czxwyst 601 Steel Cap Vacumatic Fountain Pen (Battleship Grey with ink window, 601A Fine Nib)

Good points: great writing , excellent filling mechanism , large ink reservoir , good look and feel , gets better with use , fair price.Bad points : hardly any , only a cheap feel as the top grates on the body when you cover it .

I am used to the traditional fountain pens (with a barrel and plunger), so found this one a little weird. That the instructions on how to use this pen were totally in Chinese, coupled with the fact that I am not exactly a genius when it comes to figuring out how unfamiliar items work (especially when all the instructions were in a language I could not understand) made this pen unsuitable for my purposes and I had to return it for a refund.

This copy of the classic Parket 51 'vacuum filler' is very good. The pen is quite well made, although there have been numerous online reports of cracked barrels that result in major ink leaks. One pen I purchased on an auction site did have a crack and it was a pain to pursue a claim for a refund. This one, from 'Czxwyst', fulfilled by Amazon is 100% fine.Generally the 'build quality' is good and the finish is refined. It compares fairly well to an original Parker 51, but doesn't improve on any aspect except being newer. Maybe the metal cap is thinner than a Parker 51 and it has a rather odd opel-like cap 'jewel', but the filler works well and the plastic barrel seems of decent quality. Under the nib hood, there's a clear acrylic feed section which could be better.The fine 'hooded' steel nib is exceedingly fine, almost 0.2mm wide, but it is quite smooth. It can be polished to give a better width (0.4mm). Ink flow is a little dry (common with very fine nibs) and there isn't much character to the stroke. The snap-on cap will post securely on the pen and helps balance and handling.Because the nib is extra fine it is not a pen I would use for long letters - I find a medium nib 'moves along' better.Instructions are provided to convert the pen to a 'regular' pump converter. They are in Chinese ~ forget it or start learning . . . .Overall it's a decent pen for the price, fun to use and writes pretty well. However, I suspect most people will find the nib a bit too fine.Is it worth £18? Just about. It can be bought cheaper elsewhere online, but the confidence that Amazon will sort matters if the pen does have or develop a crack/leak is a valuable asset.Alternatives? The Jinhao 51A is a cheaper pen and has excellent quality and performance, but it isn't a vacuum filler if that is a key requirement.

What a lovely pen for the price, easy to fill with ink too, writes with a crisp fine line which is why I selected this pen. Good build quality too, when the plunger top is on you can't even see were the join is! Excellent.

Love how it looks, love how it fills, when it writes I like it, when it hard starts or runs dry despite being fully inked it is a right pain.

smooth ez to refill

This is a very well made pen, which is a great homage to the Parker 51. it feels great in the hand and writes really well. I really like the ink window too. I cannot recommend this pen highly enough, especially at this price.

Feels more like £3 pen than an £18 pen. Leaks too, which makes it unusable.