Not for the timid! Chinese Dragon Pen
Way over the top! Are you brave
enough to use it in public?
Of course, the heading is
facetious… I DO use it and it always starts up a
conversation with those I am with. Sure, it is gaudy: a flashy pen full
of fake gold and it even sports three shiny (fake)
garnets.
It can be had for twenty bucks or
thereabout and it is sold under a couple of Brand names and you
can find them equipped with different sections and nibs.
Mine is branded Kaiduoli
and is equipped with a Chinese B nib, marked with the
image of a camel.
My pen has a glossy black section,
but I have seen otherwise identical pens with textured
metal sections and Kangaroo-marked nibs.
The finish
can be hit or miss: I have a couple of these pens and one
of them
has
several blemishes in the enamel of the barrel, with raised
gold dots appearing in areas where they do not belong.
Another one is almost flawless: as is often the case with
Chinese pens, quality control can be uneven: that is why
it pays to buy from a retailer that really checks the pens
before shipping them off to his/her customers.
The pen is heavy, since the body
and cap are made of brass. The cap is threaded and it fits
securely to the front as well as to the back of the
barrel. The threads are made of metal and quite prominent.
The Chinese writings represent some
antique poem, in a type of script that is no longer used.
My wife, who is Chinese and grew up in China could only
identify a few characters (she could make out: Chinese
culture, Chinese Dragon and nothing else).
The clip is made of two parts: a
springy gilt steel base and the sculptured, decorated
dragon, which seems to be soldered to the flexible part.
Overall, it appears to be strong and the high level of
flexibility makes it possible to easily clip the pen both
to thin and thick fabrics. At the top of the cap is a gold
plated cabochon and at the base of the cap is a ring with
silk-screened images of dragons and a red garnet-like
stone. Two other red stones are inset into the clip and
form the eyes of the dragon. Whenever I see stones like
these in a pen, I am always afraid that they may fall off
(it happened to me in the past…). These appear to be
solidly fastened to the metal and look like they may last
a long time.
The pen comes with a converter of
decent quality and takes international size cartridges.
The section is enameled with glossy black lacquer and
the threaded portion is made of metal, as seems to be the
rest of the section.
As I mentioned, this is a fairly
heavy pen, with most of the weight in the cap.
Uncapped, it feels comfortable in
the hand, although you can feel the metal threads of the
section under your fingers. When capped, the balance is
way too much towards the top of the pen and, in my hands
it does not feel comfortable.
Writing with the Dragon pen is an
interesting experience…
The Chinese B nib is roughly
equivalent to a European M nib: this is the size I prefer
in my everyday pens.
The nib is extremely smooth. Ink
flow is generous, but not excessive. In a few words, this
pen is an excellent writer. It seems to be very tolerant
of different inks and of less than ideal paper. It just
writes on and on with no hesitation or inconsistencies.
I find myself using it a lot,
mostly uncapped, because the nib/feed combination is
really good. It matches the writing quality of pens
costing a lot more than what I paid for this pen!
It is not a pen for the timid or
demure… but it is a lot of fun, a sure conversation
starter and a really excellent writer.
So, pick one up, if
you dare!!
2014 Giovanni Abrate - all
rights reserved
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