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Hi! I'm new to this forum. The only pens that I've owned till now are a couple of Fellowship(an old Indian brand) and a Shaeffer Agio, which gave a lot of anxious days and doubts about my purchase (cosidering it was at least 10x the costliest pen I've ever owned). AFter wrangling with it for a bit (including a novice attempt at grinding!), it now writes excellent. Now, I'd like to make another purchase. I'm confused between the Lamy2k, in extra fine, which is quite costly, and then the Indian Handmades such as a Ranga 9B giant with a JoWo fine nib. I'm very particular about the feel and comfort, so thats a top priority. Also, the Nahvalur's are great looking pens, and I've only heard good about them. Now, what I'm trying to understand is what exactly is the difference between the Ranga/Nahvalur and the Lamy 2k, that people recommend it so much. Would it be justifiable for me to go with L2k or there's not much difference between the Ranga & Lamy. My heart's set on Ranga/Narwhal for they look just gorgeous, but then I don't want to eventually end up with the L2k. I'll be very thankful of any advice/suggestions to a newbie like me.

I have talked about the Deccan Advocate before. I’ve also talked about how great of an experience I had buying my first Deccan Advocate. Here’s a much more critical review, having bought 2 more Advocates since my first. The brown one was bought in 2017, olive in 2018, and the teal in 2020. Design and Appearance: The Brown and Olive rippled ebonite Advocates are pretty much the same. Slight variations have crept in, but that’s understandable since they’re hand turned, likely without any calipers. The olive one also has a cap band, which was later scraped in the next editions. But the teal ebonite one has been redesigned. Why, I don’t know. Maybe a new penmaker? Anyway, this one is slightly bigger, and without most of the subtle curves that make up the previous Advocate. They’ve also moved the section flare up by a few millimeters, and that does bother my grip. I consider the previous Advocate one of the best Indian pen designs, but the new one is trash, in my opinion. It’s lost its almost perfect design. YMMV. Quality and Construction: No complaints here, all three pens feel solid. The teal one does feel more substantial because of the larger and girthier size. Quality of the materials used is decent. Indian ebonite feels solid, but it definitely lacks the refinement of Nikko and SEM ebonite. You can see random pits, discolorations and flecks of other colors. Some like this sort of inorganic trait. To me, its okay. You get what you pay for, is the best way I can put it. Finishing: Ah, here’s where things go for a ride. The brown one was decently finished, had a few lathe marks and unpolished spots. The olive was beautifully finished. I’ve sanded and polished both these pens, so the finish you see in the photos isn’t what you’re likely gonna get. The teal one was horrible though. Heavy lathe marks, irregular finishing, and just terrible overall. To get it to a smooth polished finish would be too time consuming, considering I have to sand these by hand without any power tools and my buffing wheels are back in India. So I just gave it a brushed finish. So this is something you’ve got to keep in mind if you’re considering getting an Advocate now. Writing and Writing Comfort: All three of my Advocates have Kanwrite nibs paired with Indian ebonite feeds. Kudos to Kanwrite, these nibs are stellar. I’ve faced some inconsistency issues with Kanwrite nibs before, but the ones on these pens are great. All three are decently smooth with some tactile feedback. They also have good flow. I’ve inked the brown Advocate (M) with Daytone Extra Fine Scarlet, olive Advocate (EF) with Camlin Blue old batch, and the teal with Dayton EF Bottle Green. All three pens are eyedropper only. Takeaways: The price one pays for these pens is acceptable. The old ones were really inexpensive. The ones sold now are almost twice the price, but the design change is a bummer for me. But what’s total BS is you never really know if you could get these pens. Unless you visit their store in person, or get someone in Hyderabad to get one for you (there’s still no guarantee you’d get the pen you wanted), there’s really no way you would get one like you’d get a Ranga, ASA or Lotus. They don’t take commissioned pieces (not that I know off) and have a non-existent online presence. Would I buy any more of these? The old ones, yes. They’re well balanced for me, kind of the perfect girth and proportions for a pen with a #6 nib. The new ones, no. But they’ve got a few made in this woodgrain ebonite that isn’t in production anymore, so I’m eyeing one of those, though it’s the redesigned version.

Hari’s post on the evolution of the Deccan Advocate in the last decade inspired me to put together this post … a sort of companion post … I bought my first Advocate in December 2007 and that was a fortuitous event for me as far as fountain pens are concerned … I have been living in Hyderabad since 1992 and I remember visiting Deccan Pens at Abids around 1995 or so in search of a fountain pen … I had no idea about handmade Indian FPs, let alone pens made of ebonite and celluloid … I vaguely remember seeing long black thick bodied pens under the glass cases there … I didn’t even bother to ask the price of this pen, but distinctly remember buying a plastic fountain pen, which could also be used with a cartridge … after that it was in 2007 that I went again to Deccan Pens … I called up before going and was pleasantly surprised to know that they had a branch in Secunderabad too … and since it was on my way back home from college, it was convenient too and so, I got down at Secunderabad and wended my way to the shop … to cut things short, I saw the legendary black Advocate (I didn’t know about the legendary status then…) and bought it without thinking … oh my god, how good I felt … a pen should be like this, I thought … and since then, I have bought many Advocates, and gifted many more … so, here is my Advocate story … with pictures … a kind of photo essay … http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/DecAdvs1_zps8b9f5729.jpg The black Advocate seen here is the first Advocate that I bought … and the striated green one was bought in March 2008, along with a striated brown one (I subsequently gifted the brown one to a friend … I hope he is using it well … I don’t know … I will check and take it back if he is not using it…) … I had also bought a striated brown metal cap Advocate in March 2008 … the almost plain light brown seen here was bought sometime later, I don’t remember the exact month … possibly very late in 2008, I think … http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/DecAdvs2_zpsc9823005.jpg The Advocate always had a steel band on the cap lip whenever I have seen it, till almost recently … and you can see that in this photo and also the ball clip … this clip and band were distinctive features till almost 2009 … and therefore I was surprised to see that Hari’s Advocates bought in 2004 did not have this cap band … http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/DecAdvs3_zps7ee03478.jpg http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/DecAdvs4A_zps23e28f69.jpg These two pictures show the feeders of the 2007-2008 Advocates … the feeder on the black Advocate is distinctively different and it had, as Hari says, “the feeders had an extra air channel/groove running underneath the feeder and also some extra fins hidden inside the section”… I never found it again in the full ebonite Advocates that I bought subsequently, except the striated brown metal capped Advocate … from then on it was the usual shaped feeders that we see on the Advocates … so, I feel this is a change that can be seen from 2007 to 2008 as far as full ebonite Advocates are concerned … also if you observe closely, the shape of the section has changed ever so slightly, the smooth curve seen in the black Advocate gives way to a slightly sharper cut … http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/DecAdvs10_zps07e2f6c9.jpg http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/DecAdvs10A_zpsd5192146.jpg This is the striated brown metal capped Advocate … the metal cap Advocate is a different thing altogether … Deccan made it with rounded ends as well as flat ends … I bought the one with rounded ends … in fact, it was after reading Hari’s post on the metal capped Advocate that I ran to Deccan at Secunderabad the same evening and bought it … Hari has both versions and I have always been eyeing the flat topped green metal capped Advocate, but never felt forced to buy it … here again, we see that old feeder … this feeder has never appeared again … and in the flat topped example that Hari shows, one can already see the tear drop clip, that would go on to be the stale clip for the next 5 years … http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/DecAdvs6_zps0e5108b7.jpg http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/DecAdvs7_zpsdce82e57.jpg I put these two brown advocates to show the transition in the clip … the dark brown one has the new tear drop clip … the ball clip never to be seen again on the Advocate … I didn’t like this clip one bit, but I bought this dark brown Advocate to compensate for the earlier ball clip one that I gave my friend … the steel cap band is still very much there … http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/DecAdvs11A_zps60a2529d.jpg All right, these three black Advocates were customized at Hari’s behest by Deccan … Hari is not too fond of the cap band and had asked them to remove them for this particular order and as you can see, he had also asked them to reduce the length of the pens so that it becomes slightly more convenient to keep in one’s shirt pocket, but since Deccan already has a shorter and thinner Advocate Junior, they just customized these Advocates for Hari and continued with the earlier specifications for the regular Advocate … the long and the short one are mine, and the shortest pen is Hari’s … I have already documented the latest avatar of the Advocate in my blog and so, will not bring it here again … suffice to say that, the present Advocate is very very good compared to its previous version (that tear drop clip!) … the cap band is gone forever, I think and the new flat clip gets the look just right, I feel … http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/DecAdvs13_zps9dd98644.jpg http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/DecAdvs12_zps48fb0d93.jpg Now, for the final group photo of all the different versions of the Advocates that I have bought from 2007 onwards till date … and remarkably, the nibs have remained the same … the engineering remains the same and the writing experience is still very good … Thanks for visiting and reading… Regards, Shrujaya

It was in the November of 2017 that I visited the Deccan Pen Stores in Ameerpet in Hyderabad. It almost felt as if I had finally entered my place of pilgrimage. The gentle and kind face, accented by senile wrinkles, of Mr Haleem Siddiqui welcomed me. He was about to leave the shop for prayers but after seeing me enter and ask for their own pens, he decided to delay his prayers, much to my denial. He showed me a very limited selection of Deccan pens and I saw my pen almost instantly. We talked about the shop and about pens in general. He told me that there was a recently finished Deccan Advocate that cost 30000 INR and housed a gold nib. And then he told me that he did not see many teenagers who were crazy about fountain pens. I promised him I would be back another day and also visit their Abids branch. I’m still waiting for that day… Now let’s get into the pen. Design and Writing Comfort: The pen is a different design than many. It is a flat top Deccan Advocate and a design that I had never quite seen. It looks good and is an oversized pen. The section is concave. The pen is made of ebonite and is quite light. It is a really good pen in the hand and feels really comfortable. I have started using it in school and it is a joy to write with it for hours. I have reached that point of loving to write with this pen, that I get upset when teachers do not give any notes. It is a good companion during Accountancy and Business Studies. It can be posted but becomes absurdly long and back heavy. Being ebonite, the pen does feel warmer and softer to the touch than acrylic or resin. Looks and Construction: The pen is completely handmade. And as I said, made of ebonite. Mine is the Dark Brown Rippled version and looks really beautiful. Coupled with the imperfections of the ebonite, this pen almost looks and feels organic. Like something that could grow in the soil. This pen falls a bit back in construction and finishing. The section has a few rough-cut marks that could be felt. You can kind of see these marks in the third picture. Also, the end of the cap tends to scratch the barrel. You can see that in the fourth photo. The clip wiggles in its place but now I have slightly glued it and has been solid ever since. The biggest problem was finishing. The pen was so poorly polished. It had tool marks all over. Once I reached Abu Dhabi, I ordered some Novus #1 and Novus #2 polish and some nail buffers and polished it to a mirror finish. That’s when I could truly appreciate the beauty of ebonite. The beautiful ripples can be seen here in this photo. Filling Mechanism: The pen is a simple eyedropper and there is nothing more to it than that. Since it is a huge pen, it holds a ton of ink. However, I would like to share something interesting here. I asked Mr Siddiqui if I required silicone grease for this pen. He replied in positive and greased up my pen for me. When I told him that silicone grease was scarce in UAE, he told me how I could make some of my own grease. He told me to melt some coconut oil and candle wax together in a ratio of 1:2. Then a thick paste would be formed and after cooling, it could be used as grease. I haven’t tried this but since he is a pen expert, I am willing to take his word for it. Writing: I originally had a Kanwrite flex nib in this pen and after heat setting the nib and feed, the writing experience was of perfect ink flow, but the nib was really scratchy. It would write really smooth at a high angle but not at a normal angle. So I ended up grinding the nib to a scratchy italic. I hated the nib and threw it away. I now have some experience grinding nibs and have a #6 JoWo medium nib with a stub/italic grind. Its quite in between those grinds I believe. Coupled with and ebonite feed, the writing is really nice, wet and perfectly smooth with ample line variation on Rhodia 80gsm paper. The nib was a single tone gold and I removed some plating to make it two-tone. This was done using an electric eraser. I use this pen in school just for the fun writing experience and comfort. My friends, every now and then stare into my books and admire the line variation and of course, my Deccan Advocate. Final Thoughts: At the price of 950 INR, I must say, its quite worth it considering it is a handmade pen from one of the oldest pen shops in India. Yes, it does have its share of problems but not any that cannot be corrected. I would place this pen much higher than the Pilot Metropolitan and Lamy Safari/Al-Star/Vista. It doesn't however reach the level of my TWSBI ECO, ASA Nauka or my Platinum 3776 Century. But it is a nice addition to anyone's collection who prefers large pens. (The photos were taken with a Nikkon D5300 in natural light. I must admit this was a very difficult pen to photograph considering I am a total newbie to photography.) Thank you for reading my review and hope it was useful. I look forward to another review but I am out of pens now Regards, Adit Sreesh Kamath

hereCan anyone help me identify the names of these pens by Deccan Pens Store. Also, if possible post pics of ur Deccan Pens here

DECCAN ADVOCATE The review is simultaneously at my blog here. Deccan Pens have been into existence since 1928 when they opened first outlet in Hyderabad at Abids and has been one of the oldest fountain pen manufacturing company in India. The firm was started by Sabih Akhter Siddiqui who used to sell fountain pens door to door with the help of DURO agency which used to produce fountain pens in 1920’s. Today Deccan Pens has 32 year old manufacturing unit and they only make fountain pens. The review is simultaneously at my blog here. They have now 3 stores at Secunderabad, Ameerpet, and oldest one at Abids. Deccan Pens have been covered and reviewed lot by HARI, SHRUJYA, & JAISIRI. And this particular review is about one of the largest selling pen from Deccan stable which is “DECCAN ADVOCATE". There have been lot of iterations of Deccan Advocate over many years. Deccan Advocate – In the Wild I must thank Rakshit who lives in Hyderabad and he helped me in getting this pen. He also is a fountain pen connoisseur and you can check his blog here. I got this pen almost 7-8 months back and have been using this only for past 2 months. So the review is about my experience with the pen for past 2 months. DESIGN & BUILT : 05/05 Deccan Pens are notable for impeccable built quality and this Deccan Advocate again stamps their authority of quality built pens. Advocate currently comes in two variants : Round End and Flat End. The model that I am reviewing is the Round end one in green ripple colour and I was told that it is difficult to get hold of the round end advocate and I was lucky enough to get this one. Deccan Advocate – In Broad Day Light The pen is made of high quality ebonite and is available in black, matte black , mottled brown, rippled brown and green ripple and also olive brown ripple. My pen is extremely well made though it was religiously inspected by Rakshit before he bought this one. The ebonite has no perforations its solid without any specks and perforations. The quality of rod is really great. Deccan Advocate The pen is a simple and elegant cigar shaped pen with slight tapering towards the bottom end. There are no bands or trims used on this pen. Only metal part or thing you will see on the pen is clip apart from the nib. The pen is very well executed and polished though you might see some marks just below the threads which is due to cap being capped and uncapped regularly and has not received thorough cleaning and polish from my side. The grip section is made of same ebonite material and is in concave shape. The length of grip section is 22 mm and this I beleive is quite good as it helps in good grip on the pen. Deccan Advocate – Capped Deccan Advocate – Uncapped Deccan Advocate – Round Ends The pen cap opens in 6 turns which I am not happy with but its still acceptable as most of the Indian pens take almost around 5 to 6 turns to open. The cap has chrome finish clip which gives you a look of look of something between matt and polished finish but it is not polished with some sorts of coating. Deccan Advocate – Cap Clip Deccan Advocate – Cap Clip Side View The cap clip narrows down to bottom and is quite sturdy and can easily fit in to shirt pocket firmly. Deccan Advocate – Inner View of Cap The thickness of ebonite is thinnest near the bottom of the cap or what we call as cap lip which you can see in above picture. As the cap tapers at the bottom but it is still sturdy. Below are the few images showing the comparison of pen with other pens: Deccan Advoate vs Lamy Safari vs Jinhao X750 – Capped Deccan Advoate vs Lamy Safari vs Jinhao X750 – Uncapped Deccan Advoate vs Lamy Safari vs Jinhao X750 – Capped (Lateral Side View) Overall, its a beautiful, cigar shaped elegant pen which has impeccable built quality. Its a quality finish from Hyderabad. Yeah I must tell you that there is no branding of any kind on pen anywhere be it clip or nib or even barrel. BALANCE & SIZE : 3.5/05 The pen is around 140 mm including the nib when uncapped and I don’t see any reason to post the cap at back and also I prefer to write with cap unposted. The pen is very much balanced when writing unposted but becomes bottom heavy when cap is posted at back, moreover it becomes uncomfortable at 184 mm when cap is posted at back, thus it is unbalanced. The pen length is 155 mm when it is capped. Below are the images showing the comparison when writing posted and unposted : Deccan Advocate – Writing Unposted Deccan Advocate – Writing Posted What I find most comfortable about the pen is the grip section which is at 9 mm and is in conical shape. It provides perfect grip. The length of grip section is also substantial at 22 mm. The pen weighs around 30 gm with cap and around 20 gm without cap (with ink filled). Deccan Advocate – Weight of pen with cap Deccan Advocate – Weight of pen without cap Few specifications are as follows: Length capped: 155 mmLength uncapped and posted : 184 mmLength uncapped and unposted : 140mmLength of grip section : 22 mmBarrel Dia Avg – 14 mmCap Dia – 16 mmSection Dia (Avg) : 9 mmWeight with cap : 30.4 gmWeight without cap : 20.53 gm NIB & INK FILLING MECHANISM : 04/05 Nib currently being used on this pen is 35 mm (#6) Gold Finish Steel Nib and this is a stock nib and there was no other option of the nib on this pen. The nib is famous ambitious fine nib which is friction fit and it writes very well and is paired with good wet ebonite feed. Ink flow is quite good. Deccan Advocate – Nib Unit Top View Deccan Advocate – Nib Unit Side View Deccan Advocate – Nib Unit Underside View The nib is set just a bit inside more, thus what you see is less of 35 mm nib because the grip section is bit flared up as visible from image below. Deccan Advocate – Nib set inside deep The filling mechanism is via eyedropper and it holds approx 3 ml of ink. It has not burped on me even once. Deccan Advocate – Eyedropper Fill Mechanism Below are the images of my handwritten review which shows you the writing sample: Deccan Advocate – Handwritten Review – Page 01 Deccan Advocate – Handwritten Review – Page 02 Deccan Advocate – Handwritten Review – Page 03 CONCLUSION : 12.5/15 I recommend everyone to have at least one Deccan Pen and buying ADVOCATE is the best pen to get hold of at reasonable price of otherwise expensive Deccan Pens. Well yeah i did not like the combination of chrome clip with gold finish nib. I bought this pen for Rs. 1000 (approx 16 usd) which does not include shipping as it was bought by my friend who paid for Shipping. What I Like: Classic Cigar Design Well Finished Very Good Quality Ebonite Lot of Ink CapacityWhat I don’t Like: Eyedropper only Only one nib option Combination of Silver chrome clip with Gold color nib Deccan Advocate – Close Up Comments and feedback are welcome. Regards Vaibhav Mehandiratta

Dear Friends... Here is a link to the post on my blog on the recent avatar of the iconic Deccan Advocate...this latest version came out in 2013...there are more pictures than prose here... http://www.jaisiri.blogspot.in/2014/02/the-deccan-advocate-recent-avatar.html Thanks... Shrujaya

This is about the pen that I bought recently (on 21 August 2013) from Deccan Pen Stores, Hyderabad. When Umair showed me this pen I thought I’d seen this pen before and probably hadn’t bought it then, and told so to Umair. He said this was a recent model and I couldn’t have seen it before. I wondered for a while and then it struck... FLASHBACK ALERT!!! I was in some way part of Hari’s novel project where he had wanted Deccan to make him an ebonite pen modelled on the Pelikan M800 that could hold a Pelikan screw-in nib unit. It was codenamed the Yematso Project. By virtue of living in Hyderabad, I became the messenger, informer, reminder-er (?), and finally, courier...was generally liaising between Hari and Deccan. In fact, I got to see this Pelikanised Deccan FP and hold it, before Hari could see it, who had actually thought of it in the first place. So, that was a rare privilege. That pen can be seen here... FLASHBACK OVER.. All this came back to me in a while, but when Umair showed it to me, I thought, “Great...another Pelikan inspired pen from Deccan...this time the M800...” The last time they did one, it was modelled on the Pelikan 120 and Hari had reviewed it here...they called it the Pelkan... That day, coincidentally, I had my blue striated M800 in my pocket and Umair showed some interest and wanted to see it...he appeared to be delighted... I now feel, my M800 must have reminded him of their new model and it was then that he fetched this pen and showed it to me... My guess is that Deccan had prepared the moulds/dies to make the pen for Hari and then later decided to use that to come out with a new model... The pen under review is good where looks are concerned and Deccan has done a fairly decent job in emulating the design, shape, and size of the original... I would say that it is a ‘tribute’ by Deccan... The cap jewel is rather well done...what is part of the clip itself in M800 is made as the full cap jewel...attention is given to detail as you can see in the picture, except for the logo on the top... I felt, briefly, perhaps the calligraphic D might have looked good on the top...not enough space...there is a cap band too and there is a hole in it and I don’t know why or for what reason...the barrel end is also decently done, though it is a mock-piston, so can’t unscrew... just a design feature...and BTW, this is an ED filler pen...no trims in the mock-piston... The clip is their now regular Advocate ball clip...I would have liked a ‘beaky’ clip...and they have the ‘beaky’ clip on some of their other models, and they could have fixed one for this model too...I am slightly disappointed here...the ‘beaky’ clip could have given a sense of completion to the pen... I told this to Umair, and he had also brought out their earlier Pelkan model (recent version), which had the ‘beaky’ clip... I asked him if he could swap the clips, he gave both pens to the service section to see if they could do it, but they returned both pens intact saying that the diameter (on top) of the ‘beaky’ clip was small for this pen...the calligraphic D, the Deccan logo, is also seen on the cap, but on both pens I bought, this D doesn’t seem to be ‘imprinted’ properly...the forelock and the back curve look incomplete... I asked about this to Zubair, and he noticed this for the first time when I showed it to him! He said there must be something wrong with the needle that inscribes this on the cap and it doesn’t seem to press evenly on the surface...anyway, hope they rectify it soon... Once the cap is unscrewed, it is a straightforward Deccan pen...all nicely done...nib, feeder fixed properly in the section...the nib says OLYMPIC IST QUALITY U.S.A. The flow is very good and the nib is not scratchy, but not very smooth, either...but no tripping, skipping, etc. ... easy flow... I inked it the next day evening and I wrote this post in longhand first with this pen yesterday...nice fine line, I would have liked it to be a slightly more thicker... I normally don’t meddle with the original fittings and let them be, but I might go back and ask Deccan to fit this pen with a Deccan medium and also the ‘beaky’ clip... I bought swirly green and swirly brown, but seem to like the green one better, and that is what I inked first... I want to call it the DECCAN YEMATSO... http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/01-DeccanYematso-capped_zpsbb802f7f.jpg The Deccan Yematso... http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/02-DeccanYematso-sectionampclip_zps40855cd5.jpg Section and clip http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/03-DeccanYematso-caplogo_zps6e3d43d0.jpg Yematso cap logo http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/04-DeccanYematso-M800ampYematso_zps4e7336ff.jpg Both pens... http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/05-DeccanYematso-capjewels_zps8a3ccf7f.jpg Cap jewels of both pens... http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/06-DeccanYematso-capjewelyematso_zpsb9ad9502.jpg Yematso cap jewel http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/07-DeccanYematso-closeup_zps19387893.jpg Close-up http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/08-DeccanYematso-pistonandmock_zps519c21d6.jpg M800 piston and Yematso mock piston http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/09-DeccanYematso-writingsample_zps85a26f2a.jpg Writing sample [http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/10-DeccanYematso-beakycappens_zpse9fed540.jpg The other pens by Deccan with the ‘beaky cap’ Yup...that’s it...and thanks for seeing...comments are welcome... Shrujaya

When Zubair showed me this pen four days back, I thought this was the manufacturer’s sample piece of an old model. I was struck by the sheer beauty of this pen and told him that if ever he decides to sell this pen, I would want it. It was then that he told me that this is a model that ‘bade saab’ has been trying to perfect and it has reached this stage now. Bade saab hasn’t perfected it yet and this is only a kind of ‘preview.’ Bade saab is probably working on making a pen in wood for the first time and there are many things that he has to look out for, Zubair said. And this is no ordinary wood. It is Red Sanders also known as Red Sandalwood (Pterocarpus santalinus); known as Raktachandan in many parts of India. It is an endangered species and protected by government rules and regulations in India. I was genuinely pleased to see this pen. Hari had recently uploaded a post on Platinum Izumo Glossy – Tagayasan, a pen made of rosewood and I was wondering if any of our Indian penmakers would attempt something in wood. And I go to Deccan and Zubair shows me this pen made of Red Sanders!! As I said, the pen is not yet complete. I am not sure when it would be perfected and be ready for the market. I took Zubair’s permission to take photos of this pen at this stage… I stopped myself from saying too much… needless to say I was overwhelmed by this beauty…I took these photos in the Deccan Pen Stores, Secunderabad branch, and tried my best to see that the photos are sharp and bring out the beauty of the pen… http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/1-DeccanRedsander-capped_zps1d626f80.jpg The Deccan Red Sanders – Capped – the size is similar to the Deccan Masterpiece… http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/2-DeccanRedsander-uncapped_zps3d93b380.jpg The Deccan Red Sanders – Uncapped http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/3-DeccanRedsander-posted_zps44116d62.jpg The Deccan Red Sanders – Posted http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/4-DeccanRedsander-clip_zps587c8052.jpg The Clip…this is something very interesting…Bade saab has actually sprinkled the Red Sanders wood dust on the clip… obviously, some kind of adhesive on the clip surface before the sprinkling took place…Bade saab wanted the wood feel to extend to the metal clip too… http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/5-DeccanRedsander-section-ebonite_zpscd4f2ce8.jpg Another interesting feature here…the aperture which holds the nib and feeder is made of ebonite and fixed to the section which is made of Red Sanders…this is to prevent ink from coming into contact with the wood while filling as wood tends to swell/shrink depending on exposure to moisture/heat and either way, it would affect the nib fitting… http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/6-DeccanRedsander-nib_zps26714030.jpg The nib – this is a two-toned Ambitious nib… http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/7-DeccanRedsander-feeder_zps658f9f74.jpg The feeder… http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/8-DeccanRedsander-aerofill_zpsae7f2098.jpg Yeah, the pen is an aerometric filler…I think it has to be that for a complete wood pen… http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/9-DeccanRedsander-fill-section_zpsacdf48e7.jpg The joint where the aerometric filler is fixed to the section… http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/10-DeccanRedsander-capbarrelthickness_zps5519a145.jpg One can see the thickness of the barrel wall and cap wall… http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/11-DeccanRedsander-closeupofcap_zpse62e79cd.jpg Close-up of the cap…it would be a snap-cap pen… http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/12-DeccanRedsander-closeupofbarrel_zps9e388e72.jpg Close-up of the barrel… Thank you for visiting and reading… Shrujaya

Last week, i placed an order for custom Deccan Advocate, Pelkan and Sr. Bullet plus some Chelpark inks. Advocate normally comes as an eyedropper but i requested them to change to a aerometric/squeeze filler. The Pelkan, is a lookalike of Pelikan M1000. Both Pelkan and Sr. Bullet are eyedroppers. Advocate is a HUGE pen about 16cm long, Pelkan is about 14.5cm and Sr. Bullet is 13.5 cm when capped. My daily pens are the size of Sr. Bullet and was apprehensive about using Advocate. Surprise, surprise!! This pen is well-balanced and a joy to write with. Pelkan is a beauty and comfortable to use. Sr. Bullet is a cute pen and the size i am most used to. Can't wait to complete the nib grinding (to M) and put them to daily use Capped Posted Filling mechanism Inks http://fpgeeks.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.png