More Chinese Capless

Chinese pen companies have certainly felt the appeal of the capless idea. More so, dare I say, than any other country manufacturing pens.

Aside of those old capless made in China in the 1990s –Lily 910 and Wuhan-Dagong—, some of the now-active pen brands in China have recreated successful models made in Japan. First was Lanbitou with its copy of the Platinum Curidas. Then, Moonman (also named Majohn) created its personal version of the current Pilot Capless model, albeit with the addition of a clipless version. And soon afterwards came the A2 model, a revision of the faceted FCN Pilot model of the 1990s.

And some months ago was is the turn of another Chinese brand—Jinhao and its model 10.

Jinhao 10.

As was the case of the Moonman, the looks and structure of the Jinhao 10 are almost identical to those of the Pilot Capless. And the most obvious difference among the three of them is the central ring, as can be seen on the picture.

From top to bottom, Pilot Capless, Jinhao 10 and Moonman A1.

In the case of the black-matte finish, the variation I got my hands on, the Jinhao is closer in color and texture to the original Japanese than the Moonman, darker and shinier.

These are the dimensions of the three pens:

	.Pilot Capless.	.Jinhao 10.	.Moonman A1.
Length closed (mm)	141	142	142
Length open (mm)	137	138	139
Max diameter (mm)	13.2	13.0	12.9
Weight, dry (g)	30.0	33.2	33.7
Ink deposit (ml)	0.9 (cart) 0.5 (CON-40)	0.9 (cart) 0.3 (conv)	0.9 (cart) 0.4 (conv)

The Jinhao nib is very similar to that of the Moonman. On both cases they are made of steel, and their geometries are apparently the same. However, the feeds show different markings on the sides of the ink channels. Jinhao's nib come as F and as EF, whereas Moonman's units are only EF.

From top to bottom, Pilot's 18 K gold nib (M), Jinhao's steel nib (F), and Moonman's A1 steel nib (EF).

The cartridge-to-nib coupling on the Jinhao is, at least on my unit, precarious and unsecured. The user might be inclined to ink it solely through the converter despite its very limited capacity to avoid unnecessary risks. Or he could try the Moonman converter—it fits and holds a greater volume of ink. And once you open that route, it is just about try and error.

So, all in all, it seems that the Jinhao is less capable and reliable that the Moonman, but their bottom line is the same—low cost capless pens with the looks of a Pilot.

Asvine V126 – Waterman's Florida Blue

Bruno Taut
January 30th, 2025
label: Pilot, Moonman, Jinhao, capless