Airmail 69 A

[hari317]

Thank you Gabbur.

 

On Avenue road, there is a shop called Meenakshi Stores, they will have some spare nibs for your pen.

 

Best

Hari

[gabbur]

Thanks Hari

I had picked this pen from Meenakshi stores.

WIll meet him and get some spare nibs.

Ramesh Gabbur

 

quote name='hari317' timestamp='1342114568' post='2401513']

Thank you Gabbur.

 

On Avenue road, there is a shop called Meenakshi Stores, they will have some spare nibs for your pen.

 

Best

Hari

[hari317]

Thanks Hari

I had picked this pen from Meenakshi stores.

WIll meet him and get some spare nibs.

Ramesh Gabbur

 

Mr. Murthy is a very knowledgable man. Just tell him that your nib is scratchy. He will do the needful to make you happy.

 

Best

Hari

[gabbur]

Hari Sir

Thanks for the fast reply.

Ramesh Gabbur

 

 

Thanks Hari

I had picked this pen from Meenakshi stores.

WIll meet him and get some spare nibs.

Ramesh Gabbur

 

Mr. Murthy is a very knowledgable man. Just tell him that your nib is scratchy. He will do the needful to make you happy.

 

Best

Hari

[vishnukamath8]

Mr. Murthy of Meenakshi was quite unawar of the existence of this forum or the fact that his store is mentioned here with appreciation. He said he will ask his son to browse the website and read about it. In gratitude, he gave me a Rs. 20=00 discount on my bill for two Airmail pens with transparent barrels!

 

Vishnu

[ajha1970]

I've been using a 69A this week, and (once again) I have to agree with hari. It's a splendid writer--quite different from the few other Wality and Airmail pens I've tried, which I would say were good writers, sometimes with a little work. The color changes and new swirls appear or vanish as the light changes, so you can get fascinated with the pen and forget what you were writing. And, even though I intentionally only partially filled the pen, I have seen no bad eyedropper behavior so far, and the pen is nearly empty.

This one changes my impression of the Airmail brand.

ron

 

Ron, I am really happy to hear that the pen is doing well. It is heartening to see the enthusiasm for Indian made pens.

 

Best

Hari

 

Hi Hari,

 

It is Realy Great To see Indian brand In Market, is it available in Delhi?

[hari317]

Hi Hari,

 

It is Realy Great To see Indian brand In Market, is it available in Delhi?

 

I think it should be available, but i have no specific leads. You will have to look.

 

Best

Hari

[vishnukamath8]

Dear Hari, Ramesh Gabbur and others Wality fans,

 

I have been using an Airmail Wality 71 Jumbo for many years (easily more than 5 years). I bought two of these for Rs. 60=00 each then. I am mentioning the price to give you an idea of the year of purchase. Recently I found in Mr. Murthy's shop two identical looking pens in different colours. Neither of them is marked as Airmail or Wality! Both of them are labeled "Scripter", apparently a registered trade mark, on the barrel. One of them is additionally marked "Oliver" on the mandatory steel band on the pen top. I queried my friend Mr. Murthy on this. He said something interesting:

There are only a few pen manufacturers left and they make all the pens. Different dealers/distributers have different labels put on these and market them.

If this is true, then there is really no sanctity to the AIRMAIL brand. BTW, the two scripters were sold to me for Rs. 80=00 each, far below the price of Rs. 120=00 to Rs. 150=00 charged for the AIRMAIL pens.

 

Do you have any comments on my observations?

 

Vishnu

[hari317]

Dear Hari, Ramesh Gabbur and others Wality fans,

 

I have been using an Airmail Wality 71 Jumbo for many years (easily more than 5 years). I bought two of these for Rs. 60=00 each then. I am mentioning the price to give you an idea of the year of purchase. Recently I found in Mr. Murthy's shop two identical looking pens in different colours. Neither of them is marked as Airmail or Wality! Both of them are labeled "Scripter", apparently a registered trade mark, on the barrel. One of them is additionally marked "Oliver" on the mandatory steel band on the pen top. I queried my friend Mr. Murthy on this. He said something interesting:

There are only a few pen manufacturers left and they make all the pens. Different dealers/distributers have different labels put on these and market them.

If this is true, then there is really no sanctity to the AIRMAIL brand. BTW, the two scripters were sold to me for Rs. 80=00 each, far below the price of Rs. 120=00 to Rs. 150=00 charged for the AIRMAIL pens.

 

Do you have any comments on my observations?

 

Vishnu

 

Mr. Murthy is generally right. But in this specific case, The holders of the Wality and Airmail trademark, The Airmail pen company, are actual pen manufacturers, not resellers! The pens are made in Mumbai and I have visited the factory several times and seen their operations first hand. Read the following:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/60692-a-visit-to-the-airmail-pen-company-mumbai-india/

 

Oliver is another pen manufacturing company located in Madras. They are also manufacturers not just resellers.

 

http://www.oliverpen.com/home.html

 

The Airmail pens are costlier, since their transparent barrels on the 69 and 71JT are turned on a lathe, not compression molded. It is a laborious process and compared to molding. The 69A, which is the subject of this thread is fully turned on a lathe.

 

The 71J is a really popular model in India among people who really write with a fountain pen for a living, e.g. shop accountants, court writers, police writers etc... and understandably a few other companies have tried to make copies of this pen and they have a cheaper price point, otherwise how will they sell? The other companies are helped by the fact that the Wality/Airmail pens get sold as fast as they are produced, the demand is more than the supply!!

 

Hope this clarifies the situation a bit.

 

Best

Hari

[branodncooley92]

Those pens look really cool.

[hari317]

Those pens look really cool.

Thank you. Apparently the pens have been made in three more colors:

 

White with black swirls, Orange marbled, and White with Green splotches:

 

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/Wality%2069A/IMG_7948.jpg

 

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/Wality%2069A/IMG_7949.jpg

 

Cheers!

Hari

[ninad]

Those pens look really cool.

Thank you. Apparently the pens have been made in three more colors:

 

White with black swirls, Orange marbled, and White with Green splotches:

 

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/Wality%2069A/IMG_7948.jpg

 

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/Wality%2069A/IMG_7949.jpg

 

Cheers!

Hari

 

Hi Hari,

 

I am in India for work for a bit, and saw the green pen for sale at Manoj Pen Mart and immediately bought it. It is really nice looking (I hope the acrylic smell diminishes in a bit...). I remembered seeing your earliest post and photos all the way above, and was hoping to have found a model you hadn't seen yet. Of course, that is not even remotely likely! You have the entire spectrum well covered, it is truly amazing.

 

Incidentally, this pen came without a box, but that might be a one-off thing. Mr. Manoj spoke very highly of Airmail/Wality, saying that the demand is great all over the country due to their high quality.

 

I now plan to follow the pilgrimage route you mapped out in another post, just need to pick a day and keep some cash handy.

Edited November 4, 2012 by ninad

[hari317]

Incidentally, this pen came without a box, but that might be a one-off thing. Mr. Manoj spoke very highly of Airmail/Wality, saying that the demand is great all over the country due to their high quality.

 

 

That is correct. The initial run with the blue and Red acrylic came in the fancy black boxes. The amber, black and green came in bulk packing slot boxes of 10 pens each. Good luck hunting out more pens.

 

Best

Hari

[krishnanramani]

Is it available in Chennai Buddy? How much is the cost? I would like to get one

[hari317]

Is it available in Chennai Buddy? How much is the cost? I would like to get one

I think it should be surely available in Madras under the Wality brand. Try at a shop called "The pen corner" at NSC Bose road (Parry's). My writeup about the pen shops in that area: link

[robofkent]

Gorgeous pens! I may well hunt one down for myself....

[hari317]

Found another color, Orange with Blue swirls. Showing all the 6 colors that i have found to date:

 

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/Wality%2069A/IMG_8082.jpg

 

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/Wality%2069A/IMG_8084.jpg

 

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/Wality%2069A/IMG_8085.jpg

 

Cheers!

Hari

[Abhik]

Hari, White with green and grey swirls are looking fabulus! After using blue one, you sent, I must admit that these pens are equally good like Deccan, I got last year. Consider the price point, these pens are even better!

Thanks Hari for introducing me to this brand.

Abhik

[hari317]

Thanks Abhik. Wality put in a high grade monotone steel white nib in their initial Blue swirl and Red swirl. I agree these pens write as well as Deccan. Now they are supplying the pens in these newer colors with the plain old ordinary yellow Wality nib which is quite variable. Hhelps to have a box of spare nibs

[gambosen]

Thanks Abhik. Wality put in a high grade monotone steel white nib in their initial Blue swirl and Red swirl. I agree these pens write as well as Deccan. Now they are supplying the pens in these newer colors with the plain old ordinary yellow Wality nib which is quite variable. Hhelps to have a box of spare nibs

Dear Hari,

 

Here is a picture of the Airmail 69A that you sent me with my old Ratnam 14ct medium gold nib. The ink is Iroshizuku Ina Ho (Rice Ear)