Golden Star Pen Company Silver Teeth Pen c1990s-2000s

by Jim Mamoulides, November 7, 2017, updated February 5, 2018

Golden Star Pen Company Silver Teeth Pen c1980s-1990s

This is an unusual cartridge fountain pen made by the Golden Star Pen Company for the OEM / Gift market probably between the 1990s and 2000s. The pen features rows of non-repeating Chinese characters that the owner identified as representing teeth. Perhaps the design was to appeal to dentists in a way similar to doctor’s pens.

Golden Star Pen Company Silver Teeth Pen c1980s-1990s

The pen was made probably in the 1990s or 2000s, based on its long cylindrical design and rectangular clip, similar to a Sheaffer Targa. The cap and barrel appear to be made of cast silver due to the depth and detail of the raised characters. There are no hallmarks indicating sterling silver or any particular silver content.

Golden Star Pen Company Silver Teeth Pen c1980s-1990s

The clip, section and end caps appear to be chrome plated, possibly brass based. The cylindrical ribbed section hides most of the very firm, deeply inset, stainless steel nib. It appears to be a standard open nib mostly covered, leaving only a triangle of tines peeking out.

Golden Star Pen Company Silver Teeth Pen c1980s-1990s

Jinxing, or Kin Sin, or Golden Star 金星, according to various collector’s stories found on the Fountain Pen Network, was a Shanghai pen maker started by three Korean brothers in 1932. The company opened a Beijing factory in 1952. Pens made by the company will show a logo of a five pointed star in a ring as the manufacturer’s symbol, appearing on the nib, barrel or packaging. In this case, the mark is on the inside of the pen box.

The story goes that pens from Shanghai were marked Kin Sin Pen Company and Beijing made pens were marked Golden Star Pen Company.

Identification guide and features:

Golden Star Pen Company Silver Teeth Pen c1980s-1990s

This Golden Star Pen Company fountain pen appears to be made of cast silver. This method would allow for the high relief Chinese characters on the cap and barrel. There are no hallmarks. Based on the cylindrical design, the pen appears to be from the 1990s or 2000s.

• Cast silver cap and barrel with Chinese characters
• Chrome plated trim
• Cap pulls off
• Cap snaps onto the end of the barrel
• Stainless steel nib
• Ribbed section
• Unknown nib grades offered
• Uses ink cartridges
• 5 1/4 inches long capped
• Cloth covered case

Performance

This Golden Star Pen Company fountain pen is very eye catching with its eight rows of Chinese characters running down the cap and barrel. The characters create a pebbly texture in the hand. This is a very plain cylindrical, slender 5 1/4 inch long pen with a flat bar clip that has been made visually and tactily exciting by this decoration. It appears very well made, with everything fitting together tightly.

Golden Star Pen Company Silver Teeth Pen c1980s-1990s nib and section detail

The stainless steel nib peeks out of the section and what can be seen is attractively decorated. It looks like a standard nib deeply set in the long ribbed section. Adding this texture to the section makes the chrome plated metal less slippery, a plus. I dry wrote the nib and it is very firm and very smooth.

I have no idea how many of these pens were made or for how long, but this is the first example I've seen. There are no English language references about them that I have been able to find. There is very little information about the Golden Star Pen Company itself, so at least in the USA, this would be an uncommon or rare pen.

Acknowledgments

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Thanks to the Chikazawa Collection of Kochi, Japan for loaning the pen for this article.

References

A List Of Chinese Pen Brands, Fountainpennetwork Forum, February 15, 2013

Golden Star 703 and 707, Watchuseek Forum, October 22, 2012