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I bought this fountain pen some time ago during my search for a Hero 329 and it's languished in the dark recesses of my pen box ever since, until that is, a comment by my good friend Nrepose over at Unposted, who has been reviewing some Indian pens recently, made me think it was about time I dug the Dux out and threw my hat in the ring for 'India Week.'
My Dux was an internet buy from that auction site and was billed by the seller as being, "India's best selling fountain pen." As I know little or nothing about Dux as a brand (and I'm writing this in haste), I'll take his word for it (see 'edit' below). The Dux was supplied in a simple cellophane sleeve and looks for all the world like yet another Parker 61 clone but it's not, in fact it's really rather good.
Straight out of the packet the Dux is even smoother than my trusty Hero 329, delivering a nice wet line that I would estimate falls just to the medium side of fine, compared to a western-made pen. The barrel appears to be black plastic, but a good solid plastic, with the plain barrel being broken up by a thin silver-coloured metal clutch ring where the two halves screw together, and a gold-coloured jewel and tassie at the end of the barrel.
Dimensions are as follows:
Length (capped): 140mm
Length (uncapped): 121mm
Length (posted): 145mm
Weight (filled): 13.3g
Barrel diameter: 10mm
Unscrewing the barrel gives access to an aerometric squeeze filler which operates smoothly. I particularly like the transparent threaded section of the barrel which acts as an ink window when the pen is open, but is hidden when the barrel is screwed back together; nice touch, that.
The familiar hooded nib and cap are both gold-coloured metal (not real gold, brass possibly?), with the cap being inscribed 'DUX 612' and there is a matching 'DUX' inscription on the clip.
Never having owned a Dux fountain pen before I was not really sure what to expect, but having used it for less than 24 hours I'm sold! If all their pens write as well as this one does, Dux is certainly a brand I will be keeping a lookout for in the future.
At a Glance:
Model: Dux 612
Available from: eBay
Price: £7 if memory serves
Nib: Fine
Filler: Aerometric (squeeze)
Ink: Bottled ink only (no cartridges) as the filler is non-removable
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
[edit: thanks to some information from The Fountain Pen Network I stand corrected, Dux is a Pakastani pen manufacturer, not Indian as I stated initially. That'll teach me to post in haste!]
5 comments:
Very nice review. Thanks.
Looks like a great pen for the cost. I'll have to look into these, thanks for the review Sam! Nr
Okami - Glad you liked it and thanks for those kind words. I like the Dux because it's just that little bit different and because it's my first pen from India.
Nrepose - Thanks for your kind comments. Yes, IMHO the Dux is well worth the money and, now I've tried it out, it's a close run thing between the Dux and my Hero 329.
I pretty much live off of Dux pens. I have about 5 or 6 of the 612 variety, a 95, and a 2somethingorother. I love the way they write! The 95 is specially favorite because I love rather stiff nibs and its nib is completely straight. I got my pens directly from pakistan and they were quite reasonably priced bc almost everyone writes with fountain pens over there!
i bought it today.. thanks for the review. it is really nice
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