Luxury Golden Chinese Ming Dynasty Emperor Style Dragon Play Jade Ball Fountain Pen Fine Tip

I thought I had posted on this one already (but probably just my ecstatic reaction to the product). As with another item from Amazon and this designer, I think it is a perfect item for display and occasional use. It is more symbolic for me (as are the other "dragon" fountain pens) than mere utility. If fact, I find it impractical to actually carry the pen with me often. I cannot even say that I have used it often enough to give it an honest assessment as a working fountain pen. However, my previous experience with pens by this designer and this supplier makes me believe it would be an excellent pen for the price. In general, my Chinese-sourced pens (numbering more than one-half dozen now) perform with the best pens in the world. For pure writing experience for me, I prefer my Lamy or one of my Pilot pens, some quite expensive Pilot pens, but the combination of design, utility, and enjoyment, I am blown away by the "Golden Chinese Ming Dynasty Emperor" pen! As a gift, you cannot go wrong. I do not believe anyone who is a recipient of this pen (as a gift from me) is using it, but each one is genuinely impressed and pleased!

writes well. a tad too heavy. cheap, too small for the fittings at the top, green ball at the top was loose and rattled around so much as to spoil the pen. had to cut one of the prongs and replace it with a bigger and better piece.

I absolutely love this pen. So to get started, lets clarify what is the size point of the nib? The listing says fine, the community says medium or fine. Well the nib is labeled as fine, but for comparison it is not as fine as say the pilot metropolitan, but it is also not as medium as the Jinhao 1200 (gold pen with dragon & red eyes). So it lands somewhere in the middle of those two and you can see the difference in the picture that I've added. It's slightly bolder than the fine, yet not as bold as the medium.Next this pen weighs in at a whopping 3 ounces. If you own the Jinhao 1200, it weights 2 ounces. Even though this pen is heavier, I actually like it better than the Jinhao 1200, because the weight feels more evenly distributed. In the Jinhao 1200 a good portion of weight is in the cap and more towards the nib. The weight distribution in this pen however makes it more comfortable. Where your fingers rest when holding they touch part of the dragon design and for some this may be uncomfortable when writing. I am currently using the Jinhao international cartridges with this pen and it writes wonderfully. I can write at a normal angle and it does not skip. That being said, I think if it is skipping then it may be one of a few things either the ink being used or there may be an issue with the nib itself.The "jade" is fake in case you are unsure. I can't quite tell if the ball is plastic or if it is glass like a marble. It does shake when writing, but I plan on either putting a dab of clear glue under it or some other method to keep it from shaking. The box that it comes in is very nice. The box I received is not what is pictured, at least on the inside. It does not have the insert in the middle, its just flat with a ribbon to hold the pen. (I've added a picture of the box). Overall though I am happy with this pen and it seems to be of good quality.

Really beautiful pen, but it has never written. Sad.

Shipping was super fast! almost two days. The product comes in a well made leather box with the pen inside. The pen is super heavy but is well made. If you get a good ink using the pen it should be great. the nib writes very nice and overall writes very well! The only complaint I have is that the "Jade Ball" at the top is loose and can be annoying to some people but can be fixed with some glue or tape. Overall it is well worth the thirteen dollars and is a great collectors item and conversation piece. I have been writing with fountain pens for many years and if you are new or an old timer to the fountain pen community I highly recommend that you put this in your collection!

First impressions are good . The pen feels solid but as other's have said it's heavy (83.7 grams or 3 ounces.) That doesn't mean much when you're shopping online so dig around in your pockets, couch, car, etc. and find 15 quarters. Hold those in your hand and you'll have an idea of the weight of this pen. It seems to be constructed well. As others have said the nib is small in comparison tho the barrel but because of how wide the dragon overlay is it looks like it tapers down so it doesn't look bad at all.. The green ball (which has a nice iridescent sheen to it) is loose so it rattles a bit.I haven't written with the pen yet. I purchased the Jinhao ink cartridges for it and they haven't arrived and this is a Christmas present so I may wait and allow it's recipient to break it in.There is one thing that's bothering me though. I did not receive the booklet that some people have referred to. I am familiar with fountain pens so this isn't an issue for me but the person to whom I'm gifting it has never owned a fountain pen so I'll have to teach them how to change the ink, clean the reservoir, etc. since there are no instructions. The gift box is nice but it's not recessed like the picture. It's just a flat bottom with a fabric strip across it to hold the pen in place.

Does not have a side sliding holder attached like most pens to insert in a shirt pocket.It is a pen for show write and return back into the box to store.

This fountain pen is so beautiful. it's a little heavy but when I write I leave the cap to the side (it can screw on to the end of the pen) and it's a perfect weight. The ink runs smoothly out of the tip, but I find that every now and then (if I don't use it for a few days) the ink will dry up. Simple solution is to open the pen up, take the cartridge out, and place the tip of the pen under running water for a few seconds. Other than that, the pen works great. This is a definite buy, you won't regret it.