czxwyst2019 New Version 601 Steel Cap Vacumatic Double Bead Fountain Pen (Battleship Grey with ink window)

This pen has become one of my favorite pens. It's smooth to write and works right out of the box. The ink reservoire is large and allows you to write for months. The ink window is a very nice feature that allows you to always know how much ink is left in the pen. At first, it was a bit scratchy to write but as the ink began to flow through and I got used to writing with it, it becomes very nice and smooth. The blue cap on the top and bottom of the pen makes it looks classy. I don't know why others complained so much about this pen; but I hope they know that they can always return it with Amazon if they're not happy with it. I got a really nice experience out of purchasing this pen and also bought one for my wife. I highly recommend this pen and the seller czxwyst, who wrote to me personally to thank me for the purchase. Plus, the pens arrived at my place only 1-2 days. Great experience overall.

I was attracted to this partially because my parents had Parker 51s they had given each other as wedding presents, which we weren't supposed to touch because the nibs were said to become individualised to the owner with use, and our writing with them would change the wear patterns. They treasured them, and took good care of them. I've used many fountain pens over the years, particularly when I was in high school, college, and a young adult. I wasn't about to pay the sort of money a Parker 51, even the one with stainless steel parts, would cost without knowing if I would even like a hooded nib pen, so haven't tried one until learning about this one, but liked that this is modelled after them.My first impression is that the look, and the feel in my hand is similar to the pens my parents had. It writes very smoothly, but lays down considerably more ink than I had expected for a fine nibbed pen; and the line weight seems more typical to me of a medium to broad nib. It is thick enough and long enough not to get lost in my large hands; is lightweight, and should be comfortable to hold for lengthy writing sessions. I like that in general, but understood that one advantage of a hooded nib is that it conserves ink (by not drying out on the nib as quickly), and this would seem to counteract that.In addition to the nib's not being fine, despite the pen's being sold within the United States, the fairly lengthy instructions are entirely in Chinese, with no translation, and I have absolutely no idea what they say. I had to take it on faith that the pen is complete and ready to use as is, although there are extra pieces of equipment in the box. I have no idea what they are, what their intended use is, nor how to put them to that use if I knew what it were.That said, I like the pen very much, and expect to get many years of pleasurable use out of it.Thank you for reading my review. I hope you found it helpful.

Didn't expect much from this pen, I just ordered it for what it offered - vacuum fill and hooded nib. The pen is well designed, vintage look, feels good in the hand and writes well. Very smooth and puts down a good bit of ink for a fine nib pen.

This is the cheapest fountain pen I own, and it's in my pocket now every day. Love the filling system, and it's a rock solid consistent writer. I liked it so much that I got another one a week later. I usually prefer medium or broad nibs, but I wanted to try a fine, and this is definitely fine. Nib is a nail, but it performs flawlessly, and even writes well upside down. I did run the second one I got over some micromesh to smooth it a bit, which worked well. This would be a great pen to give as a gift to someone who wants to try fountain pens. For me, it's a beater that I can carry everywhere, and use in professional settings where I don't want to make a show of unscrewing the caps of my bigger showier pens in meetings, etc. I'm also a big fan of the mid-century Parker 51 look, so that's great as well.

First of all, turns out this is unbelievably simple. Right out of the box, unscrew the end piece to reveal the plunger, stick the nib into a bottle of ink, and pump up and down a few times to fill. Important: keep the plunger DOWN as you remove the pen from the ink bottle or, I am told, it will gush all over the place when you try to write. The confusing thing is that it comes with a converter -- and no instructions on what to do with it. The pen innards do not accommodate an ink converter - plus there is some kind of clear fluid inside it - no clue what that is - the instructions fortunately have pictures ( drawings) that could be more complete but are enough to give you at least a slight idea what to do with the darn thing. I made the mistake of taking the whole thing apart trying to see how to make it work. Don't do that. Putting it back together again can be iffy, and is totally unnecessary. Believe me, it will suck up ink and write OK without putting yourself through any anxiety. As long as it is writing, I have no complaint. The "coco" is a pretty color.

Cheap and acts like it. Scratchy. Comes with odd assortment of inexplicable parts. Instructions are only in Chinese (?)

I love this pen. It wrote very well without skipping from the first time I inked it.