Asvine V126 Fountain Pen Review

For a long time, Chinese fountain pens have just been seen as "cheap," synonymous with low cost and low quality. I would venture to say that those days are over: the large Chinese manufacturers have spent years investing heavily in their manufacturing and design (from highly automated nib production to modern, high tech QC), and you know what? It shows.It shows in the quality and consistency of the new generation of Chinese-made steel nibs, which can now compete with the European nib manufacturers like Bock and Schmidt. It shows in the material quality of their clear acrylic demonstrator pens. It shows in their innovative designs. And it shows in their artful use of less common materials, like ebonite (vulcanized hard rubber, which bowling balls – and many vintage and modern luxury pens – are made of). I've already written about my Top 5 Cheap Chinese Fountain Pens; the ones you want to buy if you're curious about fountain pens but can't spend $25 on a nice Japanese or European pen. In this post, I'm reviewing the first Chinese fountain pen I bought (in early 2025). It was under $30, so I wasn't expecting much. And it blew. my. mind. Asvine V126: TL;DR: Chinese fountain pens used to have a reputation for being "just copies" of Japanese, American, and European pens. That's not true, but the Asvine V126 does fall into that category: it's fairly close to a Pilot Custom 823 in terms of size and design. The Asvine V126 is a full-size vacuum filler with a shutoff valve. It's got: A good steel nib (a bit stiff, but quite smooth) A solid-feeling, beautiful body that gets comments every time I use it to sign something in public Several nice colors to choose from – my favorite is the blue-grey pictured above and the clear or opaque versions. Huge ink capacity, since it's a piston filler. Shutoff valve that lets you drain the feed, making air travel easy and mess-free. The writing experience is quite different from a Pilot Custom 823, but the size and manual of arms (filling, cleaning, weight, capacity) is similar enough that it's a great way to test if the $450 Pilot Custom 823 is a pen you'd enjoy owning. For about 1/15th of the price! Nib I've got two Asvine V126 fountain pens, one with a Medium nib and one with a Fine nib. Both nibs are wet, fairly broad writers. They are stiff, so I feel like I'm kind of "distant" from the paper, but they are both quite smooth writers. The Fine nib has a tiny bit more feedback, which I like. Medium Nib: 5/10 Fine Nib: 7/10 Cap Seal The cap seal is good; I've had it go 3 weeks without much of a hard start. Not Platinum-good, but totally acceptable. I won't give this its own rating, but I do want to mention it because it's important, especially for Pigment inks which you really don't want drying out in your pen. Design It's hard to give Asvine credit for the "design" of this pen, since it's more or less inspired by the Pilot Custom 823. However the execution is excellent, the color selection is wide and interesting. I think it's a good design. Design: 9/10. Overall Writing Experience Given the comfortable size of the fountain pen, the nice heft it has without feeling heavy, and its smooth-but-stiff nib, I enjoy the writing experience. It's not my favorite, but it feels like very solid, utilitarian pen that I'd trust with any ink and just about any writing situation. Writing Experience: 6/10 Practicality and Role This is an everyday fountain pen that's quite flexible. Its size and weight make it a natural desk pen, perfect for taking work notes or writing letters. Its wet feed/nib make it a good candidate for playing with specialty inks (shimmer, sheen, shading). Paradoxically, its low cost makes me more likely to get a lot of use out of it, since I won't feel too bad if it gets gummed up with Pigment inks, stained by some toxic AliExpress sheening ink, or scuffed up in a backpack when I take it on a trip. Practicality: 10/10 Value This fountain pen is almost unbeatable on value. For under $30, you're getting an incredibly solid, full-size fountain pen that happens to be beautiful and functional. It has a huge ink reservoir and a "fun" filling mechanism, a perfectly serviceable nib and writing experience, and an incredibly low price tag. Value: 10/10 I hope that's useful! This is a wonderful pen for any fountain pen enthusiast – beginner or experienced! – to own. Have fun!