Hey Mick, thanks for this video! It’s like you knew exactly what I’d be asking eight months later😂 I love my Jinhao 65 and now I’m thinking about getting the real thing. I’m torn between the Lamy CP1 and the Logo - I know there’s a big weight difference, which I don’t mind, but which one feels closer to the Jinhao in terms of grip? TNX again
I agree with you. I thought the Jinhao 80 was light. I cannot imagine the 65 is heavier. It is too light for me. It is like the Kaweco Sport. Nice design but the standard Sport is too light for me.
Really it's not all that outrageous. You could also claim that LAMY's Logo and CP1 pens copied the Faber-Castell NEO Slim if you want, or that Faber-Castell copied whoever else is making pens that look like that, but the simple fact of it is that most pens belong to families of related designs, with most reputable companies having aped each other's designs at some point. If anything people should be applauded for making stuff like the Safari that (AFAIK) has a genuinely novel form factor because that is pretty far from the norm. Another thing I'll say about the integrity of these "homage" pens is that they don't have as much markup, so unlike the somewhat-better but far-pricier pens they're inspired by, they are not passed off as being more valuable than they actually are.
@SpringNotes some of them take it a bit too far for my taste, e.g. actually including the Pelican-shaped clip that the Pelikan brand uses, and that's more or less stealing someone else's branding. For me personally, it's mostly a question about form factor. If a pen is pretty geometrically simple then it's inevitable that any pen with a similar aesthetic will be difficult to tell apart. I would've liked to see Jinhao use a different posting mechanism for originality points but the grip section and cap both seem somewhat distinctive. It definitely isn't hoping that you'll accidentally buy it when looking for a LAMY pen, but you can also clearly see where they copied motifs from both the CP1 and the Logo. I guess my point is that it's not all cut and dry, it is a bit lazy to copy stuff, but at the same time I don't feel that LAMY should have a monopoly over fairly simple design motifs and form factors. Kaweco for example makes some super geometrically simple pens like the Lilliput and Supra, then pursues legal action to try to prevent Delike from selling very similar looking products, and I think it's insane because (imo) you can't claim ownership of such a simple design. As for the blatantly-copied nib, I'm a fan. I wish more brands would use shoulderless nibs, and I don't want to be limited to buying 100% LAMY pens if I want that feature on a pen. Personally, if I made fountain pens, I'd put more effort into distinctive design than many Jinhao pens like the 65 do. *BUT* I would honestly blatantly copy certain things I liked, too, like the shape and friction fit of LAMY's nibs. I think if you had a spectrum from "blatant knockoff" to "let's make our own unique version of X type of pen," you couldn't place most of these homage pens at one extreme or the other. My two cents.
Hey Mick, thanks for this video!
It’s like you knew exactly what I’d be asking eight months later😂
I love my Jinhao 65 and now I’m thinking about getting the real thing. I’m torn between the Lamy CP1 and the Logo - I know there’s a big weight difference, which I don’t mind, but which one feels closer to the Jinhao in terms of grip? TNX again
Thanks for the review Mick. I think I might try this one out and just put a Lamy medium on it. We shall see if the body is sturdy enough.
I agree with you. I thought the Jinhao 80 was light. I cannot imagine the 65 is heavier. It is too light for me. It is like the Kaweco Sport. Nice design but the standard Sport is too light for me.
This would be a great gift to pen able especially if they like bic pens
Fascinating. Some people have no qualms about copying other peoples' work.
Really it's not all that outrageous. You could also claim that LAMY's Logo and CP1 pens copied the Faber-Castell NEO Slim if you want, or that Faber-Castell copied whoever else is making pens that look like that, but the simple fact of it is that most pens belong to families of related designs, with most reputable companies having aped each other's designs at some point. If anything people should be applauded for making stuff like the Safari that (AFAIK) has a genuinely novel form factor because that is pretty far from the norm.
Another thing I'll say about the integrity of these "homage" pens is that they don't have as much markup, so unlike the somewhat-better but far-pricier pens they're inspired by, they are not passed off as being more valuable than they actually are.
I understand your point about originality. But, an almost identical design, that I can't agree with.
See it from a designer's pov.
@SpringNotes some of them take it a bit too far for my taste, e.g. actually including the Pelican-shaped clip that the Pelikan brand uses, and that's more or less stealing someone else's branding.
For me personally, it's mostly a question about form factor. If a pen is pretty geometrically simple then it's inevitable that any pen with a similar aesthetic will be difficult to tell apart. I would've liked to see Jinhao use a different posting mechanism for originality points but the grip section and cap both seem somewhat distinctive. It definitely isn't hoping that you'll accidentally buy it when looking for a LAMY pen, but you can also clearly see where they copied motifs from both the CP1 and the Logo. I guess my point is that it's not all cut and dry, it is a bit lazy to copy stuff, but at the same time I don't feel that LAMY should have a monopoly over fairly simple design motifs and form factors. Kaweco for example makes some super geometrically simple pens like the Lilliput and Supra, then pursues legal action to try to prevent Delike from selling very similar looking products, and I think it's insane because (imo) you can't claim ownership of such a simple design.
As for the blatantly-copied nib, I'm a fan. I wish more brands would use shoulderless nibs, and I don't want to be limited to buying 100% LAMY pens if I want that feature on a pen. Personally, if I made fountain pens, I'd put more effort into distinctive design than many Jinhao pens like the 65 do. *BUT* I would honestly blatantly copy certain things I liked, too, like the shape and friction fit of LAMY's nibs.
I think if you had a spectrum from "blatant knockoff" to "let's make our own unique version of X type of pen," you couldn't place most of these homage pens at one extreme or the other. My two cents.
Yes, there's some grey areas there 😂
My CP1 is my daily driver. I have 3 of them on each of my Plotters. Love it. Never heard of Jinhao. Thx