DUKE Beijing Opera Rhythm

click on photos to enlarge

Need bottled ink or refills?

DUKE Beijing Opera    $350.00

(There are three models, pictured below)

Brown/Brown   

White/Blue    Sold out

Brown/Red  

DUKE presents the spectacular Beijing Opera Rhythm series of fountain pens. Designed to commemorate the Beijing Opera (also known as the Peking Opera), whose origin dates back over 200 years to 1790 (you can read a short history here). Each pen, which measures 5-1/4" capped -- from the sapphire on the barrel bottom to the sapphire on the cap top -- and 6-1/4" with the cap posted, displays two of the traditional painted faces of characters from famous operas. These were not masks, but actual make-up applied directly to the faces of the performers. Six faces in all are depicted across three pens, one in front below the cap band, and a second on the opposite side of the barrel (take a look at some more of the traditional characters here).

For identification, from left to right, I'm calling the
models brown/brown, white/blue and brown/red --
indicating the colors on the front and back. Click on
photos to enlarge.

These are large and hefty pens, being all-brass construction underneath. The gorgeous cloisonné finish is done in a cobalt blue base (a close match for the sapphire jewels), which provides a warm background for the vibrancy of the face paintings and the 18K rose gold highlights, which were selected to convey the patina of antique copper. The raised wire-work on the barrel is traditionally shaped to represent clouds in the sky, while the old-style Chinese characters on the cap speak of the 200 year history of the Beijing Opera and of the good fortune inherent in writing with an instrument representing such history and culture (from those characters that we could decipher ).

The cap band is rendered in a traditional Chinese decorative pattern -- not unlike a Greek key design -- and the clip is engraved with the DUKE crown logo, the DUKE name, and finishes in the scales and head of a serpent. A neat discovery I made after handling and photographing the pen for several hours was that if the clip is looked at on edge, a serpent's fang is displayed!

As mentioned, each end of the pen is adorned with a sapphire, placed in a setting reminiscent of the apex of a Chinese temple...large on the cap top, and smaller at the bottom of the barrel. Due to the floodlight used while taking the photos, the jewels appear brighter than they do under normal lighting conditions, where there are a closer match to the deep, dark cobalt blue of the cap and barrel.

Removing the slip cap reveals the section, also done in cloisonné, which is encircled with the Chinese character for longevity. The beautifully engraved, and sinuously-shaped 14K gold nib, I would rate as a true European medium (even on the slightly broad end of medium), which is a real rarity for a Chinese-manufactured pen. This is one of the positive consequences of DUKE's association with Germany. The nib is engraved with 'DUKE', the DUKE crown logo, '14K', '580' (which actually should be '585' to represent 14K!) and graceful scrollwork.

Unscrewing the all-metal fittings of the barrel (hmmm, also finished in 18K rose gold), reveals a rubber gasket for a tight seal and a piston converter for bottled ink, marked 'DUKE' and 'Germany'. However, the real surprise comes when your re-assemble the pen, and instead unscrew the blind cap at the end of the barrel! This reveals the turning-knob of the piston, allowing one to 'drink' from an ink bottle without having to break down the pen. This, like the serpent fang beneath the clip, came as another pleasant surprise to me while handling the pen, and shows further evidence of the East/West design partnership that DUKE is promoting.

The pen arrives in a large and sturdy salmon-colored outer box (further protected by a cardboard sleeve), which when opened reveals a lovely wooden display box to house the pen at home or office, and a DUKE leather pen case for on-the-road travel. The pen also comes with a lifetime warranty, serviceable through Shanghai.

Shipping weight for the pen and box is 4 lbs.

IMPORTANT SERVICE NOTE: Every nib that ships from His Nibs is closely examined under high magnification and tuned or adjusted if needed. About 85% of modern nibs need some adjustment out-of-the-box from the manufacturer for an optimal writing experience. Most commonly, the tines of the nib are misaligned -- which would cause scratchiness at the minimum; the slit between the tines is partially or fully closed -- which would starve the nib of ink and at best cause skipping; or the slit between the tines is too wide -- which will either again cause skipping, or conversely, flooding. There are other factors  -- such as separation of the nib from the feed -- that are inspected and repaired before any pen leaves the Palace.

The only 100% guarantee of course comes when the pen is actually filled with ink and written with for the first time, but our pre-shipping inspections and tunings have eliminated 99.99999 (my finger is getting tired) of the frustrations that a customer experiences when first using a new fountain pen. Although this can be time-consuming on occasion, it affords our customers a much more pleasant experience when receiving a fountain pen from His Nibs -- and saves us the frustration of dealing with returns!

Ordering Procedures & Returns

International customers, please note, we will not falsify shipping documents

Credit cards, for the quickest fulfillment of your order, are accepted through PayPal, a secure site allowing you to use your credit card without us even seeing the information. If you'd like to make use of this credit card service, please let us know when you email your order and address, and we'll email you the appropriate Request for Payment, and instructions for the simple payment procedure (you don't need to join PayPal to use it).

If you would like us process your credit card directly instead, then please email us:

1. Card # (dividing this number in two, between two emails, will ensure security)
2. Expiration date
3. Name on card
4. Address for billing statement
5. Card verification # (3-digit number printed on the back of your card. It appears after and to the right of your card number, or 4-digit number on the front of your AMEX card).
 

If you'd rather pay by money order or check, kindly make payable to:

His Nibs.com
  2540 W. Union Street
  Allentown, PA 18104

We ship via insured Priority Mail
(email for cost)

Please send your order and shipping address (along with any questions) to:

orders@hisnibs.com
(on PayPal transactions, the email address may also display as stonebri@sprynet.com -- both are valid)

We will email you back with your order total (PA residents please add 6% sales tax)

Warranties and returns

If an item proves to be defective, in most cases the manufacturer's warranty will apply. However, please email us first so that we can determine the easiest way to resolve the problem to your satisfaction. In the case of fountain pens -- which are a bit more individualistic than other writing instruments -- what may at first appear to be a defect (hard starting or poor flow for example), can in almost all cases be resolved with a few simple 'tweaks' to the nib, which we'll be happy to guide you through or perhaps suggest returning to us for adjustment.

Should you wish to return a non-defective item within 3 days of receipt because it doesn't suit you for some reason, again please email us and we'll arrange an exchange, credit or refund (minus any shipping/insurance charges), if the item is returned in an 'as new' condition. If you've dipped a fountain pen to try its writing characteristics, kindly clean off any ink residue prior to shipping -- to save us both a nasty surprise .

We want you to be happy with your purchase from His Nibs.com and hope to have you join the ranks of our many long-term, repeat customers!

Revised: July 21st, 2008

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