Trouble For Other Brands? Asvine J16 Fountain Pen Review

Doodlebud, thanks so much for your efforts, I really appreciate your candour, thoroughness and engineering perspective!

In this video, you mentioned you have some pens with superb sealing - I've appreciated your capless drying-out time video; with that aforementioned engineering perspective, I wonder if you would consider doing a video that covers a range of high-performing pens in that respect?
I appreciate it would take some time literally leaving pens untouched to test, perhaps a more anecdotal, conversational video based on your previous experience?
Otherwise, could I a little more selfishly ask which more affordable pens you'd rank in this category?

That's another nice pen from Asvine.

Love your reviews and I’m always wondering How does this guy know so much about machining and production and how is his writing so nice? If you are ever lost for words a video on your experience here would be interesting.

Interesting review for an interesting pen, DB!! Yeah, it may give some brands a major run for their money in the $50-$100 range of pens being near the lower end at $60 USD for the brushed version about $4 USD less for the Bright model. It is a nice looking pen, but my focus is elsewhere on this one!! The Pelikan P361 should be arriving tomorrow, and I have a Jinhao 51a on the way as well. I do love the cheap Chinese pens!!

I’m really liking Asvine for their constant tweaking to have something for everyone all while keeping costs at a good price point to make them as accessible as possible. I like the look of this pen. Thanks for the review DB

Do you know if Asvine has plans to release this pen with their Asvine nibs? I've just had two Jowo nib feeds break off; two in one day! Which makes me gun shy about purchasing another pen with a Jowo nib, especially at that price. I wouldn't hesitate if there was an option with an Asvine nib. Probably an Asvine housing won't fit. Can you confirm that? Otherwise, a very nice offering although the nib dry out would be really annoying.

I'm just slightly disappointed they went with Jowo; the more companies making nibs, the better. Pen looks nice, though, thanks for the show.

Like you, I love titanium pens. I am glad Asvine has made the switch to Jowo which I think has a better consistency in quality than Bock. Schmidt comes in a close second, lately.

How does this compare to the P36?

I would love to see Asvine make a Japanese eyedropper, be it titanium or clear acrylic.

Asvine still killing it. Gee I wish they would have offered Jowo when I bought my V200. The stock one is nice but I find Jowo always outpunches in its class. I will probably get the superflex replacement for it eventually. What is that PenBBS or Pen Revolution?? I already forgot.

That’s a pretty pen!

Is this the cheapest Jowo nib pen around? That brushed finish looks very slick.

An excellent review of a very desirable pen. Thanks, as ever, Mr DB.

Great review DB! Not my aesthetic but it looks like a quality pen. The Pelican is also not my jam, but hopefully folks will like it.

So you mentioned you have pens that are top notch at sealing, please would you mention which pens?

It`s 72 now on Amazon :/
I`ll keep my feelers out for this one though (:

Does it turn the piston knob 😂😂😂😂😂

This is a steel nib rather than Titanium, right. JoWo makes both, I think.

We all can relate to inky fingers. Keep it real and thanks again.

Literally just bought this on a wim after seeing it pop up on Amazon; very excited now!

Looks interesting, it doesn't even look like a knockoff of some other design from what I can see... Asvine is getting better.

New viewer here, absolutely love how detailed your reviews are. Practically binge-watched 20 of 'em. Keep up the amazing work, it's just getting better and better!

btw, would I be able to fit an o-ring onto the cap threads? Hoping that would help the seal a bit.

Ahhh... it turns the piston knob... Sir, thank you... love the vids. Algo bump! Thumbs up 👍, already subscribed... almost spit my coffee out... 😂 life of a fountain pen enthusiasts.

I gotta stop watching your reviews Mr. Doodlebud.
I bought my first Fountain pen less than two weeks ago and I now have 4 in my collection, thankyou very much.

HI DB! Asvine and a couple of others continue to impress! When you got ink all over your fingers, I just have to chuckle, as I have done that SO MANY times! Thanks for sharing!

Why on earth would you put a Montblanc-style clip on a pen? Why??

Just put the most generic clip possible. Why the Montblanc clip?

Come on Asvine... Only available through Amazon US and won't ship to Europe?! Could you please take my money? 😢

If Asvine did a Brass model of this exactly, I'd be ALL OVER it haha I'm interested in this now for sure. Awesome video as usual Doodlebud. Did you see the new limited edition Visconti carbon that came out? That thing looks awesome!!

BOOM

DB, I should stop to watch ur vids. I have already 2 Namisu Nova Titanium Pocket pens, Pelikan 149, Pelikan 400 from 80-90s. And now I ordered J16. 😅

I honestly don't really care if Asvine's pens use JoWo or Asvine nibs just for the nib quality in itself. However, not having to deal with the atrocious Moonman nib housings Asvine uses, having more available nib sizes(even if it's not directly from Asvine themselves) and having a JoWo compatible "nib stick" is a big plus.

I think the next move for Chinese nib manufacturers should be to produce nibs with triple broad tipping material, because that would make them attractive as a canvas for custom grinds; I don't know of any manufacturer in the West or Japan that mass produces steel nibs with generous tipping material. I bet you'd see a bunch of enterprising nib grinders buy a hundred of them, convert them into a special grind and then sell them to people directly. No need to sacrifice a nib, no need to send your pen out, and no waiting times. A bit like Monty Winnfield does, but less bonkers/talented.

Oooh, this is pretty! If only Moonman had taken the "user disassembleable" approach to the Ti-500 instead of gluing everything in place.... rolls eyes into oblivion

That's a good looking pen. I definitely didn't need it, but mine will arrive on Wednesday...

After this video, I just ordered one. Great analytical view of this pen.!

It's 106.00 plus shipping on Canadian Amazon. That make it a big 'no' for me.

Looks interesting! Also interesting is that Fountain Pen Revolution has a JoWo-compatible #6 steel ultraflex nib unit, which I assume would fit this pen, for $50 US. That’s with an ebonite feed; you can also get a plastic feed. (That’s a sale price, will be $55 after it ends.) I’d love to see someone try out that combination.

@doodlebud do you know where one could find replacement o-rings like the one that ran off your feed?

Speaking of nibs, @Shak-MD has reviews of some very interesting specialty nibs by Monty Winnfield. Just letting you know.

@doodlebud If only this pen was snap cap like wingsung 601/ wingsung came in titanium like this. This Aswine looks good, but I already have custom made ebonite pane with Medium Jowo Nib.

I sent you a message on IG. Love your videos, looking for a little advice, thanks!

A monoc nib with this would be 👌🏻

Ordering immediately.. might be a fun candidate for some st home anodization

Received my J16 today with a Jowo nib. I already had a V200, V136, and a P20. Those are nice pens. I wish the V200 weren’t so slick. The J16 on the other hand is outstanding. It writes as well as many of my much more expensive pens. Thank you for the recommendation.

What is that small brass (?) pen in the background? It looks interesting!

Does the metal surface make it difficult to hold onto ? Is there hand fatigue ? Great video
RS. Canada

Great video, I just ordered one in a brushed finish and F nib. Pity here in the EU is a bit more expensive than in North America but it looks very nice.

Is your pen the bright or the brushed titanium? You mention "brushed" in the video, but the pen looks like the bright finish (but it could be down to your lighting).

I have the brushed finish with a broad nib. Also have the Majohn p136. They are very different. The Asvine body has bumps in its curves, as though it was swaged to accept the insert in the cap and the piston. Or these items were just forced into a thin metal body and deformed the surface. The metal of the p136 seems thicker and is perfectly continuous. The Asvine piston is a bit smoother in operation and I think the Jowo nib is better than the p136 nib, although that is easily replaced with a Bock nib and feed which I think significantly improves the pen. The main thing about the Asvine is the irritating sharp edged washer above the ink window that rubs my fingers as I hold the pen. It sticks out enough to really bug me. I can't see how to remove the metal shell, I expect the thing is just glued together and will likely break in the attempt to free the part for a little adjustment. As it is the pen is unfortunately useless to me.

Great review Sir! I own one as well, but the smooth Titanium one (M). With mine, the dry-out stopped when I thoroughly greased and re-screwed that small top part. Perfect seal since.

I just received one of these after a long trip from China, and boy oh boy is it worth the wait. Everything about it screams quality. Thanks for the review, as it convinced me to try it out. 👍🏼👍🏼