Wality 71J Eye Dropper Fountain Pen

When I first heard of an eyedropper fountain pen, I wondered what on earth it meant. Upon further research, I discovered it means you fill it with an eyedropper, rather than a piston mechanism, a squeeze filler, a twist filler, a slide filler, or an ink cartridge. What this means, generally, is that the ink capacity is huge, as everything between the section and the end of the pen is available for storage.

The Wality 71J pen made in India, is itself HUGE! It measures 6 1/4 inches long capped, and a full 7 inches posted. Empty, it weighs in at 26 grams, just 2 grams under an ounce. With its 4.5 ml ink capacity, even half full it is a full ounce. However, the pen is so well balanced, it does seem not overly to me. I do like a large pen, because my hands are large (fingerspan of 11 white keys on a standard piano). How does the pen look? It looks like it came from India. I have provided a stock photo from the importer's web site.



The pen comes with a gold tone fine point nib, made by Wality. Included in the package are a plastic eyedropper, and a velvet textured sack. Mine pen is black, and the sack matched the color. The pen is also available in Maroon and Blue, with matching color sack.

The pen is easy to fill, as long as you are careful. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that unless well sealed, an eyedropper pen will leak. I have another eyedropper in addition to this one, which sealed nicely with plumber's teflon tape; however, this one required silicone lubricant (not sealant) to ensure it was leakproof. Another caveat about eyedroppers - if they get 1/4 full or less they will tend to randomly spit out a blob of ink, so keep it full. This one has no ink window, so the blobbing might be the first indication it is getting low.

The pen writes beautifully. It is buttery smooth, leaving a medium wet, nicely fine line. I have not had a problem with this pen on papers which caused my Pelikan M200 and Parker 51 to throw up their piston (Pelikan) or aerometric (P51) and surrender to feathering, and turning a fine line into a broad line. I have so far unsed only Noodler's la Coleur Royale (royal blue) in this one, and it does exhibit the nib creep typical of Noodlers, but not to an excessive degree. The pen has actually been in my daily carry case sitting idle for about 3 weeks, due to the arrival of new pens which I could not resist trying out. So, the first time I tried to write with it after 3 weeks, it started immediately, and without a skip. That is pretty good in my book.

I acquired my pen via eBay, at a savings over the usual sale price. The pen is sold by eBay seller pbachran, and a search for Wality will turn up whatever pens they have on the bay at that time. If you cannot, or do not want to wait, you can purchase direct from the importer Here
The Wality 71J is a wonderful opportunity to sample the eyedropper filler pen, with a quality pen at a reasonable price.