Jinhao X159 fountain pen. Bought after reading about them, searching for and finding an internet blog. And it was a WordPress blog too. Well worth a read. Link below.

https://rupertarzeian.com/2023/01/21/early-thoughts-on-the-jinhao-x159-fountain-pen/

Never usually buy a new pen at all. But the price, the size and the written piece above made me want to give it a try. Curiosity won the day. Not the fact it was the Chinese New Year and buying something to commemorate it with an item of ownership. This pen? Would it ever become part of my iconic ownership blogs? Who knows. Iconic ownership is about items that become part of your life and have stuck around a long time. Either that or are inherently known simply as an often recognised iconic or cult item because……well because they simply are iconic! A VeeDub Bus, Carhartt Vintage Dungarees, Leica Rangefinder camera, Musette mle35 Infantryman’s bag, Montblanc Meisterstuck fountain pen, Harris Tweed vintage jacket, Edward Scissorhands…yes! Edward Scissorhands. And Ed Wood films too.

Vintage? My preference for both much older to a few decades old vintage pens are mostly made in England, USA or European. England as a separate? We used to be Europe included but not now! Exclamation mark shows what side of the coin I sit on. If I now actually had a coin to sit on! 

Anyways. I love the Jinhao X159. It’s a beast, but one with a gentle nature. Like a mild Churchillian sized Cuban or Havana cigar. Take note of the link above inclusions and my own observation re: filling it from an ink bottle. As with the blogger’s experience (Rupert), my half full Sheaffer Black ink bottle resulted in no ink pulled into the converter at all. I removed the converter, shoved it into the bottle and got about a third in. A third because I didn’t want to have a day of inky fingertips. I did get a day of inky fingertips nonetheless. 

The price I paid with postage included was around £11.50. If you don’t like larger pens then I truly believe, or imagine, that this is not really for you. It is chunky, but light in weight. The nib is very large but it’s fine nib writing status is right up my street. It was missing slightly on some letter strokes, but I imagine this is possibly a coating at present. Very few occurrences missing ink to page contact and minor in presentation to be honest. No annoying irksome result. I’m not going to flush or clean it. Let it find it’s own way once it’s happy with ink in it’s life.

No massive chat about this pen. The internet link above provides deeper analysis.