Even More Chinese Capless

By now we know how Chinese pen makers, when trying to capitalize the success of capless pens, have taken the route of copying well-known models: Lanbitou copied Platinum, Jinhao and Moonman copied Pilot. But, is there room for creating new and different models?

It seems so, actually.

The following pen is a Dianshi, and it is a capless pen, an inexpensive capless pen.

Dianshi DS-784

The Dianshi DS-784's price is about 4 to 5 USD. It is made entirely of plastic and, most likely, it can only be inked with proprietary cartridges. It carries no markings save a fairly big sticker by the clip, and on the box.

These are its dimensions:

Length closed: 14.1 mm
Length open: 13.9 mm
Diameter: 10.5 mm
Weight: 14.0 g (with an empty cartridge)

Externally, the pen looks very symmetrical (save for the obvious clip). However, the area close to the nose is molded in a quasi triangular shape to ease the grip.

The nib lid –essential on a capless pen to prevent it from drying up-- opens to the right of the nib. By means of an elastic material (see the pic). This movement makes the nib point very visible to the user as long as he was right-handed. Lefties, though, might be left in the dark, although this would depend on each particular grip.

How durable is that mechanism?

The lid, to the right. The nib, made of steel.

The clip, interestingly enough, is located on the upper side of the pen, close to the push button. This detail might please some users, but the undesirable effect is that the nib will face downwards when carrying the pen on a shirt pocket. Who would want to take this risk?

Moonman and Dianshi, side by side.

All in all, this Dianshi pen seems an interesting product as it is an attempt to create an original pen instead of being just a copy of a well-known product by other maker. It also comes with some defects, but there is hope in honest error, as C. R. MacIntosh once said.


My thanks to Mr. Shimizu.

Jinhao Dadao 9019 – Diamine Bilberry

Bruno Taut
February 4th, 2025
Etiquetas: Dianshi, capless, mercado