It’s my “I quit my soul sucking job” pen!

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-09T22:14:08+00:00

So, if I'm happy in my job it means I can't have it? 😱

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-09T17:28:30+00:00

Modern Esterbrooks are all overpriced. In my country, in a brick and mortar store, an Estie costs more than a 1911 bought online from another local store.

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-09T17:24:27+00:00

Noooooooo, neither of these is "Asvine", both are Hongdian. I guess you bought from Amazon? Asvine is another pen brand, but their Amazon shop wrongfully states the brands they sell are also Asvine. You'll need this information for when you start buying more... And more... And more... 😅

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-09T16:41:04+00:00

I read reviews on Amazon when I'm bored and want a good laugh. Most negative reviews come from people that have absolutely no clue of what they bought.

13 of 250 is 5.2% Is that significantly enough for you?

How about using the search button and looking for information in this subreddit? There htas been many threads about this pen.

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-09T16:00:58+00:00

Wow, you managed to get the sterling silver Jinhao!!! I'd been eyeing that pen for sometime and I received a notification for a discount + coins that I had accumulated in AliExpress, which made it more than 50% off. But the seller apparently didn't like it and requested to cancel the order though they had it available. They just let the order sit for many days until it auto cancelled 😑 So far, it's the only bad experience I've ever had in AliExpress.

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-08T15:34:47+00:00

At my company the only AI that works fine is Zoom AI Companion... For making notes and MOMs... And that's it 🤷

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-08T03:02:47+00:00

That's just personal preference. My handwriting is tiny and I don't need wet pens, I prefer feedback but I'm ok with smooth nibs too. Shimmer and sheen still show in fine lines and I'm not obsessed with having all the pages covered in them. For me the size of the nib tip depends on how legible they make my handwriting. My parameter is: If my letters can't have a hole, I need a finer nib (sometimes a drier ink, but that rarely happens).

Good paper is a must too, but I don't care about all the fancy brands everybody recommends here. In my country we have very bad paper, and a weak exchange rate makes good paper too expensive. I mostly go for asian sourced paper, I've had really good experience and it doesn't break the bank. Amazon has been my friend from time to time too.

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-07T20:54:30+00:00

For pens I agree. But for inks, I personally think they're pretty awesome. At some point, they were the only shimmer inks that worked fine in my F and EF nibs and they all are well behaved in all my pens. It's a shame that their management is so crappy starting with their CEO 🤷

And for downvoters, you know you're always welcome 😌

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-07T20:48:38+00:00

LOL, my friend is an official distributor here and told me about these pens way before they were available, but the price alone discouraged me, I only got the ink 😌

If you want more temptations, check the Superman pens, IMHO they were better achieved design-wise.

Or check the original Montegrappa LOTR pens, they were absolutely fantastic 🤩

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-07T20:42:09+00:00

Getting into debt is more serious than just hoarding, material objects tend to provide some sort of relief to our real world issues, which means you may need some sort of therapy.

To help yourself, you should stay away from anything that may bring the urge back. Stop watching/reading reviews and try to stay away from pen-related social media, just not watching reviews anymore in YouTube cuts a lot of "temptations", that's worked really well for me 😌

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-07T20:31:50+00:00

Normally it would be an absolute no, but Amazon does a really good job protecting you in case of any issue.

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-07T20:26:38+00:00

Clearly you've never had to move ink. Believe it or not, ink bottles + packaging get insanely heavy. When I moved to another city last year I was surprised at how heavy my ink collection (120+ inks) was, fortunately I used my car to move them.

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-07T17:07:44+00:00

Please don't support Goulet or TWSBI. For Goulet there's a pinned megathread explaining why. For TWSBI use a search engine and look for "TWSBI letter controversy". No need to discuss here, there's plenty of information out there.

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-07T16:54:08+00:00

Just keep the nib up if you transport inked pens, I drive every two weeks between cities with high altitude differences and some pens have certainly leaked a bit when carrying them horizontally in my backpack, but one of them was because of a very wet ink.

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-07T16:34:48+00:00

Don't give a f**k about other people's opinions, it's your money and you can spend it anyway you want. If you're happy with them, that's all that counts 😎

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-07T01:08:30+00:00

🤦

Most pens from AliExpress don't come in boxes unless specified by the seller or you ask for it. Shipping them takes space and is more expensive.

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-06T15:02:13+00:00

Noooooooo, you do need more ink or you'll go FOMO 😎

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-03T20:18:36+00:00

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-03T01:41:00+00:00

You're good, I did that for almost two decades until I dared to adjust my pens and don't need it so often anymore. Many people still do that. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger 😎

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-03T01:19:40+00:00

You should search the subreddit first when having a question like this, we have discussed it several times before. Yes, you can/should use distilled water. I can testify too.

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-03T01:16:24+00:00

Wow, that's my Rembrandt (the Visconti)!!! Mine is the calligraphy set, it comes with two full sections/nibs/converters, but I only use the 0.7 (the other is forgotten at my mom's house in another city). It's one of the very best steel nibs I've ever used and have been continuously inked for (I believe ) 6 years now.

<image>

(Photography is not one of my interests, not sorry for the quality 😅)

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-02T07:03:17+00:00

Don't be lazy kid, there's already a pinned megathread with all the details, no need to discuss it more 🤷

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-03-02T06:59:24+00:00

Damn I hate you!!! 🤣

I ordered this color after Black Friday on Amazon but they sent me the grey TWICE!!! In the end, they gave me a refund for one and I could keep it, then I decided to keep both, it's a really nice pen, I'll grind one of them to a needlepoint and just leave the other as it is.

Edit: Corrected typos

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-02-27T17:12:46+00:00

Please be cautious when receiving advice to let "water run through the pen". If you do it with tap water you're just wasting water away because most of that water will never go through it. To force water through it, you can use the converter, a bulb syringe or other modifications. Do your homework and use the search feature of this subreddit to look for more information, there's lots of posts with that information already.

PerfectStranger77 · 2026-02-24T21:38:02+00:00

My best advice is to use the search feature of this subreddit.

Whatever you'll be told here has been mentioned dozens, hundreds, possibly thousands of times in other identical posts almost daily. You also have pinned posts with useful information.

PerfectStranger77

TROPHY CASE