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Fountain Pen Reviews

Lamy Safari vs Jinhao 599

By austollie October 9, 2021 in Fountain Pen Reviews

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Oct 16 2021

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I picked up a Jinhao 619 on a lark and have been very satisfied with its performance. Clearly a Lamy copy expect for the Jinhao branding on the barrel.

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We Are Our Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams

The Lamy Safari can be used with many different nibs, from extra-fine to 1.9 italic, that are available in many pen stores.

GeneralSynopsis

7 hours ago, jchch1950 said: The Lamy Safari can be used with many different nibs, from extra-fine to 1.9 italic, that are available in many pen stores.

Jinhao #5 (compatible?) nibs can certainly be obtained in EF, F, and 0.7, 1.1, 1.5, 1.9, 2.5 and 2.9 stubs (the EF is a bit tricky as if you are not careful you will get a hooded nib, but there are standard shaped nibs in EF). I have used (and have a stock of) the EF, F, 0.7 and 1.1. The EF is a nail, the 0.7 needs sharpening it is too round for my tastes, and the 1.1 I reground to 1.0 to match the Parker Vector F italic nib width, which I like a lot. Can't speak for how well the larger nibs function.

-- “Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.” ― Giordano Bruno

Great review, thanks.

I have a few Lamy pens but probably won't buy any more. They nibs are rarely acceptable as they arrive, and offer little more that a $1 Chinese knock off offers. Lamy QC is shocking. My most recent Safari arrived with a crease in the nib!

Lamy offer cool designs, but for the money they're very poor compared to similarly priced Pilot or TWSBI pens, for example.

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JINHAO Pens: Are They The Best Bang For Your Buck?

What was your first fountain pen.

It’s a question that I love to ask because there is an astonishing number of people who have the exact same answers: “JINHAO”, “ LAMY Safari ”, and “Pilot Metropolitan” are the responses I hear almost every time!

We have been carrying LAMY and Pilot for about a year now, and there is no denying that the pens are incredible for the price, but if you’re on a budget, looking for a functional fountain pen, one brand soars above all the others – JINHAO .

JINHAO Price vs. Function

Are jinhao pens good.

I’m not going to lie; you’re not going to get the writing experience of a Montblanc or a Pelikan from a JINHAO fountain pen.

They do write well but tend to dry out a little bit if you only use them a few times a week. The trims are very lightly plated, so it’s best not to use an abrasive polish on the trim as it will easily rub right off. If that's the case, why are these pens so popular?

The answer is pretty simple: they’re less than $10! That’s right, for the price of a movie ticket, you can enjoy hundreds of hours of writing.

Not only that, but you get a converter with the pen! Just the converter for a LAMY Safari will run you $7.50, and it’s nearly the same for a Pilot converter – and you don’t even have a pen to attach it to yet. If you consider the cost of the converters, two of the three most popular starter pens will still run you between $25-35.

You will get 95% of the reliability with JINHAO at less than $10, so it’s certainly a great place to start!

JINHAO 159 - $12.50

Why are JINHAO Pens So Cheap?

How can JINHAO fountain pens be produced at such a great bargain? When I first spoke to the Chinese distributor for JINHAO, I was shocked at the quantities they were asking to send.

If you ever thought an order for 100 fountain pens was large, JINHAO doesn’t even blink at a request for 10,000 pens.

I actually started to think that they would be unimpressed with an order of less than 100,000 pens. I guess the simple answer is that economies of scale through bulk manufacturing allows for these pens to be produced at unbelievably low prices.

From what I can tell, there are other economic factors at play , though.

Chinese Economic Factors

The government in China owns many manufacturing facilities that have the ability to supply raw materials to manufacturers further down the pipeline – pen manufacturers included.

When the Chinese government owns these manufacturers, they intentionally operate at a loss in order to create better profit margins for the manufacturers so that they can hire more workers. This is called a government subsidy .

They also subsidize exports; so Chinese companies can ship fountain pens overseas and be reimbursed by their local government.

All this allows us to nerd out over a $10 fountain pen like it was a missing chapter from Star Wars!

What is the Best JINHAO Fountain Pen?

I chose to focus on my personal favorite pieces from the Jinhao range, and have brought in less than 10 different models. There are quirks and features of each that could help you decide which one to choose.

Available in a fun array of colors, the Shark pens are great for young people trying to get involved in writing. At just $3.95, they are an inexpensive way to get your friends and family into the hobby!

JINHAO Shark - $3.95

Fairly hefty in size, the X250 is a slender fountain pen with a two-tone nib and a silver grip section. It comes in a black “cracked ice” design, a fiery orange, and a marbled blue.

JINHAO X250 - $9.90

The largest of the X-models, the X450 offers 6 different models, from a gorgeous matte black to a marbled red. My favorite feature of the pen is the triangular grip section, which is great for a beginning fountain pen user because it shows where your fingers should be in order for the nib to line up perfectly on paper.

For more information on the JINHAO X450, see our full review by a fountain pen beginner.

JINHAO X450 - Frosted Black, Marble Red, Marble Blue, Royal Purple, and Sand Gold

JINHAO X450 - $9.90

The X750 appears a little slimmer than the other X-models, and has a smooth finished grip section, versus the ribbed and triangular sections of the X250 and X450. All three X-models feature snap caps.

JINHAO X750 - $9.90

The largest of all the JINHAO models, the 159 is shaped like a Montblanc 149 . It also features a large #6 nib, so you can really feel its presence when writing. It comes in eye-catching colors from bright red and orange, to a subtle black and a full steel finish.

JINHAO 159 - Red, Orange, Blue, Black, White and Silver

JINHAO 159 - $12.50

If you’re looking for a themed pen to start your collection, you can get the JINHAO 555 Dragon for a price that is still less than the LAMY and Pilot options, at just $25. The dragons in the motif even have red eyes, so the pen looks spectacular!

JINHAO 555 Dragon - $25

9991 Dragon

The double dragon version of the 555, the JINHAO 9991 features the dragon motif on both the cap and the barrel. This one features a snap cap versus the screw on cap of the 555. At just $30, this one is a showstopper!

JINHAO 9991 Double Dragon - $29.50

Give the Gift of JIHNAO

It really comes down to your intentions…if you’re looking for the perfect gift, any pen in the JINHAO range will be a fantastic idea.

In fact, they’ll probably think you spent a lot more on their gift than you really did! If you’re new to the hobby and just want to try a fountain pen, you can’t go wrong with any pen from X-series, at less than $10.

If you have large hands, or if you just like the presence of a large pen, the 159 models are my personal favorites.

If you’re looking for a great desk piece that draws attention, but still allows you to add some character to you’re writing, the Dragon series is absolutely a must-have. The best part? If someone steals one of these from your desk, you’ll be grateful that it wasn’t your Visconti!

With JINHAO, there really is a little something for everyone.

Make sure to leave us your thoughts and comment below!

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I started out with a group of vintage fountain pens I had discovered in my folks’ barn, left by the previous owner, in the early 1980s. All were in great condition, surprisingly, and I got a lot of mileage from them, even though fountain pen ink was very hard to find, in my area. Sadly, between college and several moves, they all disappeared… I had a stroke in 2010, which impacted my writing hand, so ballpoint pens really cramped my hand. An acquaintance reminded me about fountain pens, so I started hunting. (The stroke surprisingly only hurt the gross motor skills. I can still write well, after I “fixed” the damage that many notes in college, and writing more notes for work had caused.) My first in the new collection was an old lever fill dimestore Arnold. Horrible writer, but it was one of my beloved lever fill pens. So I kept searching. The next was my new favourite pen. A Jinhao 159. The “primary crayon in the hands of a very small toddler” thing keeps me from dropping it, and it’s easily one of the most comfortable pens I have right now. I have an x450 and x750 as well, though my second favourite is a Wing Sung 6100, which is a finer nib, and better for the notes and such I still need to write. Dollar for dollar, when you find a decent Chinese pen, they can be a great thing! (I still plan to get several more vintage fountain pens, but I currently have 7 Chinese pens, with around 20 more coming, from various companies, mainly Jinhao, Hero and Wing Sung. I’ve become an addict…)

thanks for sharing this type of informative article! thank you very much!gift pens

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Early thoughts on the Jinhao 80 fountain pen.

Don’t judge me. I found this by accident whilst innocently scrolling for pens, on Amazon (don’t judge me, again).

To give it its full description, this is the Jinhao 80 Gray Fiber Brushed Fountain Pen. I chose the Fine nib version. There were also options for a black pen with either a silver coloured or black clip and options of Fine or Ultra Fine nib.

To acknowledge the elephant in the room, this is clearly based upon a certain well known iconic, much loved German fountain pen designed in the 1960’s although there are many key differences, including as to body material, nib and feed design, grip section material and filling system. The snap capping is also simplified.

Conveniently leaving aside the ethical considerations of purchasing such a pen, I will describe the pen and give you my opinion of it on its own merits. Let’s call this a homage to the Lamy 2000.

I was curious as to how the pen would feel, compared to the unique, tough and textured Makrolon of the Lamy. I have to say, that the plastic used does look and feel good and there is a textured finish in the plastic, which is pleasant to the touch.

The cap features a chunky, brushed steel clip which is sprung and works very well and is really quite astonishing given the price by western standards. There is no visible branding on the pen body or the clip, until you get to the nib. The cap finial is also just like that of the Lamy 2000, except in a matte finish rather than glossy.

The cap pulls off with a click. It is secured by the raised lip at the at the nib-end of the grip section clicking into the inner cap, as opposed to the horse-shoe metal ring (with its two protruding ears) of the Lamy. There is a plastic inner cap and I have not encountered any nib-drying and hard starting so far.

The grip section is of the same textured plastic as the cap and barrel and is very comfortable to hold. Where it joins the barrel, there is a shiny plated metal ring on the barrel. The absence of any step makes for a comfortable grip, wherever you wish to grip the pen.

On the Lamy 2000, the join between the barrel and piston knob is famously almost invisible. On the Jinhao 80, you cannot see the join either, but this is because there is none: it is a cartridge-converter pen, not a piston filler.

At the foot of the barrel, there is a steel disc inset, which presumably is just cosmetic here but gives the pen a distinctive look on a desk and shows attention to detail in this homage.

Unscrewing the barrel, the pen comes with a converter which works ok although I would have liked it to contain a metal coil ink agitator. This would help prevent ink sometimes sticking at the back end with surface tension rather than sloshing down to the nib and feed. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that the barrel had metal screw threads inside and so you have metal-to-metal threads for the barrel to grip section.

And so to the nib. The pen came with a Jinhao steel Fine nib. There is no pretence of making a Lamy 2000 style semi-hooded nib, but rather Jinhao has adopted the design of a Lamy Safari or Al-Star nib, which has its advantages.

On mine, the nib wrote a fine line which was very dry. The nib was smooth with nice even and level tines but they were too tightly together for my taste. As I had chosen an ink that was also new to me (Rohrer & Klingner Isatis, limited edition of 2021) I soon found that in such a dry nib, the very thin single coat of Isatis, with no back-wash, looked very pale indeed.

It may be that the nib set-up would have suited someone with a more conventional writing style, but as a lefty overwriter needing a wetter flow, I tried to ease the tines a little, with brass shims. This proved to be quite difficult, there being no breather hole and the face of the nib being flat, rather than curved over the feed. After struggling with this for some minutes, I gave up and instead swapped the nib for one from a Lamy Al-Star. This operation was quite easy, using a piece of Selotape wrapped over the nib to pull it directly off the feed.

Now, with a Lamy steel nib, the pen is writing very nicely. I have refilled it with Waterman Serenity Blue, filled from a bottle, which is the ink that I normally use when trying out a new pen.

The cap posts, both deeply and securely and the pen feels comfortable and well balanced whether the cap is posted or not. It feels comfortable, lightweight and solid and writes very well.

Giving credit where it is due, the pen has been made to a good standard of quality. Whilst the supplied nib was a bit too dry for me, the pen makes an excellent vehicle for a Lamy Safari-style nib which can be enjoyed without the Safari’s faceted grip. You could even fit a Lamy gold nib if you were so minded.

For its very modest price, which was just £9.49, the pen is undeniably good quality and value. The only issue is whether your scruples allow you to live with yourself for supporting what some would call a “knock-off”. In my case, I did not buy it because I wanted people to think I have a Lamy 2000. I can flaunt my own Lamy 2000 to do that. But for a low cost writing tool and now benefiting from a Lamy nib, this is, leaving aside the ethical debates, a great pen. There are plenty of examples of pen homages for those who would like a low-cost alternative to a Parker 51 or Duofold, Pilot Capless, a Montblanc Rouge et noir, or even a Lamy Safari, perhaps to use as body double whilst our originals stay at home.