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Jinhao
Dragon Pearl


click on photos to enlarge

Need bottled ink or refills?

 

Dragon Pearl Gold    $35.00

Dragon Pearl Silver    $35.00

Dragon Pearl Ash    $35.00

 

Often called the Dragon's Precious Pearl or Stone, the mythological connection between the dragon and the precious pearl apparently goes back millennia. The myth usually portrays the dragon as protecting the pearl, partially symbolized on these pens with the dragon's eyes seemingly transfixed by it.

Measuring 5" capped, 5-1/4" posted and 5" with cap held aside, these hefty metal pens are clipless. So, unless the pen is left as your desk pen, you'll want to transport the pen in a secure, enclosed pocket, case or pen roll.

At first blush the high-relief dragon, which wraps sinuously around the pen's barrel, would seem to preclude a comfortable grip when writing with the pen. I've never found that to be the case. I've used these pens for hours at a time, and my hand seems to always fall naturally into a very comfortable position. In fact, the raised metalwork actually provides me with a very secure purchase upon the writing instrument (my thumb tends to nestle against the side of the dragon's head).

With a shape reminiscent of the Duke Columbus (sadly out-of-stock for some time), this model also has a cap that posts on both ends of the pen.

Speaking of the cap, the representation on its top depicts the Tian'anmen Gate of Heavenly Peace, which was the principle entrance to the Forbidden City during the Ming and Qing dynasties, as well as one of the huabiao, which is one of a pair of10-meter-high white marble columns that stand before the entrance (you can read more about those by following the link above).

The cap threads are metal -- some brass and some copper -- as is the whole interior of the cap itself. This makes for an excellent mating of cap to pen...whichever end is used.

 

 

 

 

Although my personal pen came with the regular Jinhao engraving on the nib, my most recent order sports the dragon's head version. The nib itself is two-toned and also displays the Chinese characters for Jinhao and 18K GP (gold-plated). I would rate the nibs as a light-medium, meaning it lays down a line somewhere between a typical western fine and medium nib. Smooth, and not as stiff a nib as those found on many Chinese pens.

Unscrewing the section from the barrel, one finds the included piston converter for bottled ink. Interestingly, the recent ones I've received use copper for the metal parts (I can't guarantee this for every shipment though), like that found in the Dragon Offspring pens.  It will also take International-style cartridges, such as those from Private Reserve. As with all new pens, I recommend to run a dilute solution of dishwashing soap (two or three drops to a small bowl of water) through a new converter a few times (outside of the pen!), followed by water only. Step one is effective at removing manufacturing oils that can tend to make the ink less than enthusiastic in heading from the converter to the nib, and step two removes the traces of the detergent you've used...which tends to have the opposite, diuretic effect. A gift box is included.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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: February 8th, 2010

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All images and products on this site are trademarks, registered trademarks and/or copyright of their respective
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