Some more Advocates

[shrujaya]

Dear Friends...

 

I have to get this off my chest…I have been planning to write about Advocate fountain pens manufactured by Deccan Pen Stores, Hyderabad & Secunderabad, along with pictures…Hari has already posted detailed photographs of the Advocate Pen... I too wanted to join the Advocate bandwagon...and show off my Advocates ...actually, I had only one advocate pen with me until recently – the black ebonite…the others are recent acquisitions…I waited till had an arsenal of advocates so that I could take photos like the ones that I have attached…the six pens that you see in this photo where all pens are uncapped are my collection of Advocate FPs…let me describe them…the four pens that are in the middle are all 6 inches in length…I hope you can see the colours…from left to right they are mottled brown, mottled green, mottled brown with steel cap, and absolute black…all these are ebonite pens and the name ‘advocate’ is engraved in cursive writing on the cap of each pen, including the one with the steel cap…the one on the extreme right is shorter and thinner than the ones that I described earlier…and it is called ‘advocate junior’… this is mottled green and also made of ebonite…these ebonite pens are all ‘eye droppers’…all these pens, except the one with steel cap, have a ‘cap lip’…I feel that the cap lip guards the cap against cracks and holds it together and makes it look good…all these 6 inch EDs are screw caps, and I must add that it takes a bit of a time to unscrew it…almost nine twists…so, definitely not for urgent situations where you have to note down something in a hurry…the Advocate Jr. is slightly better in terms of number of twists required to unscrew the cap…only 5…

 

Finally, the one in extreme left is not an ‘advocate’ per se, but it is made by the same people, i.e., Deccan Pens…it is a beautiful pen, also made of ebonite and black in colour…it has a brushed surface with a two toned nib…as you can see, the nib holder neck is encircled with a gold plated ‘lip’…and unlike its companions in the picture which are all EDs, this is a ‘cartridge’ pen and again unlike the Advocates, this pen has a snap cap… I have been using the black ebonite ED from the day I bought it and along with this, I am also using the brushed black, mottled green Advocate ED and mottled green Advocate Jr. ED…all these pens write beautifully, without any dryness even as you pick them up and stat writing after a long lay off.

 

Except for the black ebonite Advocate, I purchased the other five pens recently…the steel cap and brushed black from Deccan Pen Stores at R. P. Road, Secunderabad; and mottled green, mottled brown, and mottled green Advocate Jr. from their main store in Abids, Hyderabad…as I was making my purchases, Mr. Wasim, who runs the Abids store and is usually present in the evenings, and who usually tempts me with gold nib pens whenever I have been there to purchase the humble ebonites with steel nibs…the last time I was there, he showed me two Brahmam gold nib pens…one made of ebonite and the other made of acrylic…this time he showed me a beautiful black ebonite pen with a 14 ct gold nib which is manufactured by them…this pen looks like a Mont Blanc meisterstuck and I just couldn’t get my eyes off it…the nib has the letter ‘D’ engraved on it… I just cannot afford it at the moment, but I asked Mr Wasim if they could get a couple of them made with steel nibs, so that people like me can have the joy of placing such a beautiful pen in their pockets and also writing with it…he said he’d think about it and I hope he does his thinking fast…

 

One more thing…these photos were painstakingly taken with my laptop webcam…that’s why you notice the foreshortening…I really had to twist, turn, bend, etc., to get all these in one frame…

 

Jayasrinivasa Rao

[Greg]

Thanks, Shrujaya, absolutely fascinating. Just as there are 'Whiskey Tours' in Scotland, taking enthusiasts around malt whiskey distillaries, I wonder if there's a market for 'Ebonite Pen Tours' going around the various manufacturers and shops in India where these pens are available!

 

Sounds so much more fun than the shops here in the UK where either cheap parkers and no-names are displayed or the shops with the esoteric on show with outrageous prices for plastic (ok 'precious resin' and the like) products.

 

The all black Advocate is particularly attractive, these Advocates appear to have a better finish than the Ratnams etc. Is this the case?

 

With regard the Brahmams being offered by your friend, I would wait and save for a gold nibbed model from him.

 

I hope you continue having such fun with these pens and suppliers!

 

Greg

[rroossinck]

Those are VERY cool, Shruj...

 

Thus far, my experience with Indian pens has been limited to Wality, which I very much enjoyed. These Advocates, however...they're a different story. I may have to figure out how I can get some of these over here in the States to play with!

 

Thanks very much for posting the pictures. These look just great!

[shrujaya]

Thanks Greg...for your comments...that 'pen tours' is such an appealing idea...in fact, one can map out the circuit keeping Hyderabad as the nodal point...We have Advocates in Hyderabad; then in Rajahmundry, we have the famous Ratnam pens (ebonite) and Guider pens (ebonite, celluloid, acrylic); and from Rajahmundry we could go to Vijayawada, where we could visit Brahmam Pens, though Brahmam pens are exclusively sold by Deccan Pens in Hyderabad... So far, I managed to put together 5 Ratnams (1 gold nib; 4 steel nibs - all ebonites), 3 Guiders (1 ebonite, i acrylic, 1 celluloid) , 6 Advocates (all ebonites-steel nibs)and 2 Brahmams (ebonite steel nibs) ... In fact, i have put these together as separate posts in my blog (jaisiri.blogspot.com) - 'Fountain Pens of AP (andhra pradesh)' series ... I have yet to write on Brahmam Pens...as of now, I dont have enough details...

 

I thought the same too...i am saving for the gold nibbed pens... one from Brahmam and one from Deccan...

 

Thanks again

 

Jayasrinivasa Rao (Shrujaya)

 

Thanks, Shrujaya, absolutely fascinating. Just as there are 'Whiskey Tours' in Scotland, taking enthusiasts around malt whiskey distillaries, I wonder if there's a market for 'Ebonite Pen Tours' going around the various manufacturers and shops in India where these pens are available!

 

Sounds so much more fun than the shops here in the UK where either cheap parkers and no-names are displayed or the shops with the esoteric on show with outrageous prices for plastic (ok 'precious resin' and the like) products.

 

The all black Advocate is particularly attractive, these Advocates appear to have a better finish than the Ratnams etc. Is this the case?

 

With regard the Brahmams being offered by your friend, I would wait and save for a gold nibbed model from him.

 

I hope you continue having such fun with these pens and suppliers!

 

Greg

 

[shrujaya]

Thanks rroossinck...come to Hyderabad...or in case your friends or acquaintances are passing through Hyderabad (India), I wd be glad to held them out in acquiring some advocates for you...

 

Shrujaya

 

Those are VERY cool, Shruj...

 

Thus far, my experience with Indian pens has been limited to Wality, which I very much enjoyed. These Advocates, however...they're a different story. I may have to figure out how I can get some of these over here in the States to play with!

 

Thanks very much for posting the pictures. These look just great!

 

[Rincewind]

I think it's great to see such an interesting variety of pens being made in India, clearly there's scope for a good collection of these!! Thanks for sharing.

 

- Stuart

Edited March 28, 2008 by Rincewind

[withoutink]

Looking at these, what do they cost in India? A friend is coming over from India, and I was going to ask him to grab me one or two. I like the plain black ebonite & the green/black...

[shrujaya]

Hi...the Advocate model is manufactured by Deccan Pens, Hyderabad (India)...and are available only in their shops, all in Hyderabad...you can write to them at this address - Deccan Pen Stores, Orient Estate, Abid Road, Hyderabad – 500001 ... or you can call them at 040 23202306...and find out if they can send the pens across by mail...I have been using the Advocate for the last three years now and have no complaints...it is a wonderful pen...they keep coming out with new models regularly...here is a recent model... https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/159676-deccan-retro-series-fp/ ... if you are lucky, they might have a few pieces left...

 

All the best

 

Shrujaya