Indian Pens: Which To Buy, Which To Avoid

[hari317]

Thanks Hari for this informative post. I have bought a new Gama Kuyil and am facing the 3rd issue captured by you. I will try to remove the feeder and nib and refit the same and try. It would be nice if you can share any prior experience with this pen.

 

Ganesh

Ganesh, contact the seller for replacement pen/repair. The nib and feed fit is an excellent fit on my example of the Kuyil, I am very happy with the pen. You may PM me if you need further tips for debugging your pen.

[mhguda]

My Kuyil, which I picked up yesterday and inked immediately, is also a very well-made pen, and a pleasure to write with. In addition, Asapens was very diligent in getting this pen to me, even asking several times if I had received it and tracking it down (to Amsterdam where it had erroneously been sent). Nothing but kudos. This was the first time I bought from them, and I'm very happy with the experience. Thanks hari317 for bringing this one to our attention.

[Aramchek]

One brand I've so far been pleased with is Fellowship. I've three eyedroppers from them. Two of them worked directly, the third needed reseating of the nib and feed. All three are remarkably smooth for such cheap pens and reliable - the one I currently have inked has reached below 50% ink level and is starting to threaten to deposit drops on the page, but that seems pretty common with simple eyedroppers. The finishing is fairly poor, but they feel like they should survive a fair bit of abuse.

[Snargle]

I've got a few Indian pens and, for the most part, I like them very much. They include an Ebonite Ranga "Duofold" eyedropper (with a replacement Broad nib), an Ebonite Ranga Cruiser (with a Fine Eversharp flex nib, from Peyton Street Pens), a Wallity Airmail eyedropper, and a Camlin Elegante. I also have a Camlin SD on order and should be arriving any day now.

[prasadvenkat]

Hey everyone,

So im new here as a member, but I've been browsing the forums as a guest for quite a while, and one thing ive noticed is lacking is a single thread talking about Indian pens that are excellent deals, and ones that aren't worth even the cheap price. Recently ive stumbled across a wonderful website called fountainpenrevolition.com which im sure many of you have heard of, where they sell many many many kinds of Indian fountain pens, most of which are very inexpensive. This intrigued me, because id never seen much on Indian fountain pens. So in short: I think it would be nice to use this thread as kind of a compiled list of all known knowledge on these Indian pens. In your experience are there Indian pens that were cheap yet are beautiful writers and part of your daily use? Or are these seemingly low prices really too good to be true? Which pens do you suggest? Which do you suggest not getting?

FPR by Kevin is an amazing site. (I have no affiliation to this or to Kevin, just an extremely satisfied customer) I would highly recommend the Flex versions of the pens he keeps. Specially the Guru. I have been using it for the last month and have had NO problems with it. Took it out of the wrapping, disassembled and cleaned it with plain water. Inked it up and its been writing perfectly since. It flexes beautifully and for the price, is an amazing deal.

[Sasha Royale]

I have a couple of Serwex piston models. They are good value. From a distributor in the ISA.

The pen industry in India is very different than we understand. I was fascinated with what I learned.

 

Here is a suggestion that yields great benefits >>

Get a pen pal in India. Get him/her to find you one or two bottom teir pens, about 30 to 50 rupees.

You will enjoy and cherish your 85 cent fountain pens. Hopefully learn about another culture.

[WestLothian]

How is the quality of the plastic on the Guru? I find the smell of the Ahab plastic unpleasant and I was concerned that the Guru may be similar.

[amk]

Get a pen pal. Or even better, if you can, visit India. Marvellous country - marvellous pen makers and shops!

[LWJ2]

I have purchased several Romus Majestic pens, they're a piston-filler with a surprisingly smooth fine nib; my initial purchase was good enough that I made another buy to give to friends wanting a beginner's pen. I'd put them on a par with the Reform 1745.

[prasadvenkat]

How is the quality of the plastic on the Guru? I find the smell of the Ahab plastic unpleasant and I was concerned that the Guru may be similar.

Have not found any smell from the Guru. Not sure about this, but I think the Ahab material is totally different from what is used in the Guru.

Are the Noodler's Creaper (standard) and Ahab made of the same stuff? I have the Creaper and it does smell a little.

The Guru is a clutch less filler pen and easy to totally take apart. As soon as I got it, I took it apart and washed it out. No smell at all.

[WestLothian]

Thank you very much for the reassurance. The Ahab and other Noodlers are made from a "vegetal" vegetable resin - this may have a gas smell.

[Zookie]

I've noticed some pens being listed on e-bay that are marked "Sterling Stationery". They are cartridge pens, and marked "made in India".

Does anyone know who the actual manufacturer might be, and would they be worth bidding on. They're very cheap I might add.

Thanks,

Doug

[hari317]

I've noticed some pens being listed on e-bay that are marked "Sterling Stationery". They are cartridge pens, and marked "made in India".

Does anyone know who the actual manufacturer might be, and would they be worth bidding on. They're very cheap I might add.

Thanks,

Doug

no idea, looks intriguing.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-New-in-Package-Sterling-Stationery-Executive-Fountain-Pens-with-2-Refills-Each-/111341409716

[Zookie]

Those are the ones I was looking at. I almost wish they weren't in the package, I can't make out any details.

[drvishal]

I have not even heard the name of a company here in india

[Scribblesoften]

I too, like Indian pens. I have purchased modern pens from ASAPens and Fountain Pen Revolution. I also purchased a vintage ebonite pen from EBay. I have been pleased with most of them. The pens fall into the categories of eye dropper fillers in several materials (ebonite, acrylic, injection molded plastic), and injection molded piston fillers. I am still waiting for the ebonite, celluloid, and acrylic piston fillers. The Deccan pens have consistent quality. Gama has been inventive in producing small batches of pens at excellent prices. Airmail/Wality and Chelpark produce nice pens. I have been impressed with the smoothness of Oliver nibs. The Serwex pens i have tried struck me as low cost and low quality. They may have nicer pens that I have not seen.

[Zookie]

To follow up, I received the pens, took one out and inked it up. They are very nice pens for the money (1 US Dollar each), and I'm very pleased with them

I've done some further searching, and believe them to be made by the Flair Writing Instrument company. Probably an outdated design or something.

The nibs are marked "Iridium Point Germany" , and the ink is a very pleasant blue.

Now I'm looking to purchase a Pierre Cardin Veer FP; I've decided to get a black one with a red clip. Has anyone had any experience with these?

[de_pen_dent]

I have to say, I am not a big fan of Serwex... they look and feel quite cheap.

 

I like Deccan's pens - best of the lot and also have an aerometric option now on some of their models (I dont like ED!). Am a big fan of Ranga's work as well, although i usually send him my nibs to install. He's making a couple of custom pens for me this week - will post photos and review when i get them. Also +1 to Wality Airmail - have quite a good collection of them, thanks to Hari

 

Rantamsons and Guiders were a bit iffy for me - they are inexpensive and require a bit of tweaking of the nibs to make them work. I'd rather pay a little more and not have to bother. YMMV.

[hari317]

Never tried a Serwex, we don't get them in Mumbai.

[hani]

I buyed one Click Bamboo F.P from Vadodra ,An Eye Dropper quite large tank , The nib writes somewhat fine and col is marble blue. I also purchased a calligraphy set from the same company . The company has a site "uniquepen.in" a large no of fountain pen are there in there product range. The pen was quite reasonable

http://www.uniquepen.in/project/click-bamboo-marble-fountain-pen/