Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Kaigelu 316 Fountain Pen Review.


I ordered this on Saturday and it arrived today (Tuesday) by air mail from Shanghai. The total cost was about £10 including postage, although the pen was not supplied in a box.

This pen is very similar to the Parker Duofold Centennial, but without any attempt to pass off as a Parker - there are no trademarks and the end cap has a kangaroo on it. It is a large and quite heavy pen

The finish was described as "charcoal". It is actually a glossy marbled effect which is quite difficult to take a photograph of. The nib seems to be partially gold plated. It writes quite well and the nib is at the fine end of medium (finer than my Jinhao 450, but not as fine as pens like the Hero). There is some resistance on the paper, but its not scratchy.

Overall it does not look or feel like a £10 pen (which would be something like a Parker Vector). The only down side is that it does not post very well. The cap fits on the end cap via the threads and I am not sure that will be good for the finish of the end cap or the longevity of the threads.