an unplanned purchase but while I was browsing the web a few months ago I came upon these Chinese pens and noticed that brands like Jinhao and Hero have a huge variety of designs. After much research I settled upon a Jinhao. The X750 model seemed decent enough and it was one of the few that offered a broad nib. I picked a checkerboard pattern design.

These pens can be bought for very little from eBay. I bought mine for about $8, shipped. I didn't have much faith that it would write incredibly well but I thought it was worth a shot for the price. I also decided that I would take it to work and use it on a daily basis, something that I am hesitant to do with my more "expensive" pens, or at least those that cost more than $20.

The X750 comes in a blue cardboard box but you might as well throw it away because it's rather cheap-looking.

Body and materials

The Jinhao X750 is the first pen I laid hands on that's made entirely out of brass. The pen itself has a very solid construction and it feels weighty and ponderous in your hand. There are many imperfections in the checkerboard pattern: some of the squares seem faded, others overlap awkwardly, some of them are smudged and so on. Still, the pattern is ingrained in the metal of the body and cap and I don't envision it coming off any time soon. It is definitely not painted on. It could be anodized but I'm no expert.

The X750 has a torpedo shape and both ends are rounded. At each end there's a black plastic finial with a thin piece of silver trim underneath.

The cap features a thick band of silver trim which is real metal and is embossed with "Jinhao" on one side and "X750" on another, with a tribal-like design in between. A little bit gaudy if you ask me but overall the pen is not too kitschy.

One of the things I don't like about the cap is the clip. While decent enough in form and shape, it is extremely stiff. Slipping it over anything is an exercise in strength. In fact I wouldn't even recommend clipping this pen to something sensitive, like a shirt pocket, because you'll end up ripping it to pieces.

Removing the cap and moving to the inside, the first large piece of plastic is finally revealed. I'm referring to the section, which seems to be made from some type of tough plastic but the thread which connects it to the barrel is, once again, brass.

One of the first things you'll notice once you take the cap off is the nib. This is one humongous nib. It is easily the biggest nib in my collection and the only ones that match it are probably the nibs from a Pelikan M1000 or other such high-end fountain pen. I will talk more about the nib and feed further into the review.

Dimensions and weight

As mentioned, the Jinhao X750 is on the large side, both in dimensions and weight. I decided to compare it to my TWSBI Diamond 530 which used to be my largest pen, and the sizes are very similar. Capped, they are almost identical in length.

Uncapped, the TWSBI is longer but the Jinhao has the larger nib. For the uncapped comparison I aligned the two pens by the end of the section, where the nib starts.

Here are some hard numbers for you.

Length capped: 142mm / 5.6in
Length uncapped and un-posted: 127mm / 5in
Length of cap: 62mm / 2.4in
Length of nib: 23mm / 0.9in
Length with cap posted: 162mm / 6.4in

As for weight, this is the heaviest fountain pen I have used. It but it comes close to being uncomfortably so. The balance is good as long as you don't post the cap but if you do, most of the weight will be shifted to the top which makes it very awkward to hold. As a whole, I much rather prefer the TWSBI's weight.

Speaking of the cap, it is a snap-on type and it closes with a very firm CLICK. I much prefer the Pilot Prera's snapping action which is incredibly smooth and cushioned but the Jinhao's snap is very definite and gives you plenty of confidence that the cap will stay put. Indeed, the cap closes very securely and it doesn't wobble in any direction.

Filling mechanism

The Jinhao X750 has a dual-filling system in the sense that it comes with a piston converter which can be replaced with an international cartridge. The converter is fairly cheap looking and it didn't work great for me so I switched to a cartridge. I tried several inks with the X750 and the cartridge handled well. I am of a mind  to give the converter a second chance because the inks I used didn't flow very well, so perhaps an ink which flows more easily will work better in it.

One last thing about the converter. There's a small spring inside the converter, between the piston gasket and the opening. I don't know what role it serves, except perhaps to prevent surface tensioning in the ink. I just wish it wasn't there because it has a nasty habit of trapping drops of ink.

Nib and feed

The Jinhao X750's nib is the biggest I've used. I chose the broad version even though Asian broad nibs aren't very common.

Here's a random comparison between a Pilot Prera nib and the Jinhao X750 nib. You can see just how enormous the latter is, compared to the much more delicate Japanese nib. On the other hand, the feeds are about the same size.

Here's another comparison between my 3 broad nibs: Jinhao X750, TWSBI Diamond 530 and Kaweco Classic Sport. You can notice immediately how big the Jinhao nib is, compared to the other two.

The nib is nice looking, with a floral design and the words "Jinhao" and "18kgp" embossed. The "18kgp" I assume means "18 karat gold plated" which, in my opinion, is ridiculous. This is a regular, rhodium-plated nib, there's no gold in it whatsoever.

The feed is plastic with many fins. It looks well made.

Both nib and feed easily slide in and out of the section, with little effort required. This makes it very easy to clean the pen.

Writing experience

So how does this pen stand up to some real-life use? Not very well I'm afraid. For one thing, flow wasn't great from the start. I flushed it well with ammonia solution and that seemed to make a small improvement. Still, I used about 4-5 different inks in this pen and none of them flowed well. The one which did best was Waterman Havana Brown which is also one of my favorite inks. On the other hand, this particular ink likes to flow really well so it's understandable that it performed well in the Jinhao.

Maybe it's the broad nib or this particular nib or poor quality control in general (though I suspect it's the latter) but I constantly struggled with this pen. It would dry up from one day to the next so I had to "exercise" it every time I picked it up in the morning. It would also dry up slightly between uses which made it skip for the first few words.

After a couple of words it would let up but it still had problems with certain letters, most notably the downstroke on lowercase letter "l" (for Larry).

In its defense, I did use a bunch of waterproof Noodler's inks (to be reviewed soon) which were kind of slow flowing and quick drying but I also tried Noodler's Navajo Turquoise a few days ago and the pen would barely write.

In the Jinhao's defense, it did write better on smooth, good quality paper such as Rhodia or Clairefontaine but that's not a big excuse because I really enjoy a fountain pen which writes well on any type of paper.

The other thing that I didn't really enjoy about the Jinhao X750 is the weight of it. That brass is heavy! Though the pen feels very solid, my fingers and hand start to tire after using it a while. It is simply too heavy for long sessions of comfortable writing.

In the end I just gave up on this pen.

Wrap-up

As you can see, the Jinhao X750 has some great potential but it is let down by poor quality control and the cumbersome weight of its body. I have no doubt that, were you to buy one, you would have different luck than me. I'm also tempted to try a medium or fine nib but I'm not sure I want to sink more money in these pens, no matter how cheap they are. For $8 shipped, the Jinhao X750 was not a bad experiment. It just didn't work out for me. There are plenty of people who've had good experiences with Jinhao fountain pens. If you are one of them, please drop me a line.

Here's a writing sample on Clairefontaine 90g paper, in Waterman Havana Brown ink.

Mystery fountain pen

Hi all! I'm rather excited today because I got a new fountain pen in the mail. Until I can review it I'm going to play a little game with y'all if you don't mind.

I would like you to try to guess what brand this mystery fountain pen is. If you do, I will name you "fountain pen guru". Furthermore, if you can also determine the model of the pen, I will call you "fountain pen master".

Here's an obfuscated image of the pen. Good luck!

UPDATE: Well, I guess the cat is out of the bag now, thanks to Tyler who decided to ruin the party early! Nah, I kid man, I'm happy someone figured it out!

So my new fountain pen is a Chinese Jinhao X750 in a checkerboard pattern. I'm currently putting it through its paces and the first impressions are favorable. Stay tuned for a full review!