Jinhao 59 - Limited edition "wine red"
The is the Jinhao 59 with an EF nib, in the "wine red limited edition", all included (shipping, duties, etc.), it cost me 8,19€ to get it. It is fully made of plastic, except for the trim ring, clip and section plug that are made of steel. The whole pen weighs 17,2g with a full converter, it is ever so slightly top heavy, likely due to the clip. It is 118mm long closed, 148mm posted, roughly 13mm in diameter and the section is around 11,5mm where I hold it. The converter sits deeper than in the Elite 95S, closer to a Sailor 21, the mouth is ø3,4. It is not particularly small compared to non pocket pens, but given the fact that I don't care for the pocket aspect, I can't speak for its usefulness as such.
Size comparison with (left to right) the Hero 1079, Waterman Expert and Jinhao 20
The nib feels the same as the ones in the Jinhao 10 and 20, it's just physically larger: it is rather smooth, especially for its size, well tuned, 3-4/10 wetness (great ink efficiency), but the feed is great at keeping up with fast paced writing and even sketching, doesn't have any directional variation, it is not sensitive to paper texture. It writes slightly thinner than a Pilot F, or Jinhao hooded nib from the 911 and 85. Unfortunately, the nib is not an inlaid one, the section is just cut to look like the Elite 95S' inlaid one, and it looks like it was originally designed for a different nib, but as if plans changed somewhere along the way, especially on the feed side.
The feed seems captive inside the section as the section plug seems glued, so I would recommend sticking to safe inks to increase the pen's lifespan, as well as regular flushes. After a little over 4 weeks of use (and roughly 5,5 converters worth of ink) the section and blind cap have developed microscratches from the friction fit cap sliding on and off, nothing obvious, but something to keep in mind for longevity.
Overall, it is a perfectly serviceable pen, it works perfectly fine out of the box, has no glaring issues (at least with the black colorways), and still looks pretty good under normal lighting. My issues is that Jinhao has better pens for the price (like the 88 or 95), both in terms of quality and durability. Still not a bad purchase.
7 replies
Nice job on reviewing this pen. I got both the black and maroon versions last week, but haven't had a chance to ink them yet.
Why do the caps on mine look (and feel) like steel:
I mean, that looks metallic to me.
EDIT: Forgot to mention: when picking up the pen after it's been sitting, the caps are definitely cooler to the touch than the body. Typically, that's an indicator of metal.
I did indeed forget about the steel springs inside the cap, but the cap itself is plastic, at least on mine. And it never feels cold to the touch. There are also flow and stretch marks from the molding and ejection process respectively, so it's rather unequivocal. The paint is pretty well done so it does look metallic, I have to give it to Jinhao: they do make wonderful paints (the 85 is also magnificent in metallic blue and gold).
Which one did you take in the picture, the "Limited" edition or the normal one? That's really curious they would have different materials, but nothing crazy for Jinhao.
I don't see any listed as “limited edition” — the only differentiator I see on Amazon (where I purchased mine) is the color. I took that photo of the black cap. But the inside of the champagne cap is the same.
I do see a plastic lining in the cap, likely part of the sealing for the pen.
One interesting thing… There is one variation of this pen I haven't seen anywhere (see marked item in photo):
The cap band is interesting...
There are 8 colorways on Aliexpress, including this one.
Cool for them… ;) I don't trust AliExpress (been ripped off several times), so unless they make it over here guess I won't see them.
Good review and interesting pen!