Happy Lunar New Year 2023!
It's the Year of the Rabbit now, so I thought it only fitting that I post a review of the Hongdian 'N7' "Moon Rabbit" (aka "Gray Resin") fountain pen I bought last year...
I was drawn to it because the symbols on its barrel (rabbits, suns, moons, et al) were mysterious... and cute -- as Amy said of her own example of this pen at our January meeting, "It has a rabbit on a ladder. Need I say more??" 😆
(all photos below taken by Maja ~ please click on images to enlarge)
I purchased this Chinese-made piston-filling fountain pen from seller 'esybuy'on etsy.com last April for the equivalent of $38 CAD shipped. The barrel is made of a swirly grey acrylic, but the cap, section and turning knob are made of brass with a satiny-smooth dark grey finish that looks nice, but isn't slippery. The metal trim is gunmetal in colour.
The pen's total weight is 38.0 grams, but it's very well-balanced and not overly-heavy when used unposted (as I prefer to use it). Unposted, it weighs 23.6 grams and measures about 12.3 cm (nib tip to barrel end). The posted pen is about 15.6 cm long from nib tip to cap end, and the capped pen about 13.3 cm..
My pen has a black steel nib with the Hongdian
logo (the Temple of Heaven in Beijing) and the letter "F" (for Fine) engraved on it. There is a Medium nib available for this pen, but it's silver in colour and I wanted the black nib as it matches the pen's colour so nicely. My Fine nib is a smooth writer, but there's also an Extra Fine black nib, if you prefer a nib that lays down an even finer line.
The
barrel has a clear ink view window that lets you know if you're running
low on ink. The clip attaches well to fabric and paper, but it is very stiff.
Now, here are some photos of the designs on all sides of the cap....
Each of the six vertical rows on the cap has a different combination of symbols; one YouTuber took the time to count them all and found seven suns, five moons, three rabbits, three circles, and one spiral...
...but if you're looking for a pattern to the symbols, good
luck --- deciphering the Zodiac's letter-writing code is an easier task!
Some close-ups of the two special rabbits on the cap:
This rabbit symbol directly below the words "Month Rabbit" at the top of the cap is the same symbol that's on the cap's finial...
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...and there's that adorable bunny trying to climb a tiny ladder!
The pen's clear cap finial (jewel) is shown above; the bottom of the barrel is flat and unadorned.
The pen was supposed to come with the special Hongdian tool seen above (a flat metal wrench) that allows you to disassemble the piston-filling mechanism. It was missing from my order, but the seller added it to my next order after I contacted her (I've always had good customer service from Sally --'esybuy' on etsy). Now, you don't really need to disassemble your pen, but I feel better having a tool that I can use to do that, if the piston needs to be lubricated or the pen needs to be serviced.
The Hongdian 'N7' "Moon Rabbit"/"Gray Resin" model is currently the 39th most popular fountain pen on Amazon.com. It's a smooth-writing pen that also feels solid in the hand. If you're not a fan of rabbits, there's also a Hongdian 'N7' fountain pen model called the 'Blue Peacock' (which looks lovely, but only has a peacock feather motif -- no actual peacock birds on it).
Wishing you all a very happy, healthy & prosperous Year of the Rabbit! 🐰
~Maja
(Blog post by Maja)
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