HONG DIAN C1 Fountain Pen Fine Nib, Dark Blue & Classic Retro Design Metal Pen with Ink Converter

I feel in love with the hooded nib fountain pens after using my dad's Parker 51 for a while. This C1 is a smooth performer with crisp lines and my standard hong dian ink flows well using the provided refillable ink reservoir. The writing quality is quite good, especially at this price point, and curves and lines are easy to draw with no skipping. Visually the pen is striking, especially in the yellow, with good weight and a comfortable girth for the grip. I'm very happy with this pen and think it could be my new favorite modern hooded nib incarnation.

Surprisingly well made given the very reasonable price. Fine nib writes well and ink flow is decent. Solid body and section and feels good in hand. Satisfying capping mechanism. Good size both posted and posted. Red color is nice and I'm tempted to get other colors.

C-1 is divergent with a retro feeling. The feel I get from this pen from a distance reminds me of the Shaffer “No nonsense “ type of hit that it was, still is. This is a pen that if offered more nib choices could be a rematch for something iconically recognized in the future as Schaffer’s rival. However it’s a Hong Dian C-1, and once again excellent quality that they keep in their output. They’re probably most trusted affordable pen outlets ever. They are doing impressive improvements all the time and their design is blooming in engineering and aesthetics. Appears to be impeccably enameled metal, (mostly) with a glazed ceramic quality to the touch. It’s not metallic feeling at all. The finish is smooth but doesn’t give me a slip on the grip ever. As it’s a hooded nib, hooded nibs have never been my choice to often but the utilitarian in me owns a few. The extra fine is all I own although I have other choices coming because I ordered a couple more. The smoothie of this pens uncapping is divine and so is the posting of the cap, which I don’t even find necessary to use but for this pen it’s not small enough if you have medium size hands you will ever need to but I will say you will want to because slipping the cap and posting this pen is absolutely satisfying! Like snapping LEGO is snaps this is the silent of it and close to imperceptible! However; I don’t find the cap smoothie in the nib but I’m at extra fine here. For an EF it’s surprisingly unimpeded on the page. Some feed back exists sure, I don’t mind it at all, as I have used it for post-its and simple quick writing on some of the cheaper paper I could find as well as a journal paper at high gsm or low. ( I take that into consideration as I can write on a ton of paper options) The ink flow is in the dryer spectrum but not dry. It doesn’t bleed out tons of ink and it more than likely makes this an ideal situation to quick jot. If I can use an example is that it’s about what you’d get out of a fine nib Kaweco Sport classic Out of the box. I used Noodlers Lexington Gray ink and when I look back at the page it looks like I’m writing in 2B graphite pencil when I’m done. It’s rather comforting as there is no bleed / feathering or ghosting ( no worries)with these little pens. I’m an artist and avid note and journal maker. This pen has proved to be trustworthy in all counts. I can actually stipple with this pen! Or I can crosshatch without it weakening the surface. I have had two c-1’s for a week and I can’t let them down. ( My pilot Falcon is getting ignored.) There is the right tool for everything we need to accomplish and this is a warm fuzzy to use for everyday uses. For the price point this is a steal. I can throw it in a bag and pull it out to use at any time and it doesn’t leak and always writes right away. It’s a purchase worth it. I ordered more in different colors after about a week. It’s a fun little pen that has a design that can go cult if they offer more brighter colors and nib choices in the future. This is an awesome excellent base for more wonderful possibilities. Hope this helps:)

This pen is better than it has any right to be at this price point. Here are the features you get for less than ten measly bucks: -A metal pen. From videos I've seen about it, the cap and barrel appear to be made of a very thin lacquered brass. That still beats the chintzy plastic on some of these cheapo pens, though. -Lightweight construction. Lots of metal pens are needlessly hefty, but this one is light and comfortable in the hand. -Quiet slip-cap. The cap almost feels like it doesn't "go on" at all - that's how gently it fits on. (I don't recommend carrying it loose in a bag for this reason.) That said, capping and uncapping are close to silent, and the cap has a remarkable seal for such a loose-fitting thing. -Decent fine nib. This is the same basic sort of nib that comes with other Chinese "51" clones, but mine was pretty much perfectly tuned out of the package. I don't know whether that was Hondian's doing or luck of the draw, but the consensus on this pen seems to be that it's a good writer. Do note that this is a truly fine nib (think Japanese fine) and it does have a bit of feedback. -Included Lamy knock-off Chinese standard converter. Including a converter of decent quality with such a cheap pen is just a nice touch. -Metal threads on section and barrel. A small thing, but unlike some other "51" clones, this one won't be chewing up plastic every time you have to refill your ink. My nitpicks with the C1 are that the cap just feels too loose on the pen and that the plastic cap finial looks a little cheap. But if you're talking performance per dollar, it's hard to beat this one. *Update, 4/29/24* So that cap seal? It's honestly astonishingly good. For as softly as it slips on, the cap keeps a remarkable seal on the ink. I plain forgot this pen for a couple months, picked it back up, and it wrote perfectly. The ink didn't look like it had evaporated much, or at all. Looks like they figured out that little design element of the old "51" as well.

Filled it with Diamine Twilight ink as soon as I got it and took pages of notes for an online lecture I tuned in for. What a great pen. It's finer than my Hongdian A9 fine nib, which lays ink down closer to a medium nib. Ink flow is very reliable and the nib is precise and smooth. The pen is light, posts very nicely, and is a joy to use. The pen is very solidly built and fit/finish is great. I expect this pen will be used at work every day. This pen is far nicer than it has any right to be, considering the price.

These pens are smooth writers. However in my experience, the tines tend to be very tight. I've had to do a little work on each pen I've purchased to enable it to write a little wetter. Nonetheless, these pens are really great every day carries. They are comfortable in hand, very well balanced and post deeply. I generally do not post my caps, but it is good to have a pen that is designed to be posted if the need arises. The problem I had with my most recent C1 acquisition (lemon yellow) is that the pocket clip is crooked. It is not so crooked that it cannot be used, but noticeably crooked. The fact that the barrel color is light and the clip is black makes this defect stand out even more. I will still use the pen because it's a great writer and I don't want to go through the return process. However, the crooked pocket clip is disappointing.

I love the Hongdian Forest fountain pens and wanted to try a different model. I liked the sleek and modern look of the hooded C1, which I purchased in extra fine. The pen writes smoothly and feels good in my hand. It is pretty lightweight making it idea for longer writing sessions. I have noticed that a small amount of ink will leak into the cap and when uncapping (slip cap, not a screw on) there will be light ink smears on the body of the pen. Because of how inexpensive the pen was and how it otherwise preforms well, I am not removing a star for this minor issue that is easily solved with a wipe of a tissue. Cleaning the pen does take every so slightly longer as the nib hood seems to hide ink in it, so to get that out I have to do a few extra flushes with a bulb syringe as well as hold the nib straight up under the water coming from my faucet. As it comes with a cartridge converter, changing inks (other than the extra flushing) is easy to do.

This is a basically perfect fountain pen. The feel is great, the writing line is beautiful. Has the smoothness of a Lamy medium art pen, but gives a very sharp line. My only suggestion is to add more colors options, in particular a royal blue (the existing blue is closer to Navy) and a dark purple. Some of us take notes in multiple colors and like to have the pen color match the ink color.