The Gama Supreme

[Hema]

Dear Hari,

 

This is an excellent review for a lovely pen! Have contacted ASA pens

[hari317]

Dear Hari,

 

This is an excellent review for a lovely pen! Have contacted ASA pens

Thanks for the kind comments Hema.

[pelman]

Thanks Hari. Really enjoyed the read of these pens and the company. I particulary like that green one as well. Now I am going to have to look for one of these.

 

I faintly remembered the talk of Gama (the wrestler) from my childhood and it was nice to revisit and learn little bit more about him.

[Aramchek]

 

The keep 1/2 or 1/3 full rule is feeder dependent. If your pen dumps ink when it is still 95% full, it indicates a fault somewhere, not a quirk. link. I would check to see if the nib and feed are a tight fit in the section with no annular gap visible when seen against a strong light, that there are no cracks or pinholes in barrel/section/threads, that the section threads are well greased.

 

good luck with your Indian pens journey.

Oh, I do realize that that particular one is faulty. Those two where just the ones that came to mind when I thought of which two eyedroppers had dumped ink at the highest and lowest ink level.

I hadn't gotten around to figuring out what was wrong with it, but I just had a look and there does seem to be a gap between the nib and the section.

[hari317]

Nice! Another pen/brand added to my ever growing list of items to buy when I can afford to! I tend to like the design of Indian pens, but quality varies tremendously. Sounds like this would be one of the better ones. Still, while I like large pens (or more specifically, pens with wide sections), this one just might be overdoing things :-)

 

It varies a lot between Indian eyedroppers at which point they decide to release their contents in drops or all at once. For instance, the Camlin Trinity, as far as I can recall, never has. Its cheaper stablemate the Camlin 36 did so when it was at least 95% full...

 

 

 

The keep 1/2 or 1/3 full rule is feeder dependent. If your pen dumps ink when it is still 95% full, it indicates a fault somewhere, not a quirk. link. I would check to see if the nib and feed are a tight fit in the section with no annular gap visible when seen against a strong light, that there are no cracks or pinholes in barrel/section/threads, that the section threads are well greased.

 

good luck with your Indian pens journey.

 

 

Oh, I do realize that that particular one is faulty. Those two where just the ones that came to mind when I thought of which two eyedroppers had dumped ink at the highest and lowest ink level.

I hadn't gotten around to figuring out what was wrong with it, but I just had a look and there does seem to be a gap between the nib and the section.

 

awesome.

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

I don't say this very often, but I have to say that the pen looks quite "Supreme" and quite well made. How does it compare to most other Indian pens fit and finish wise?

 

Dillon

[hari317]

Hi,

 

I don't say this very often, but I have to say that the pen looks quite "Supreme" and quite well made. How does it compare to most other Indian pens fit and finish wise?

 

Dillon

Glad to hear that. Personally, I would rate the Supreme at no 2, Right after pens from Deccan in the level of fit and finish and proper engineering. Having said that it would be interesting information for non Indian folks that the similar Deccan masterpiece costs slightly more than 4 times what the Gama Supreme costs today.

 

Best

Hari

[Simius]

Thanks for the wonderful review, Hari. After sampling the quality of Deccan pens, I can't wait to get my hands on a Gama or two. BTW, thanks also for the link to Chennai pen shops (I hadn't seen that post before).

 

I see that you rank Gama below Deccan - how would you compare the finish of this pen with, say, that of the Advocate? Thanks.

Edited October 15, 2013 by Simius

[a_m]

One thing, I find distinctive that - despite of its size, the ebonites are very lightweight.

 

I had purchased the green mottled / marbled sometimes back

 

http://www.ebay.in/itm/GAMA-Ebonite-Fountain-Pen-Indian-Eyedropper-German-M-Nib-Green-Black-Marbled-/251354107746

 

It has a great cigar type shape. And even if one caps it up - it still remains very light in weight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Though my current favourite is the Oliver F 27 acrylic (the brown one in the images below)

 

 

 

 

Edited October 15, 2013 by a_m

[a_m]

how would you compare the finish of this pen with, say, that of the Advocate? Thanks.

 

Also, I have the Deccan Advocate Jr

 

The Deccans are great pens - but as you can see - the finish is not exactly great. Though I guess, the Deccans come with smoother nibs. However whether its the Gama or the Deccan, the nibs are not branded by the firm manufacturing the FP. Infact, the Deccan advocate jr. that I have - the nib is marked montex (which is another pen manufacturer - but never seen their FP, except for a Rs 10 one that is for school introductory level)

 

So, I guess the nibs are easily swappable without any "weight on conscious"

 

Finish wise I would say, the Gama is better (at least when i compare the two ebonite FPs that i have)

 

the close up image:

 

Edited October 15, 2013 by a_m

[hari317]

I see that you rank Gama below Deccan - how would you compare the finish of this pen with, say, that of the Advocate? Thanks.

They cannot be compared, different sizes.

 

I have a variety of the bigger (the standard) Advocates, some bought years back, those were superbly finished due to the materials used. The material could be given a high polish. But the advocate is a narrow pen when you compare it to the GS. The current standard Advocate is still a very nicely made pen for the price.

 

I think Gama Supreme can be a viable alternative to some Deccan offerings provided they consistently pay more attention to the quality of the furniture(clip, cap band, body polishing method). I have no experience with the other smaller Gamas, unfortunately, to arrive at a comprehensive opinion of Gama vs Deccan.

 

I have been happy with the superb quality that Deccan has offered across pen sizes, pen materials, trim quality, nibs etc. I think my bias was already evident from my reviews.

 

Best

Hari

[Simius]

Thanks, Hari, Anup. Very helpful information. I guess I'm on the slippery slope of ordering this pen.

 

I'd never heard of the Deccan Advocate Jr. Old model that they no longer make?

[a_m]

Thanks, Hari, Anup. Very helpful information. I guess I'm on the slippery slope of ordering this pen.

 

I'd never heard of the Deccan Advocate Jr. Old model that they no longer make?

 

 

 

No idea ! I got it from ASAPens - I guess ASAPens may provide a better reply

 

I am attaching an image for better comparison. Personally, I find the Gama to be better shaped. The Deccan one is on the slimmer side.

 

attaching another pic for a better view

 

 

 

[hari317]

I'd never heard of the Deccan Advocate Jr. Old model that they no longer make?

They do make it.

 

Someone will have to talk about it on FPN, so that others know,... a_m?

 

In the meanwhile, you can see some comparison pics that I posted in 2008.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/54946-the-advocate/?p=670644

[a_m]

Someone will have to talk about it on FPN, so that others know,... a_m?

 

 

I have no idea of these custom made FPs, except for ones that i have. As I understand, these custom made FP manufacture / availability depends on the whims and fancies of the proprietor. So basically they may never go out of production, but at the same time, may not/never be available

 

(the Deccan FP is not even marked Deccan !,it only has words Adv Jr!, whereas the Gama is properly branded as "Gama" written on barrel)

Edited October 17, 2013 by a_m

[hari317]

 

I have no idea of these custom made FPs, except for ones that i have. As I understand, these custom made FP manufacture / availability depends on the whims and fancies of the proprietor. So basically they may never go out of production, but at the same time, may not/never be available

true.

 

I was asking if you would talk about your Advocate Junior, have you already reviewed it on your blog?

[a_m]

true.

 

I was asking if you would talk about your Advocate Junior, have you already reviewed it on your blog?

 

 

Not yet - I am waiting for Ebonites from some other manufacturers (i guess it would still take a couple of months?), then I would write about them together.

 

 

What I find strange about these ebonites are that the manufacturers themselves do not seem that interested in making their product available. For example, I sent two/three emails to Deccans but never got any reply, rang them once but no one picked up. In case of Ratnamsons, I sent specific queries regarding availability of certain models (with images) - and though they did reply - there was no reference to my specific query, except sending me a few pics from their website. Some of these manufacturers are themselves dealers of other FP brands like Waterman, Wality etc and I saw on FPN that some are even opticians !!! Needless to say, they are more into local shop business and not glocal business !

 

Its in such situation that ASA pens scores - as I have never heard no from it. Mr. Subramaniam

is prompt in reply, and has even found for me FPs of my choice that were long discontinued or were in general not available in market. So whenever I think of buying an FP, I send a request to ASApens.

 

India is still far of from the ways of Edison pens and Newton pens. But ASA is pretty like the Goulet pens (sans the website) for India - though it does need to scale up.

[Scribblesoften]

Thanks for posting another wonderful review with excellent photos. I do not normally like colored ebonite pens with black sections, they seem like a bit of a shortcut. However, the use of the black ebonite on the end of the pen makes it look very balanced when uncapped. A very nice looking pen.

[hari317]

Thanks for posting another wonderful review with excellent photos. I do not normally like colored ebonite pens with black sections, they seem like a bit of a shortcut. However, the use of the black ebonite on the end of the pen makes it look very balanced when uncapped. A very nice looking pen.

thank you

[Simius]

 

What I find strange about these ebonites are that the manufacturers themselves do not seem that interested in making their product available.

 

My experience too.

 

So far, only Kandan of Ranga pens has been easily accessible. ASA pens seems to be as well, hope they sustain this over time.