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LOTUS VIKRANT AND LOTUS LEKHAK - GROUP BUY EDIT: ONLY - 100 Pieces Available Dear All Lotus Pens have been around in the market for now 1 year and I approached them for a Group Buy, almost half a year back. Initially, they refused me as they were still optimizing the production of the pens and managing few issues related to supply and logistics. Now that is sorted and they offered me to do a group buy and the official launch of 2 new models. Also, they are celebrating the 1-year anniversary. Today I have been given this opportunity to launch the two new models via this forum and also do a group buy for the same. The group-buy prices are almost 25% less than selling price. Two Models are : Lotus Lekhak Lotus Vikrant Both the pen comes with dual tone JoWo #6 size steel nibs in EF, F, M, B and 1.1 Stub nibs. and have gold finish trims. The pen size compared with Lamy Safari is below: MATERIAL & COLORS: Both Ebonite and Acrylics are available for this group-buy. Ebonite is imported from Nikko Ebonite, Japan and Acrylics are imported from the UK. While ebonite is sturdier and warmer than the Acrylics. The acrylics are better looking. Ebonite: Burnt Orange Black Ripple Crimson Red Black Ripple Solid Teal Blue Solid Crimson Red Solid Burnt Orange Solid Black Acrylics: Orange Crush Lemon yellow Monoswirl Crushed Honey (Tortoise Shell) Red Monoswirl Blue Monoswirl Turquoise Brown Lava Lamp (Aluminite) PRICE:The cost of the pen is 25% off. And payment is accepted only via Paypal. Paypal id is arunsinghi1952@gmail.com. The price including shipping is as follows : Acrylic: US $105 / Rs. 5300Ebonite & Tortoise Shell Acrylic: US $113 / Rs. 5500Lava Alumilite: US $121 / Rs. 6000 SHIPPING:Shipping period will be 4 to 5 weeks after payment via Registered Shipping. For Shipping within India shipping method will be EMS or Local courier In order to participate in the group buy just fill the Google Form (Link Below) and Reply to the thread/post with “Form Submitted” or just repost the choices in thread LINK: https://goo.gl/forms/yBogjLoHScgycy952

Lotus is a new brand to the Indian handmade pens scenario. It has carved a niche for itself, crafting high quality pens from high quality materials. They are priced well for what they offer. I got one after great thought and I'm happy to say its worth all the hype it has been getting. Design and Material I knew I had to get a Lotus. I knew I had to get a Lotus in the Honey Dew Celluloid. But what I did not know was which model to get. Finally, I decided on a design based on the Churchill, and I couldn't be happier. I am a huge admirer of the Churchill by Conway Stewart but since that pen isn't affordable for me, I got one made based on it. This design for some reason shows off the Honey Dew material much better than any other design (in my opinion). It is a flat shaped pen with a small taper towards the end on the barrel. The top finial has ridges on it which I love. The first trim ring appears just below it and then comes the clip. Then there's a wider trim ring above the cap lip. Right where the taper begins on the barrel, is another trim ring. And then the last one is at the section threads. I asked for all brass trim but some of it was gold plated but it wasn't hard for me to sand it down and polish it so that now all's just brass. The clip originally had a pseudo diamond like end which I shaped into a sharper diamond shape. The Honey Dew celluloid is a beast in itself. It's a deep black with flame like orange and red flecks. It looks like a flame caged in the belly of a pen. The only branding is done on the clip and on the nib (the branding on the clip got sanded off while I was removing the gold plating). In sunlight, the pen looks like it's gonna ignite. I love the way this pen looks. Construction and Quality The Lotus Churchill is the best made Indian pen I have in my collection but I still feel it can be improved. The polishing is great but the finishing is where things go a bit off track. There are a few lathe marks here and there and the section has a poor polish. I'm pretty sure this isn't captured in my pictures though. But not all's bad. I would rate their making miles above many makers in India (with due respect to all). The quality of materials seem pretty good and only time can tell how it'll all hold up. The trim rings are all nice and thick. One thing I would say is that the nib unit was screwed in too tight and that caused the feed to crack inside the unit while I tried to unscrew it for cleaning. I couldn't take screw out the unit since there was nothing protruding that would let me unscrew it. Lotus was prompt to offer a new section but I managed somehow managed (with tips from some of my friends) to screw the cracked unit out by using a knockout block to first get the broken feed out and then use a screwdriver to remove the collar. This deemed the unit useless but the nib was unharmed. I just took a new unit and slathered a ton of silicone grease and now it screws and unscrews just fine. Filling Mechanism It's a good old CC. Uses any international converter. Mine came with the Schmidt K5. It is a convenient mechanism and works well. I also put in an agitator ball from a cartridge just so that I won't end up with any air gaps inside. You can see a hint of the metal part o the converter in the following photo. Comfort This is no small pen. It borders on the oversize and that's exactly what appeals to me. Its tall enough to be used unposted and the balance is pretty much perfect. I would prefer a tiny bit more heft. Maybe a metal threads insert at the section might help. The section first has a taper towards the nib and then a small flare up. It is gently curved and is very comfortable to hold. Writing Ah, the most important part of a pen. I'm have to say that this was the most disappointing part for me. Lotus offers stock grinds with their pens and I had asked for a #6 JoWo gold tone CI with the intention of making it a two tone nib and was very excited for it. What I received was a flimsy stub that had a triangle shape and a TON of scratch. Under the loop, I could make out the tines being off alignment and once I had aligned them, it wrote okay. It was still feedback. I had to then grind the nib to make it write the way I liked. I couldn't make a cursive italic out of it due to the shape but managed an uber smooth stub. I was much happier but for some reason, the nib doesn't seem to connect with the pen. I'll be getting a regular broad at some point and use that in this pen. The #6 nib is a good match but it does deserve a bigger nib, but I don't really have the funds for that so I'll live with this. (The stub I ground) (Writing sample) Wrapping Up Its a pen that I love. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good quality celluloid pen. It does have a few flaws here and there, but nothing that couldn't be fixed. Edit 1: I forgot to mention that the material is see through at the orange flecked parts.

It was yesterday that I received my Lotus Churchill in Honey Dew, a material I've admired and longed for since its incorporation in Lotus pens. Because this pen is so beautiful, I'm curious to see what others have come up with, for their Lotus pens. Share your Lotus Pen pics here, and let us all give a virtual toast to this relatively newcomer brand of Indian made pens. P.S. I'll share mine in a few days. Something's off with the place where I usually take my pics.

Indian Fountain Pen market has lately seen a lot of new entrants and among them, Lotus Pens is one of them. They initially made a lot of prototypes before actually taking a plunge in the market. Lotus Pens is based out of Mumbai and they make custom pens and handpainted pens also. They caught my eye with the simple looking elegant pen, Shikhar (seems to be inspired by Sailor KOP). And I approached them for buying one of the Shikhar’s as it comes in various ebonite options. Ebonite they use is Japanese Nikko ebonite. So today I am showing the glimpse of the new pen that arrived a few days back. comes in a faux Leather cover box which is protected by the cardboard sleeve the pen comes with a velvet sleeve Shout out to Tarun Durga for letting me write with his Lotus Shikhar which actually spurred me to get this beauty. Below are the few more images of the pen and my pen comes with black JoWo Broad nib to match with the black coloured clip: Shikhar in navy blue coloured Nikko ebonite The review will be coming soon after I have had enough to say and write about this pen.

Hello Everyone. Recently there are a few exciting new developments in Indian fountain pen scenario. Lotus pens is an Indian company who mainly offered quality hand painted fountain and roller ball pens and also customized painting jobs on pens. There USP is their stress on quality of the products and paints. Recently they decided to venture into the fountain pen scenario and launched Lotus Excel line of fountain pens. I received a prototype of their Lotus Sublime fountain pen. Its a short review of the product. 1.Appearance & Design- Lotus Sublime is a large pen. Its body is shaped like a torpedo and the cap has a cylindrical type appearance. The cap sports a large finial on top and a solid metal ring at the other end margin. The clip is a standard springy tear drop shaped clip and has a clip ring which separates the finial and the body of the cap. Uncapped the body of the pen has more symmetrical and pleasing shape. The section starts with a notch, followed by cap threads and then gently tapers towards the nib end. Just at the nib end of the section, there is a small flaring. I have seen these flaring in some pens with threaded nib units, and presumably these impart extra strength to the margin as changing the nib units put pressure on the margin . Overall the look is simple, elegant and reflects the utilitarian yet attractive nature of the product. I have only one concern about the pretty large cap. The pen is difficult to fit in small pockets, so I had to carry it in a large pen pouch, where I was able to barely fit the length of the pen. So, my suggestion to the makers is to provide a compatible pen sleeve with every sublime so that carrying the pen becomes easier just after unpacking it. Recently I bought a limited edition acrylic pen from constellation 88 named 'Sulpher' which they shipped inside their two pen accommodating 'Orion' pen pouch. So that's a nice gesture and makers of Sublime pen can follow the example. 2. Construction & Quality : Lotus Excel brand stresses on the quality of the products they sell. The Sublime is made of Nicco ebonite. Its a dark brown pen with subtle black patterns and lines and look attractive. I must admit the finish is superb. Although my pen was a prototype and not the finished product, I don't have any complaint regarding finish. The polish was great, the pen felt solid and strong. The ring at the end of cap, the flaring at the nib end of section- these all impart subtle touches of quality. The threads on section were smooth and didn't bother while gripping the pen. I took out the nib unit effortlessly as the inner threads are very smooth as well. Its a cartridge converter pen accommodating standard schimdt converters. The nib unit in my prototype appeared to be a dual tone JoWo unit. The clip is springy and functions great. Lotus claims the trims are high quality, gold plated and they will resist easy rusting and wear. I had this pen for a few days only before I had to return the prototype, so I can not comment on the durability of trims. But keeping in mind the overall quality of the rest of the pen and care taken in small things like threads, the trims must fulfill their pledge for quality product. 3. Weight & Dimensions : Its a large pen. The following are the measurements. Length capped- 165 mm Uncapped length- 143 mm section length- 30 mm Maximum barrel diametre- 13.5 mm Section diametre on top flaring- 10 mm Cap length- 80 mm Weight- Capped about 28 gram, without cap- 15 grams. Now, the cap finial itself is 12 mm thick, and cap protrudes 22 mm above the nib end. But considering the shape and size of body, I do think that the large cap was required simply to maintain symmetry and balance as well as aesthetics. Its a lightweight pen compared to its size as its made of ebonite. I have written a few pages in the short span it was with me and its comfortable to hold and use. Posting not possible and not required as well considering the design and size. 4. Nib & Performance: My pen was a prototype and had a what appeared to be a JoWo medium nib unit. They say it was not tuned and their final product will have better nib options. So I refrain from commenting on the nib of this pen. Their website lists this pen with JoWo nib units. I don't know whether they can provide Schimdt or Bock nib units apert from listed JoWo units with their pens on customer request. But considering their generous care in details, that might be a possibility. 5. Filling System & Maintenance : The pen is standard cartridge converter pen and functions well. No leak or burping in the few days of my usage. 6. Cost & Value : The pen is listed at $95, which makes it a higher range pen for consumers. So, the question is whether this ebonite pen can offer sufficient quality at the intended price point. As far as the prototype pen is concerned, the quality was very good and small detailing made this pen a candidate for a durable EDC pen that will serve its buyer for a long time. Value and price is individual perception in the fountain pen world, and the decision to buy any particular pen rests with the buyer alone. But in my opinion, the pen is very good product with all expected qualities in a single product. My suggestion- 1. remember the pen sleeve. 2. Makers can think of providing a 'Gold' nib option. Link to Lotus website here Disclaimer: I received a prototype pen from Lotus pens for reviewing purpose. but had to return it after a few days for some production issue. This review is done with the belief that the final product is similar to the prototype. I would definitely like to do a full review of their finished product in future. Buyers are advised to clear any confusion regarding the product before buying. Thank you.