From deep within the “It’s not a knockoff, it’s an homage” files, I present the…
Jinhao 159 Fountain Pen
Price: $12.50
Nib: Medium
Filling System: Screw-Type Piston Converter (also takes Standard International cartridges)
About the Pen:
Do you remember the old Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons where they would give each episode a normal title followed by a silly alternative title (such as The Flat of the Land – or – A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moose)? I feel compelled to do that here. So in the spirit of everyone’s favorite Moose & Squirrel, here is “Review: Jinhao 159 Fountain Pen – or – I Got Me a Big-Ass Pumpkin Pen.”
I’ve got several Jinhao pens in my collection (that I’m slowly getting around to trying). The few that I’ve tried so far have been pretty unimpressive. Until recently, neither the 159 or the x750 were in my collection. Both of these models typically get great reviews, so when the fine folks at Goulet Pens were running a “Free x750 with Purchase of any Jinhao” sale, I couldn’t resist. The color options are pretty limited, but I’m a sucker for orange, so
Appearance:
The 159 is arguably Jinhao’s flagship fountain pen. It’s styled after the Montblanc 149, although I think it’s safe to say that any similarities end with the size & shape.
Huge. Heavy. Eye-catching for sure (especially with this bright orange finish). And very much typical Jinhao. Just to show how freaking huge the 159 is, the below image puts the 159 (top) side-by side with a Conklin Duragraph, a TWSBI Diamond 580AL, a Knox Galileo, and a Pilot Metropolitan. Yeah. It’s big. And yeah. I told you I like orange.
In line with a million other Chinese pens, the 159 has a lacquered metal barrel and cap (probably brass). It’s longer than average and pretty fat. Add in the bright orange color, and I think it looks more comically gigantic than it does a classy homage.
Both the finial and endcap are tapered and rounded at the ends, giving the pen a torpedo/cigar shape. All the furniture is chrome/silver colored. The cap band has JINHAO stamped on one side and 159 stamped on the other.The clip is fairly simple and sports the Jinhao chariot logo. Other than the size and bright color, the rest of the design is simple and understated, which is good, because this pen does not need any bling.
The cap screws off the barrel, which is a nice touch. It does post, but that makes the pen very back-heavy.
The section consists of a smooth, black grip with a silver ring at the front end and silver coupler threads. I can’t really tell if the section is made of plastic or metal, although when screwing the section into the barrel, it sounds like a metal-on-metal connection, so I’m guessing it’s machined aluminum or some other light metal.
Finally, the 159 comes with a standard #6 medium nib. It has an interlocking pattern etched around the outer edge of the nib with the Jinhao name and chariot logo etched in the center. It also, in typical Jinhao fashion, has 18KGP etched in the nib, despite the fact there’s no gold-colored anything on it.
Build Quality (3/5):
The pen is mostly solid. It’s not falling apart or anything, but it’s very clear that the 159 is a mass-produced item, and I would suspect that “We Strive for Quality” is probably not hanging on a plaque in any Jinhao factory. Despite the high-end pen that the 159 is modeled after, the build quality, in my opinion, is pretty cheap.
One of the first things I noticed is that the orange lacquer is not evenly applied. There’s no way to tell this from my images, but if you look closely at the pen, you can see mottled areas of darker patches in the lacquer.
In addition to uneven application, the lacquer chips very easily. I baby my pens. In the time between opening the package and this review, the finial suffered a ding where the lacquer chipped away. I didn’t drop it or drop anything on it. There is no reason this chip should be there. It’s just there.
And one final gripe with the lacquer: my pen has a tiny fiber stuck in it. It probably either fell on the pen while the lacquer was drying or fell in the lacquer before it was applied. Either way, the combined issues with the lacquer are pretty disappointing for a flagship pen.
In addition to the poor paint job, the assembly leaves something to be desired. For example, the finial screws right off the cap because they only used a microscopic amount of glue to hold it in place. You can therefore easily remove the clip and the silver band between the cap and finial.
The finial should not come off this easily. The end cap stays in place like it should, but not the finial.
The 159 comes with a standard #6 nib that can be easily removed and replaced with other #6 nibs. This is a win. I typically don’t like medium nibs due to my small handwriting, so it’s nice that I have the option to replace the stock nib with an EF, a stub, or whatever else I might want to use at the time.
I’m happy with the converter, which is a definite step up from typical Chinese pens. It’s Jinhao-branded, and the piston mechanism feels pretty sturdy. It doesn’t screw into the section, but it fits snugly, and I have no worries about it falling out.
The manufacturing of the pen is okay. The section and barrel threads are both made of metal, which gives a nice solid feel, although the machining isn’t perfect. I noticed the barrel inner threads have a lot of dings and nicks in them.
As I mentioned before, the cap screws onto the pen. Inside the cap, there is a black, plastic inner cap. This inner cap is what screws onto the barrel threads, and it does a good job keeping the pen from drying out.
Dependability (3.5/5):
For the most part, the pen writes pretty well, but there are two things I find annoying. The hard starts are annoying. And the inconsistent line from the nib is annoying.
I don’t like being annoyed. Especially when I’m writing.
Comfort (4/5):
It’s easily the fattest pen I own and it took a few minutes to get used to the girth. At first, I thought it felt like writing with a sausage, but I got used to it pretty fast.
It’s a pretty comfortable pen to hold and write with as far as weight and balance (as long as you don’t post it). I have smaller hands, but didn’t find the pen hard to use, and I experienced no cramping while writing. There is a bit of a step from the barrel down to the threads, but it’s not sharp at all, and I didn’t even notice it while I was writing.
I did find that the section gets slippery when writing for a little while, so that makes long writing sessions a challenge.
Writing Experience (3.5/5):
The 159 has a super smooth nib, and is an overall decent writer, although nothing about it is remarkable. It didn’t skip at all, but had plenty of hard starts. I think the worst part about it is that the line it puts down is not consistent. Sometimes it writes a little on the fine side, and at other times it puts down a sloppy, “mushy” line that’s closer to broad than medium.
I think if you have larger handwriting, this mushiness might not be that much of a problem. My handwriting is small, and it’s hard to write with this pen without my letters blopping into each other.
Now reverse writing, was much better than I expected. The line was fine and consistent, if not a little dry (the ink was considerably lighter). You could write this way for a while and the pen never ran out of ink…and it was actually pretty smooth. I think if I had no choice but to use this pen, I would just flip it over and write with the back side of the nib. (Note: The odd staining on the nib in the image below is from the Scabiosa ink. I don’t think I’ll use that ink again.)
Value (3/5):
I expected this pen to be a superb value at only $12.50, especially given the great reviews I’ve seen & read. But honestly, for a mere $2.50 more, you can get a Pilot Metropolitan, which is vastly superior in every way…and you can even pick what size nib you want, which you can’t do with the Jinhao.
With a mediocre build quality and a less-than-inspiring nib, the Jinhao 159 isn’t in the same league as other pens in the same price range. Pilot has a whole pile of pens in the $8 to $20 range that are more dependable and better built.
The Nutshell: Overall Score: 17/25
[table width=100% colwidth=”50%|50%” colalign=”left|left”] “Best Qualities”,”Worst Qualities”
“Super Smooth Nib”,”Questionable Build Quality”
“Good Reverse Writer”,”Inconsistent Line”
“Replaceable #6 Nib”,”Slippery Section”
[/table]
Conclusion
If I were to create a list of adjectives to describe the Jinhao 159…”impressive” would not be among them. It’s not a terrible pen. It’s not a great pen. It’s simply a pen. It does its job by putting ink to paper, but there’s not much beyond that. It’s a smooth, comfortable writer with an inconsistent line and hard starts.
Personally, I can’t recommend this pen when compared to others in its price range; however, if you’re someone who prefers a thicker pen (I’ve heard tell that arthritis sufferers have an easy time with this pen), then the Jinhao 159 might be worth trying out. You can always swap out the nib for something you like better.
Your comment about the poor machining on the metal threads is spot on. I found that they chewed up the plastic threads on the cap within three months of modest use, and now the pen literally just falls out of the cap. And when it falls, all that weight does quite a job on the nib!
Thanks for reading, Andy! A lot of people seem to really like Jinhao pens, but the handful I’ve used seem cheaply made and are mediocre writers.
Hi Ken
Did you flush the pen out including the converter before you first inked it? If not, that’s your problem. I’ve never had any problems with Chinese pens, but I’ve noticed that the only time people do is when they didn’t flush it.
I think you may find that the build quality and writing quality is no worse than many Japanese and German pens costing well over $100, as I’ve already found out. FPs are simple instruments and it doesn’t take much to make a super writer, and almost all of what you’re paying for is brand value rather than quality.
Hi Jeff, thanks for reading. Yes, I make it a habit to flush all my pens with luke-warm water with a couple drops of Dawn in it before I use them. Chinese pens vary wildly in build quality…probably due to an absence of a quality control process. I’ve had great success with Yiren, Wing Sung, and Baoer…but have gotten some real junk from Jinhao and Crocodile. A lot of people have had great luck with their 159s, but mine was a mess.
Hi Ken
I’ve just had a quick look through your other reviews and noticed that this isn’t your first Chinese pen. I have to respect Chinese pens as they were responsible for getting me back into FPs after owning a few dodgy Parkers and a Lamy and I was flabbergasted by their quality and smoothness.
Now after a few years I’ve progressed onto lots of other models, mostly Japanese, to explore other brands and I don’t really see any great difference in quality between pens of $5 and $150 over a period of time.
I think the quality control is just as variable whatever the price level. If anything then I would rather trust a cheap pen to write more reliably because that’s it’s main purpose. Above $150 and it’s paying for a gold nib and a few little extras. Above $500 and it’s paying for limited editions or brand status(Montblanc, I’m looking at you) and they often don’t write well at all.
You only have to look at the likes of Visconti, Aurora, Monblanc, and Pelikan and others to see expensive pens plagued with quality control issues. In many cases they don’t even write a line Maybe such companies know that most people aren’t going to write with them and will just buy them as a graduation gift to buy to be put away in a drawer somewhere and treasured.
I love Chinese pens. I look at them as an adventure. There are a ton of interesting and beautiful designs, and you never know what you’re going to get as far as build quality and writing experience. But the cost is generally low, so it’s no big deal to get a few duds along the way. Unfortunately, most of the Jinhao models I’ve used have been meh. I am using a Jinhao 3005 right now that’s an excellent writer (hooded nib)…cost me like $2. I don’t have a ton of expensive pens, but of those I’ve used, the Japanese brands and my Pelikan have all been wonderful…no issues at all. I had a Visconti Homo Sapiens, though, that was a horrible writer and I returned it (see my grail pen post for that story).
The interesting and varied designs is what attracted me in the first place I think. I’ve not heard of the Jinhao 3005 but I have a J3000 that I really like.
My faves are the Japanese brands so far. Sometimes a little too much feedback but nothing that a few seconds of micromesh won’t put right.
Sorry to hear of your bad experience with Viscontis. They’re beautiful but horrible experience with them are seemingly commonplace.
I replaced the stock converter with a $7 Waterman converter and the flow/writing is superb now. Am worried about the metal threads wearing out the plastic cap threads, like someone observed. Haven’t used my pen too regularly to have that happen yet, but am definitely worried.
Thanks for reading, Nat! Goods to know about the converter…I’ll keep that in mind. The pen that I got had several quality issues. While I also worry about the plastic-on-metal thread setup, it wouldn’t surprise me if something else wears out first.
Bought 2 orange & 2 white, drop shipped out of China. 3 leaked into the cap right away. One white doesn’t leak but is a hard starter. Two more orange – both leak out as well.
I wanted to try a Zebra Comic G conversion. The Japanese nibs are not truly #6 (they are dip pen nibs). I was able to bend one out a little bit. First attempt was on a 750. Turned it into a leaking pen. Not sure having a nib that flexes away from the tongue/feeder is a good idea.
Love the style, weight, & dimension. +1 for screw cap. Would love to have one of these in EF that fed well & didn’t leak.
I wonder if it is possible to grind the nib down to a fine?
Hi John, thank you for reading. If you want to use a dip nib like the Zebra G, I believe you need to modify the feed so that it marries up with the nib shape. Trouble with that is that it’s a permanent change. If you want a F/EF nib, Goulet, Knox, and Nemosine all make #6 nibs that will fit the 159 without modification.
How do you fill it?
Hi Dwayne, thank you so much for reading! The 159 uses standard international cartridges and converters, so you can get cartridges from any FP retailer or fill the converter using bottled ink. There are several videos on YouTube that demonstrate how to fill from a bottle.
I’ve just started playing with fountain pens and have picked up a few Jinhaos as a cheap experiment. I have both an X450 and X750 which are both pretty broad and wet nibs, especially the 450. I also got an X250 which has a smaller nib; more like a #5 than a #6 and much finer. It writes quite well on paper that produces ridiculous feathering with the other pens so I’ve rather come to like it, even though I don’t like its finish. (which looks rather different in real life than it did in the photos on Ebay) As I’m rather broke, I’ll be sticking with $4 pens for a while, but I’d like to play with some nicer ones eventually.
Forth Sadler – Thank you so much for reading! I’ve used a number of Jinhao, pens and definitely think more highly of their #5 and hooded nibs than I do their #6 nibs. I find the 6s to put down too broad and mushy of a line. If you’re feeling adventurous, I’d recommend trying some other inexpensive Chinese brands like Wing Sung, Baoer, and Yiren. You can usually find those on eBay for around $3-$6.
I have a blue marbled X450 and I love it. I completely agree that the nib lays down a wet ink line, but it writes really fast with minimal pressure, s the words fly onto the page. It would not suit someone with small writing I’d say. For the money they cost, these pens are a phenomenal bargain, and you really don’t need to worry about losing one at work.
Few things to add:
Getting a faulty Jinhao 159 (or any other Chinese brand) depends a lot on the seller you’re buying from (based on my personal experience). Some sellers do a quality check on their merchandise. Prices on fountain pens vary a lot (at least on Ebay) from one seller to another for the same stuff – my advice – DO NOT BUY FROM THE CHEAPEST SELLER NOR FROM THE MOST EXPENSIVE ONE – choose somewhere in the middle. Low prices mean NO QUALITY REVIEW at all. Also analyse the ratings provided by the buyers over time – very important.
Ken, I’m a fan of Orange writing tools myself. Bought 2 Jinhs 159 Orange recently and two blacks some time ago but did not encountered any of the issues described above. All of them write very well with no leaks.
A tip regarding the hard starters fountain pens (especially the Chinese ones) – the issue is usually the converter. For the Jinhaos you can also buy separately a number of 5-10 converters – that is excellent because you most likely need to switch between several before getting the right one. How do you identify the right one? Simple enough – the pump must move freely (more loose) alongside the ink reservoir. Those very tight will always be hard starters or no starters at all.
One suggestion – if possible write a review on Kaigelu (Kangaroo) fountain pens. These are excellent fountain pens and deserve being known of.
Hi Petre…just stumbled on this comment in the spam folder. Sorry that happened. The Jinhao 159 I have was bought from one of the big US retailers, who buys directly from Jinhao. I think the problem with Quality Control is that Jinhao really doesn’t appear to have any. 🙂 Regarding Kaigelu, I reviewed one of their pens a while back (336). It’s an excellent pen…very pretty and writes well. I have another Kaigelu with a hooded nib that I’ve had forever, but haven’t used yet. I agree with you that they deserve more recognition. Thanks!
My 159 is my second Jinhao. (The other is an X450.). I confess that I am a dedicated tinkerer, so both of the Jinhao have gotten the same treatment – an International long converter, and a #6 fine nib. These simple changes made both pens into really good and smooth writers.
But box stock, both pens exhibited the same faults. First, the converters had a kind of notchy action when turning the knob, and second, the stock medium nib applied so much ink that it bled through the paper and the feed couldn’t keep up.
The finish on my 159 is good. No flaws in the glossy black. For now, as I have not yet experienced any issues with the cap threads, I particularly like the thread-on cap. My habit is to NOT post my pens, and I speculate that pushing the cap forcefully on to the body may be hard on the threads. In any case, I like the thread-on cap much better than the push/pull capping and de-capping of the X450 and it’s plastic inner liner.
But the Jinhao pens serve their purpose, which is to reintroduce fountain pens into my routine, and to make possible my learning of which features I like before I drop big money on a more expensive pen.
Hi Tom, thanks so much for reading and for taking the time to join the discussion. You’re right about the converters that come with these pens…they’re super cheap and don’t always work well. I’ve had two that were bad right out of the box. The nice thing about Chinese pens is that many of them take standard nib sizes (5 & 6), so there are a lot of good options for replacing them.
I have to agree and disagree. When I first laid eyes on my orange 159 I thought it looked like a toy. It reminded me of those foot long pencils with tourist images of London printed thereon. Then I wrote with it and the experience was sublime. No hard starts, no ‘mushiness’ and a consistent, wet, fine/medium line, with a nib as smooth as they come. I too was surprised by how comfortable it was to write with. The 30 grams of the uncapped pen melted away and it felt as though I could have continued writing for a couple of hours. The Jinhao 159 is a serious pen and now I want a purple one.
Hi Dave. A lot of people have had great writing experiences with Jinhao pens. I’m glad yours was among the better experiences. I have about a dozen Jinhaos all together, I’ve used about eight of them so far and only one has been excellent. The rest have been mediocre and uninspiring. My biggest gripe is their poor quality control. Some of their pens are perfect, but others have nib and/or construction problems. Good to hear you got a good one! Thank you for taking the time to share your experience!
Oh, just one more thing, mine cost £2.74 delivered ($3.72 in today’s money)
I am another one who cap thread has worn away. Also I can’t fill with ink through the nub, and have to put the convertor in the ink point to fill.
Other than that I absolutely love the pen. I have a compartment in my bag that keeps the pen snug and up right so the cap isn’t really an issue.
I am not a massive fountain pen lover, I used to have parkers at school and have tried others later in life, but the ones I have got have been scratchy and just not pleasant to write with.
If I had the money I would plump for Mont Blanc 149, I love the chunky look of them.
The 159 has the same look to them, that make them look to an observer that they are very expensive pens, I have had some very positive comments.
My pen writes lovely, I haven’t done anything to it, just as it was out of the box. It’s a real pleasure to use, I’m sure I would get the same with some other pens too.
I will buy another 159 I thing for £7 including delivery why not. I may even tinker with is and stick a better convertor and nib on.
I’m finding the reviews about Jinhao 159 and just found your great article. Now I decide not to buy it because I really care about the lacquer quality.
BTW, this pen often sells for 20 RMB (about 3 USD) in China, with free domestic shipping ;).