Lanxivi Duke Sapphire Fude Pen, Calligraphy Fountain Pen Bent Nib, Fine to Broad Size for Signature and Art Drawing

This largely metal pen is built like a battleship and is well made. It weighs 65.7g. A Pelikan M200 weighs 14g. A Noodler's Triple Tail Flex weighs 19.8g. The pen is 14.6cm long, capped. Posted as far as it allows it is 18cm long and unbalanced. It comes with a generic cartridge converter which works just fine, draws up ink reasonably well and does not leak. The cap screws on securely and the pen does not seem to dry out. The essence of this pen is the substantial and well manufactured Fude nib which is far smoother than, for example, Sailor's Fude De Mannen pens. This pen is impractical for European handwriting unless held almost vertically. However, it is ideal for lettering and for drawing. Once you master the technique of varying the angle of this nib on paper, very considerable line variation is available and it is excellent for quick sketching, the line variation adding immediate interest to the look of the drawing. The ink flow is very good through this large Fude nib. Fude nibs are primarily designed for Chinese/Japanese lettering and this pen will authentically reproduce the traditonal appearance of Kanji/Hiragana. All in all, albeit on the heavy side, there is lot to like about this pen and it's very good value.

Duke 551 Confucius Fude Nib Fountain Pen Nature Bamboo Medium to Broad Signature Drawing Pen Asian Curved Calligraphy sketching Art Pen I am an artist, and for the last 35 years I have used hundreds of pens. I must say that Duke 551 Confucious eclipses them all! For an artist who does a lot of figure and face sketching, it has the most amazing, almost magic ability to bring the sketch alive through versatility of the line's width. From a very fine line to almost a brush-stroke in one flick of a finger. You slightly turn the pen as you draw, and the line width changes entirely. Beautiful flow of ink, and incredible build quality. I must say that I don't write with it, my experience is only that of drawing, but since I started sketching with this pen, it's like the sketches are made by a different (and better! :-)) artist than I am! Such is the amazing drawing/sketching power of this pen. So definitely 5 starts from me! Tips: I actually use Rotring cartridges with it but you fill it with ink if you prefer, it comes with a pumping mechanism. It's just I found it tricky on the go, so always carry a box of Rotring cartridges with me. It does use a lot of ink, but that's because it can give these incredible thick lines, almost if you are drawing with a brush. For those who like drawing with a light pen - beware, this one is quite chunky (63 g) . For me, this is great, as I've always liked drawing with a heavy object but some people might find it a little on a heavy side. For me, this is a PERFECT sketching pen!!

EDITED PREVIOUS REVIEW: I had to edit this, while it did not work with any waterproof ink I tried, even thought all the ink I tried should work in fountain pens without clogging it, including Sketchink, it did eventually work with Herbin non-waterproof ink. It has a nice versatile line and I found a way to work with this ink, so in the end I changed my rating. Just a shame it wouldn't work with waterproof ones as that's what I bought it for. I was really looking forward having this pen as I have heard great things about it. But I have to say I am really disappointed with it, I just can't use it at all. The flow is bad, if you want to draw thin lines it just doesn't have any ink in the top of the tip. It is really scratchy too. I am even starting to wonder if it's genuine? For pen this expensive I would expect it to work. Sad...

I really like this pen. I bought it after watching a YouTube video of another artist using it to do ink drawings, which is what I wanted it for. So I took a chance on it and I'm really glad I did, it's now my 'go to' pen, for both sketches, professional artwork and just for fun. It looked a bit of a strange shape when it first arrived and a little small initially. But when the lid is posted - which it does satisfyingly - I find the size and weight is perfect. It comes with an ink converter, which I fill with Rohrer & Klinger Sketch Ink. The ink flows beautifully. The nib is a real pleasure to use. The fude nib is really versatile, being able to get a thick, heavy mark with it fully connected to the paper, or you can get really fine lines using just the tip. You can also turn the nib upside down to get an ultra-fine line. This pen has made me take it out every day since I bought it, just to draw with it for the sake of it. Really recommend it.

Bought for sketching too heavy very uncomfortable and leaked like crazy.sent it back got other types of fude pens and they are all fine

I collect pens of every style and many price ranges. This Duke I only bought, because I was asked to get a fountain pen for a theater production that would fit in the Art Deco time, 1910 -1920's. To my surprise this fountain pen has turned out to be a very well made and nicely finished pen that could compare to many of my fountain pens, even to some 5-7x it's price! Has a clean overall appearance, looks expensive the trim has been "guilded" in a very symphatetic and surprisingly NOT cheap looking gold-"whatever it is". If I lay this pen beside my 150 Euro Waterman with 24k guilding in daylight, the color and shine is surprisingly similar. The decor on the cap is clean and can easily pass off as being from the desired time. The nib is a bent, calligraphy nib that is still able to be used as writing nib for every day - if you like that style. The nib seems to be real gold coated. The body of the pen is lacquered with a very beautiful black lacquer, very similar to that being applied in the "old-days" looks very nice! Overall it feels, writes and looks much more expensive than it should in it's price range! It for sure is on par with all the Chinese or Chinese made European Brands and I also found that you have to look at the over the 80-90Euro price range to really find anything really being better than this Duke can offer. Can not say anything yet about longevity, but looking at the nib and the internal elements that are pretty much the same as other more expensive pens have ( and are being used by us since 2,3 or more years daily) - there is no reason for this fountain pen to have a decent lifespan. Filling was clean and easy, no dripping, no flooding. Highly recommended!

I am disappointed as I bought it based on good reviews from urban sketchers in USA mainly. I ordered this pen hoping to use it with my ink Architecture drawings and unfortunately I can’t use it as it’s drawing braking lines! It’s almost like running low on ink when it’s actually full? I have a lot of fountain pens and use them whole day every day. I haven't experienced any problems with cheaper brands and so I expected much better performance from this one! I may have one which is faulty? Would definitely not purchase again

Well made for the price and being metal, quite heavy, which I like (that is a personal choice of course). It’s easy to fill, using the supplied cartridge replacement (I haven’t used cartridges). I use Noodler’s Black Ink which, so far has never dried or clogged despite leaving it for days between pen sketches that require a fude nib. The nib itself is a delight. I’ve had others fude nibs that were quite scratchy, but this is smooth and the line can be varied very easily. It also is easy to use upside down to give a constant line width. Very pleased overall.