Jinhao X750 Review, Bonus Goulet 1.1mm Stub Nib
For my second review, the Jinhao X750! This was not my second pen, but rather a pen I am letting go to another home, so I had to review it before I sent it off. This is an interesting pen, similar to the Pilot Metropolitan, it offers a lot of value for your money.
Jinhao is a Chinese brand pen with the logo of a horse chariot (see later images). Though Chinese brands such as Jinhao or Hero do not have a reputation for any high-end pens (no, that solid gold 50k USD Jinhao pen doesn’t count) but rather they are known for cheap (and decent pens for the price) pens, with maybe little to no customer service and quality control. At least, that is what I came to expect from my one and only Jinhao pen but was pleasantly surprised.
Features
The X750 comes with no packaging other than a plastic sleeve, though I’m not even sure if that is the official packaging. I have no idea if Jinhao actually has official resellers of its products (I bought my pen from Goulet Pens, but I have no idea if Goulet or JetPens contacts them directly). The X750 comes in many finishes: black, matte black, gold, silver, checkered, “ice flower red” (red and black) and Night Sky (black with sparkles). The X750 I have is the Night Sky finish (I also use “Shimmering Sands”, it is sometimes called that).
The X750 is a big pen, and quite hefty at over 30g with the cap on because of the brass body construction. The length is actually comparable to the Pilot Metropolitan when capped, but the X750 is longer uncapped. Furthermore, the X750 doesn’t taper off on the ends, thus giving more material for the weight.
The X750 uses standard international cartridge converters, and even comes with one pre-installed in the pen. However, the X750 does not come with cartridges like other cartridge/converter pens, so if this is your first pen, you better get some ink with it. The converter is not anything special, completely plastic with JINHAO embossed in the knob. With this converter, I couldn’t figure out how to disassemble it like many other piston converters.
The X750 comes with a steel #6 size nib, which is unmarked for size but is about a Western medium point. The pen writes quite smooth and wet which makes it interesting for slight modifications. The #6 size nib is non-proprietary (though technically not every #6 nib will fit perfectly due to curvature, etc), thus allows you to swap nibs into the Jinhao body for another writing experience. Personally, I put in a Goulet (JoWo) 1.1mm stub nib in it for most of my time, and I was also able to fit a Brause Rose dip nib with varying amounts of success (not shown, but it kind of worked).
Finally, the X750 uses a snap cap that snaps shut fairly securely. I have read that some X750s have an issue where the cap isn’t secure and can freely rotate around the body but I have not had that experience myself. However, my experience is that the cap is so secure, it is a two handed operation to remove the cap. Using lotion or moisturizer prior to uncapping the pen may be an issue!
Looks
The X750 in Night Sky finish is actually… well not as snazzy as you might think it looks. In terms of shape, it’s pretty large, with only a slight taper at the end of the barrel. Unlike the Metropolitan, it has a classic cap band that sticks out from the body, with the words “Jinhao”, “X750” and a bunch of decorative scribbles (hopefully they are not words in another language I cannot distinguish but if so, sorry!). The clip is fairly plain, though it has a curved profile rather than the usual straight.
Now, some of you might be thinking, “why would you get a pen with glitter on it?” or something similar. WELL YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW PRETTY GLITTER CAN LOOK. However, looking back I do not think that the Night Sky finish is actually as good as something like Sailor’s Starburst Galaxy finish on their Pro Gear, or the sparkly finish of the Sailor Promenade Shining Red/Blue or Pilot’s Stargazer (Stella90s) line. Those pens have more depth, and a nicer finish befitting their higher price tags. The Night Sky finish of the X750 is much simpler, and thus ends up looking flat and well, just glitter on the pen. The finish has a clear coat on top of the glitter, except at the ends, which is disappointing because it basically allows you to feel the glitter on the pen, stuck on the black paint. This kind of lack of attention to detail cheapens the experience of the X750.
The nib is actually quite nice looking. The horse chariot logo is branded on it, and the flourishes are pretty attractive looking. Of course again the nib is marked 18KGP, which is supposed to mean for 18K gold plating, which you will see that there is no gold plating. The assumption is that Jinhao stamps these nibs with the same dye, keeping the 18KGP marking for nibs that don’t end up getting the gold plating. Again, the attention to detail shows how little you paid for this pen.
Writing Experience
The medium nib of the x750 is surprisingly smooth. Of course, your mileage my vary due to the lack of quality control but I was quite impressed at the feel of writing with the X750. The section is a cool matte plastic and the weight of the pen is a nice heft when uncapped. Furthermore, the feed puts out a decent amount of ink, making it a wet writer which is good for putting a different nib in such as the 1.1mm stub or the dip nib. In fact, the medium nib has quite the spring to it, which allows it to spread the tines enough to even break capillary action and railroad.
Bonus: The Goulet Pens 1.1mm stub is a pretty neat nib if you have only used regular nibs. It is fairly smooth, though as a stub there can be a little catch due to the shape of the nib. The tines are quite long which means sometimes incorrectly writing with it will cause misalignment of the tines. Otherwise, it is a nice writing experience, though I couldn’t use it for normal writing due to my handwriting being too small for it to be practical. Also, it lays down a lot of ink on the page, making it hard to use on cheap paper.
The ink used in the writing sample is Noodler’s Black Swan in English Roses.
Misc and Final Thoughts
The Jinhao X750 is a surprisingly good pen for the amount you pay for it. There is a lack of attention to detail but really if you need a pen that writes for under $10 (even as low as 99 cents on eBay occasionally), you get a decent pen that can swap parts out for a quite a nice writer. This makes the X750 to good pen to own if you’re interested in slight tinkering, or if you like big pens to be used as a beater pen since it costs nearly nothing and is built fairly strong with the metal body.
Disclaimer: I purchased this pen with my own money and was not compensated for this review. There are no referral links in this review.