Hongdian C1 Fountain Pen Fine Nib, Modern Red & Classic Retro Design Metal Pen with Ink Converter

I ordered this in an EF nib in dark blue, and I was VERY pleasantly surprised to discover how smooth and responsive this extra fine nib was to write with! I also bought the Hongdian gray blue ink to use in the pen, and I’m thrilled with both!If you’ve been wanting to try an EF nib but were afraid of it being scratchy, buy this pen! I’m betting you’ll be very glad you did. The big pluses for me were the hooded nib and feel of the pen in my hand. I love the look and experience of a hooded nib - beautiful!I’m very pleased with the quality and performance of the Hongdian C1 and highly recommend you give it a go!

For the price, this is a well made fountain pen that works very well as a daily carry pen. I've got more expensive pens, but I'm always afraid of losing them. This one is affordable enough that if I lose it it's not a huge loss, but it has an excellent nib that writes smoothly and a metal body with a tough plastic cap that matches the body color almost exactly (tricky with two different materials).

This is a really nice and well made pen. The hooded nib is cool, and it writes smoothly. It has very nice weight and balance and feels great in the hand. I wish it was available in medium nib, but I do enjoy this pen with the fine nib.

Great pen for the money. I have a vintage Parker 51 with the hooded nib but I never really use it, since it's so precious to me, so I was drawn to the nib-style here, first and foremost. The pen reservoir holds a lot of ink and never skips. It's brightly-colored and the mix of metal and plastic means when I invariably drop it, it won't crack - or at least it hasn't yet. Cons are that the nib has a bit of drag/scratch that doesn't seem to be budging or smoothing over with use. And, IYKYK: the cap posts fine, but doesn't click when put back in place. I like a good, satisfying click when I'm done writing. And, because it doesn't click into place, when I drop it (are you seeing a theme?) the cap flies off and I'm always worried that as the parts of the pen have separated, ink has splattered or the pen has landed on its nib and bent. That hasn't happened (yet) but it's a worry. Small issues; overall a nice daily writer for the price. And bright enough to not lose on a cluttered desk.

Turbo review: I own fancy pens and $5 Chinese pens. This Hongdian EF tip in white is one of my favorite of all of them. I expected a lightweight (not in a good way) beater pen that I can abuse at work. What arrived is no beater. It appears a bit cheap, but the pen is BRASS and has a very pleasant weight to it. I love the “No grip” style which allows me to grip the pen how I want. In my opinion it’s the perfect thickness as well. Cheap junk ink, Noodlers, and fancy ink have flowered very well through this little guy. I’m going to buy all of the colors and prob 2 or 3 extra in Red. Definitely recommend!

These pens are smooth writers. However in my experience, the tines tend to be very tight. I've had to do a little work on each pen I've purchased to enable it to write a little wetter. Nonetheless, these pens are really great every day carries. They are comfortable in hand, very well balanced and post deeply. I generally do not post my caps, but it is good to have a pen that is designed to be posted if the need arises.The problem I had with my most recent C1 acquisition (lemon yellow) is that the pocket clip is crooked. It is not so crooked that it cannot be used, but noticeably crooked. The fact that the barrel color is light and the clip is black makes this defect stand out even more. I will still use the pen because it's a great writer and I don't want to go through the return process. However, the crooked pocket clip is disappointing.

C-1 is divergent with a retro feeling.The feel I get from this pen from a distance reminds me of the Shaffer “No nonsense “ type of hit that it was, still is. This is a pen that if offered more nib choices could be a rematch for something iconically recognized in the future as Schaffer’s rival.However it’s a Hong Dian C-1, and once again excellent quality that they keep in their output. They’re probably most trusted affordable pen outlets ever. They are doing impressive improvements all the time and their design is blooming in engineering and aesthetics.Appears to be impeccably enameled metal, (mostly) with a glazed ceramic quality to the touch. It’s not metallic feeling at all. The finish is smooth but doesn’t give me a slip on the grip ever.As it’s a hooded nib, hooded nibs have never been my choice to often but the utilitarian in me owns a few.The extra fine is all I own although I have other choices coming because I ordered a couple more.The smoothie of this pens uncapping is divine and so is the posting of the cap, which I don’t even find necessary to use but for this pen it’s not small enough if you have medium size hands you will ever need to but I will say you will want to because slipping the cap and posting this pen is absolutely satisfying! Like snapping LEGO is snaps this is the silent of it and close to imperceptible!However; I don’t find the cap smoothie in the nib but I’m at extra fine here. For an EF it’s surprisingly unimpeded on the page. Some feed back exists sure, I don’t mind it at all, as I have used it for post-its and simple quick writing on some of the cheaper paper I could find as well as a journal paper at high gsm or low. ( I take that into consideration as I can write on a ton of paper options)The ink flow is in the dryer spectrum but not dry. It doesn’t bleed out tons of ink and it more than likely makes this an ideal situation to quick jot. If I can use an example is that it’s about what you’d get out of a fine nib Kaweco Sport classic Out of the box.I used Noodlers Lexington Gray ink and when I look back at the page it looks like I’m writing in 2B graphite pencil when I’m done. It’s rather comforting as there is no bleed / feathering or ghosting ( no worries)with these little pens.I’m an artist and avid note and journal maker.This pen has proved to be trustworthy in all counts. I can actually stipple with this pen! Or I can crosshatch without it weakening the surface.I have had two c-1’s for a week and I can’t let them down. ( My pilot Falcon is getting ignored.)There is the right tool for everything we need to accomplish and this is a warm fuzzy to use for everyday uses.For the price point this is a steal. I can throw it in a bag and pull it out to use at any time and it doesn’t leak and always writes right away.It’s a purchase worth it. I ordered more in different colors after about a week. It’s a fun little pen that has a design that can go cult if they offer more brighter colors and nib choices in the future. This is an awesome excellent base for more wonderful possibilities. Hope this helps:)