Fpr Jaipur?

[spaceink]

Anyone have any info about the FPR Jaipur? I've seen it listed as Coming Soon on the site for some time now and am wondering when it might actually become available.

 

Have enjoyed my Guru but would like something that feels more solid and just a tad more hefty. I'm guessing the Jaipur will have a feel closer to my Nemosine Singularity demonstrator. Looking forward to one with a flex nib.

Edited May 17, 2015 by spaceink

[Jamerelbe]

Last I heard from Kevin of FPR (I've been hassling him about getting my hands on the Jaipur), they were still ironing out a couple of 'kinks'. The indication he gave me back in April was that it might not be till summer (i.e. June/July/August?).

 

The Indus is a step up from the Guru in terms of look and feel (not to mention price!), but not so much in terms of 'heft' - it's still a fairly light pen. I'm a massive fan of the Trivenis (I have 3 full-sized, and 2 Juniors, 3 with ebonite and 2 with acrylic bodies), but there a *much* bigger step up in price for these. So if you can bear to wait, the Jaipur may be just right!

[spaceink]

Thanks for the update. I look forward to getting my hands on one this summer.

Edited May 19, 2015 by spaceink

[Jamerelbe]

Thanks for the update. I look forward to getting my hands on one this summer.

 

Me too - the last couple of pens Kevin released (the Guru and the Indus) were variations / improvements on an existing design, whereas the Jaipur he's designed from scratch. On that score, I can understand his desire to get it right before putting it out there - much as I love my TWSBI pens, their cracking issues have caused some major headaches for the manufacturer...

[Jamerelbe]

A quick update, for anyone who's interested: I just received a reply from Kevin of Fountain Pen Revolution, with an update on the Jaipur (I've reviewed a few of his pens here on FPN, and he knows how impatient I am to try this one out!). He's given me permission to pass on the information provided to me - so for anyone who's interested, here's the deal:

 

The Jaipur is apparently the first pen Kevin's designed from scratch with a die-maker (as opposed to adapting existing designs), and the process has been a lot more 'drawn-out and meticulous' than he expected. The main flaw he's still working with the manufacturer to resolve is a tendency for ink to get in behind the head of the piston - once they're confident that's fixed, they'll be ready to launch. He'd rather go slow in the design process than launch early and let customers find the problems for him - which sounds like good thinking to me!

 

The other delay at present is that Kevin and family are out of the country - visiting folks 'back home' in the US of A, I believe. Given his 'hands-on' involvement in this project, it's going to have to wait till he gets back to Delhi.

[zenephi001]

Thanks for the update - like you I've been waiting to order one of these ....

[spaceink]

Any update heard on the Jaipur? Was reminded to check in after hearing about the new TWSBI Eco launching in July.

Thinking it would be cool to try out both these new demonstrators.

[FPgal]

It's alive! Or rather, it's gone live on the FPR website in the last day or so. I can't wait to hear about it and to order one. It figures that It gets announced right after I receive my new Guru demonstrators.

[Jamerelbe]

I ordered one middle of last week - hoping to see it in another week or so...

[spaceink]

Ordered mine today, as well. Of course, I chose a clear demonstrator. Hope I'll make the cut for the free Guru (with the first 100 sold, says the email).

Edited September 10, 2015 by spaceink

[Jamerelbe]

Two FPR Jaipur pens, with a free Guru placed in between them - will put up a review (hopefully) in the next week or so! Preliminary impressions: the pens feel a little more substantial in the hand (thanks to a 12mm diameter grip section), and they write very nicely.

 

[spaceink]

Has anyone else received theirs yet? Ordered about two weeks ago and still hasn't arrived. Curious what the opinion might be.

Edited September 25, 2015 by spaceink

[spaceink]

Well, speak of the pen, mine just arrived in the mail.

 

Quick impressions: I was really looking forward to the pen, so maybe chalk it to high expectations, but I was hoping for a bit more.

 

Appearances wise, the clear demonstrator plastic is strangely cloudy; almost looks like a somewhat used pen. I was hoping for higher-quality plastic, maybe something closer to the one in my $15 Nemosine Singularity Demonstrator. At least something that's a bit more clear when brand new. I'm going to try to polish it to see if I can make it look any better. Hopefully the roughness is on the outer side of the barrel and cap.

 

I was also hoping for a bit more substantiality in terms of weight. I prefer my pens light, so it fits that criteria well, but I'm comparing it to the Singularity, which is also light but doesn't feel as cheap to me. There's some gesture towards something close to a TWSBI with the Singularity, but the Jaipur feels more like a toy pen for a school kid.

 

It writes well, at the least. On par with my experience with other pens I've ordered from FPR.

 

The way it is, I don't think it's much of an improvement over the Guru, except for the larger size. Maybe they'll improve it in the next batch; I hope so, as I thought it might have the potential to compete with other pens in the $15-$25 range.

Edited September 26, 2015 by spaceink

[Jamerelbe]

Well, speak of the pen, mine just arrived in the mail.

 

Quick impressions: I was really looking forward to the pen, so maybe chalk it to high expectations, but I was hoping for a bit more.

 

Appearances wise, the clear demonstrator plastic is strangely cloudy; almost looks like a somewhat used pen. I was hoping for higher-quality plastic, maybe something closer to the one in my $15 Nemosine Singularity Demonsstrator. At least something that's a bit more clear when brand new. I'm going to try to polish it to see if I can make it look any better. Hopefully the roughness is on the outer side of the barrel and cap.

 

I was also hoping for a bit more substantiality in terms of weight. I prefer my pens light, so it fits that criteria well, but I'm comparing it to the Singularity, which is also light but doesn't feel as cheap to me. There's some gesture towards something close to a TWSBI with the Singularity, but the Jaipur feels more like a toy pen for a school kid.

 

It writes well, at the least. On par with my experience with other pens I've ordered from FPR.

 

The way it is, I don't think it's much of an improvement over the Guru, except for the larger size. Maybe they'll improve it in the next batch; I hope so, as I thought it might have the potential to compete with other pens in the $15-$25 range.

I spoke (ok, emailed) with Kevin from FPR about this and he informed me that the pen is made from vegetal resin, which is a little more 'cloudy' than plastic - but tends to be less brittle and therefore less prone to cracking. The Guru is made from the same material,so your comparison is not entirely out of line - though I think the Jaipur is the better pen. I don't think polishing the exterior will accomplish much - unless yours was not properly finished? Mine are quite smooth to the touch.

 

Personally, I think the Jaipur is a step up from the Guru, on a number of levels:it's designed from scratch (Guru was based on a Serwex pen), it has a better seal on the cap, a thicker grip section and a larger diameter ink reservoir. The piston seal, as a consequence, is custom designed, and (to my eyes) seems to be better finished and a little thicker than the Guru.

 

If you're concerned that you've gotten a dud, or want to suggest improvements, drop Kevin a line using the contact details on his website (or the email address from your receipt) - I find him pretty responsive to constructive feedback...

[spaceink]

No, I don't think mine is a dud. It's just how the pen is, I guess.

 

I do agree that it's an evolution from the Guru, but I guess I had thought it'd be a larger leap, especially in terms of how substantial it'd feel in my hand. Perhaps I've been spoiled lately using the TWSBI ECO, which has just the right solid feel without being too heavy, for me. The Singularity is lighter than that but doesn't feel flimsy, and I have a Waterman Kultur along the same lines. For me, this Jaipur is not quite there, among my demonstrator pens in this < $30 price range, in terms of my subjective "feel" of it. Perhaps others will feel differently.

 

Can definitely tell it's resin from the smell, which is actually not as bad as my Ahab. I think fans of the Ahab demonstrator will be more used to this cloudiness in the material. It's not totally dirty, just isn't quite clear. Maybe that is affecting how I feel about the "substantiality" and "feel." The cloudiness and imperfections make me think it's fragile, but it probably isn't.

 

Design-wise, I can see the new plunger shape, and I hope the tighter cap will help keep the nib wet longer than with the Guru or Ahab, which have tended to dry quickly for me (the Ahab worse than the Guru).

 

It writes very well. I think FPR has done that with all their pens. My critique had been largely about look and feel, but performance wise, I love it.

 

Personally, I think I prefer the Guru more because it's a great $9 pen, but at twice the price at $18, I was hoping to like the Jaipur as much as my first impressions of the $15 Singularity. Again, it's all from my own tastes and biases; other Indian pen fans may feel differently when comparing this pen with other similarly priced contenders.

 

I will spend more time with it; maybe it will grow on me further.

Edited September 26, 2015 by spaceink

[spaceink]

I've been using the pen for a few weeks now.

 

I still largely feel the same about my tactile and aesthetic experience with the the pen, but what I'm most impressed by is how well the pen minimizes evaporation, which was a problem with the Guru.

 

I can see that the ink level doesn't much dry up inside. It wasn't painful to restart, even after a good while without use. So, yes, I've warmed up more to the pen.

[Scribble Monboddo]

United Inkdom have just posted a meta-review of the Jaipur and given it a pretty large thumbs-up! You can see the full write up (and, if you're very quick, win one in the give-away) here.

[spaceink]

I think I'm going to get a second one, a non-demo this time.

 

As I had said, I'm very impressed by the minimal evaporation of this pen. Will make a good carry-around writer with a flex nib.

[spaceink]

Additional thoughts: after many months of having the pen in my rotation, I've found it to be excellent for use with high-maintenance inks,

 

It now is the go-to pen for my Sailor Carbon Ink, as the simple, fin-free design makes it easy to disassemble for cleaning and preventing clogs.