HONG DIAN D5 Qin Dynasty Fountain Pen Purple Gold, Fine Nib Piston Filling Pen, Retro Chinese Totem Engraving Smooth Writing Pen with Pen Box Set

Hongdian is one of my favorite fountain pen manufacturers. It has long been known among pen enthusiasts for producing high-quality and reliable pens at affordable prices. This time, Hongdian launched the Dynasty Series, which truly left people amazed.Unlike other Hongdian pens, the main selling point of this pen is its design. The Hongdian D5 Qin Dynasty pen looks absolutely stunning. It features a flat-topped design, giving it a grand and luxurious appearance. The pen comes with a #6 F nib that is specifically designed for this model. Like other Hongdian pens, it writes flawlessly. The barrel and cap of the pen are both made of metal. When the cap is posted, I find the pen a bit unbalanced. However, without the cap, it's very comfortable to write with.One unique aspect of this pen is the incorporation of cultural elements into its design. The pen's designer clearly invested a lot of thought into it, seamlessly blending many historical elements from the Qin Dynasty into its appearance. The clip is inspired by Qin arrows, which were formidable weapons during that time. The green portion beneath the pen cap represents the map of the Qin Dynasty, labeled with the names of the original six states in seal script. On the metal surfaces on either side of the pen cap, there are engravings of the totemic mythical birds from the Qin state.The overall design of the pen draws heavily from the armor worn by the Qin army. The use of the armor pattern on the nib grip section is ingeniously executed – enhancing aesthetics while also providing better grip. The symmetric ink window is not very large, and once filled with ink, it seamlessly blends with the pen barrel, creating a harmonious look without any sense of mismatch.The three golden rings on the pen barrel respectively symbolize the Qin measures of length, weight, and capacity, representing the achievements of the Qin Dynasty in standardizing measurement units. The pattern on the top of the end cap depicts a Qin coin with a square hole in the middle.In summary, both the craftsmanship and the quality of the pen are impressive. It's evident that this is the finest pen Hongdian has ever produced.I own many Hongdian fountain pens as well as over a hundred fountain pens from other brands. Therefore, I believe I am well-qualified to offer recommendations for Hongdian pens. If you can only choose one Hongdian pen, then the Hongdian D5 should be your choice. For a low profile fountain pen suitable for the workplace, I recommend the Hongdian 1845. If you're in need of a fountain pen for writing, the Hongdian N1 or N1s are excellent options. If you prefer a metal pen, I would suggest the Hongdian 100. If my recommendations don't suit your preferences, rest assured there are numerous other choices available, such as the Black Forest Max, N7, N8, N23, and more.My only complaint is that Hongdian does not offer different nib sizes for this pen.

Beautiful, sturdy, and balanced. Its easy to fill and writes like silk.

I have been collecting fountain pens for almost two decades. I prefer vintage (pre 1960) pens with 14k nibs. I have about 200 pens in my collection and they comprise all the major domestic (US) and foreign brands and models from Parker to Montblanc.Frankly, for a variety of reasons Chinese pens have not got a great deal of respect from a vocal part of my fellow collectors. Some of that disdain was well earned when I began because design, materials and quality control were spotty at best. The redeeming factor was price. I have some Chinese pens from 2 decades ago that retailed at less than $10 US. So when I saw the new Hongdian D5 Qin Dynasty I was wary. What sort of a pen could they have produced that would justify a price 5 times higher than I was used to paying in years past.The answer is a new icon in the world of not only Chinese but international pendom! The D5 Dynasty has been reviewed on YouTube in very favorable terms by most of my go-to reviewers and in every area, form, fit, design and function (writing performance) this pen is superlative. It is a joy to hold, an amazing representation of Chinese history, a beautifully smooth writer and a conversation starter whenever I carry it.Hongdian have created an iconic pen. They are to be congratulated for raising the bar at a price point that may be impossible to match. This is not simply a pen, it is a work of art.

This pen oozes style, and definitely catches the eye. I generally work alone, and few people ever see what I'm writing with, but in those rare instances where someone needs a signature for something, using this pen to make that signature usually attracts some attention or at least a raised eyebrow. It's definitely not you're typical crappy ballpoint.Size & Weight:Unposted, it fits my slightly larger hand well, and it will post, somewhat (not deeply), without worrying about turning the piston filling mechanism while posted. However, it's a metal pen, and is pretty heavy, especially so when posted.Out-of-box experience:If this came in a medium nib option I'd probably like it more. The fine nib needed to be tuned, ground a fair bit, and polished to be really usable. After using it a few times at work each day, scratching my way through paper, I'd bring it home and spend some time with some 800-3500 grit wet/dry sandpaper to make some adjustments, depending on the adjustment needed, and on the second fill and 2 weeks of worktime testing and evening adjustments, I'm pretty happy with the end result. Your mileage may vary.Inking:This is a piston-filler pen, where you can't remove the body from the section, so you can't see much of what's going on inside. The ink viewer window is very small. There are no options for cartridges or converters, only the piston mechanism built-in to the pen. To fill it, you need to stick the nib section into a bottle of ink, and twist the knob on the back of the pen to move the piston front-to-back inside the body. Do this 2-3x to get a complete fill, until you no longer get bubbles in the ink bottle as you push the piston forward and the air out (dialing the knob all the way out). When tightening the knob forward, you are pulling the piston back to draw the ink through the nib into the body of the pen. Make it finger tight to finish filling the pen.Short-term cleaning, refilling with ink:If you're refilling with the same or very similarly colored ink, you can likely just turn the knob all the way out, pushing the piston forward, purging most of the remaining ink into a sink or maybe the ink bottle from which it came, then wipe the nib and reverse the action in the new ink to fill the pen with the new color. If it's a dramatic change from the old ink to the new ink, like a dark color to a light color, you might want to do a deep clean first. A fast cleaning is just doing this cycle repeatedly in clean water until the water being pushed out of the pen is running clean. It won't be a perfect clean, but with this process it's assumed you're planning on re-inking the pen fairly soon anyway.Deep/Long-term cleaning:Fortunately, this is the type of piston pen which includes a quality metal tool for removing the piston mechanism from the pen for serious cleaning purposes... just loosen the piston knob enough to slip the tool in, spin it until you feel the tool's teeth grab something, then tighten down the knob onto the tool. Then turn the entire mechanism until the piston and everything else behind it come out as one unit. Then you can easily clean the front end of the pen with warm water, especially if you have a bulb syringe (one of those rubber bulbs that parents of newborn children use to suck gross things out of noses and ears). Just load it full of warm water, insert it into the back of the pen and force the water through the nib and into the sink until it runs clear. When everything's dry, add a thin dab of silicone grease to the piston's rubbery sealing ring to help avoid problems later, and twist everything back together again in the opposite order. This is for long term storage, most of that won't be necessary if you're refilling it right away.