Fishy? Jinhao Centennial fountain pen in Red Koi resin 金豪100/豆腐 - YouTube

Welcome to Semivintage.

Today we’re looking at the Jinhao Centennial, or sometimes called the Jinhao Duofold

after the classic Parker design it emulates.

We’ve covered Jinhao before,

a relatively recent manufacturer that makes affordable pens.

This one however is a little north of their usual market segment.

Pricing for this particular one was 18 dollars and 9 cents Singaporean or 13.30 American.

A slight price drop from when it was first launched, something I’ve noticed with pens

in this price range.

More room for adjustment compared to the lower end models perhaps.

We know Jinhao is trying to climb the value chain, so how about this one?

First up some measurements.

Not ideal for posting, a little too unwieldy so if you must post this may not be a pen

for you.

For our size comparison we have our Moonman M8, because it’s pretty.

And a growing Jinhao family.

Incomplete but good enough for this purpose.

51A, 992, shark or 993, 996, x750, chunky lad 159 and the centennial. From the left to right.

Close up we see the Jinhao logo of a chariot on the clip.

Rather functional, not too stiff.

‘Jinhao’ on the band, without the usual model number.

Flat on both ends.

Metal insert on the top of the cap, Jinhao chariot logo.

I picked the red koi finish for resin option because I liked how it looked in the pictures.

The red is rather opaque whilst the white bits are a little iridescent in different lighting angles

but if you look closely you can see it shows the threading which may put

some people off.

Given the nature of patterned resins you may or may not see the same in yours,

if you decide to order one.

Takes quite a few turns to unscrew the cap.

A standard #6 Jinhao fude nib in duotone, you can get it other options but I happened

to like this one.

Easily swappable.

Comes with a standard jinhao converter.

Has an o-ring but these threads are metal so eyedropper conversions might not optimal.

Plastic on metal threads might also be a little concerning if you’re expecting this pen

to last forever.

Now let’s have a writing sample.

<Writing sample>

Well is it worth it?

To be honest I’m a little torn on this one.

For one I’m used to Jinhao fountain pens at a third or a fifth of this price

so perhaps I feel a little more critical than usual.

Whether a fancier finish is worth the premium is highly subjective.

It writes pretty well so if you like the design then maybe.

That’s all for this one, see you in the next video.

Stay safe out there.

Bye.