The Deccan Datoon.

[hari317]

Deccan has a tradition of making slim and small fountain pens in addition to their regular lineup of medium sized and jumbo oversized pens. The Datoon follows on the footsteps of the Lilliput and the other smaller sized pens made by The Deccan pen stores, in Hyderabad, India. Early this month, I got another opportunity to visit Hyderabad and of course, visit this lovely pen shop along with my friend Jai.

 

Those who have visited the Abids branch of Deccan pens will know that the fountain pen display chest is placed on the left hand side of the shop. In the middle column of this chest, the baton shaped double barreled pens are displayed. The Datoon was placed between two Baton pens when I spotted it nestled within its velvet sleeve. I asked for the pen to be taken out for me to see, fully expecting a slim ball point, but I was shocked to learn that it was indeed a fountain pen and that Deccan had managed such a slim yet comfortable to use form factor. This will be made more clear in the photos which follow.

 

The pen is made of monotone light brown colored ebonite.

 

http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/Deccan%20Datoon/IMG_0894.jpg

 

http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/Deccan%20Datoon/IMG_0896.jpg

 

http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/Deccan%20Datoon/IMG_0897.jpg

 

The barrel is just the size of a Parker ink Cartridge!:

http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/Deccan%20Datoon/IMG_0898.jpg

 

Along with a Parker Jotter ballpoint:

http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/Deccan%20Datoon/IMG_0899.jpg

 

Along with another famous slim pen, the Pilot Birdie:

http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/Deccan%20Datoon/IMG_0900.jpg

 

The Datoon posts very well:

http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/Deccan%20Datoon/IMG_0901.jpg

 

The clip is simple and functional:

http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/Deccan%20Datoon/IMG_0902.jpg

 

We (I and Jai) asked Farooq about the Mebsons 61 imprint on the clip. He told us that Mebsons (an old pen manufacturing company in Mumbai, now they make only some ball points etc, they still have a dealer on AR street in Mumbai, here is some interesting information with mention of Mebsons: link ) had made a slim ballpoint a long while back. Deccan had the spare clips left over and they decided to put the stock to use to make some really slim fountain pens. So, that was the Mebsons connection.

 

Side profile of the clip:

http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/Deccan%20Datoon/IMG_0903.jpg

 

The looong section:

http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/Deccan%20Datoon/IMG_0904.jpg

 

A closeup of the really miniature Ambitious steel nib:

http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/Deccan%20Datoon/IMG_0905.jpg

 

The feeder is also made of ebonite and has grooves in the middle of the shaft, hidden within the section (yeah, I took the pen apart):

http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/Deccan%20Datoon/IMG_0906.jpg

 

Measurements:

 

This is a very light weight pen. weighing just 6.84gms capped and 4.18gms uncapped. After the pen was filled, it weighed only 4.73gms, thus the ink capacity of this miniature pen is approximately 0.55ml.

 

Writing:

 

Despite the cartridgesque dimensions of this pen, due to its longer posted length, I found it a comfortable writer. The nib is very smooth on my example and the feeder keeps up quite well. Here is a small writing sample:

 

http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/Deccan%20Datoon/IMG_0907.jpg

 

I hope you enjoyed reading about this pen.

 

Cheers!

Hari

Edited August 11, 2015 by hari317

[vig2432]

Very nice pen, Hari. never seen this color ebonite before. Congrats on a good find

[fromthecrowd]

Sailor Chalana comes to mind. But Datoon has the advantage of being ebonite. And eye dropper filling system resolves compatibility issues.

 

Great review of great pen! Thank you!

[amarjit]

great review,my only is most of pens are not available in Mumbai

[mehandiratta]

Any idea why it's named datoon

[pelman]

Beautiful pen Hari. Love the clip and nib. Enjoy.

[hari317]

Very nice pen, Hari. never seen this color ebonite before. Congrats on a good find

 

thanks!

Sailor Chalana comes to mind. But Datoon has the advantage of being ebonite. And eye dropper filling system resolves compatibility issues.

 

Great review of great pen! Thank you!

 

yes indeed, I agree. I feel Chalana may be even more slimmer, I don't have one to compare. Thanks for the kind comments.

great review,my only is most of pens are not available in Mumbai

 

thanks! true.

Any idea why it's named datoon

maybe because it looks like one?

 

Beautiful pen Hari. Love the clip and nib. Enjoy.

Thanks Jayant.

[markiv]

Quite like the slim design, thanks for the pleasant surprise.

 

Datoon - that made me chuckle too, very innovative.

[WDP4BAAZ]

Datoon is the Hindi word. It means the long, small and slender neem tree branches that people in rural Indian areas used for brushing teeth instead of tooth brush.Its an ayurvedic medicine.That's why their teeth are strong.

BTW nice review and pictures Hari ....

[L.Velvet]

Probably one of the most interesting indians fountain pens. Paired with extra fine nib, it will be very usefull for book readers to write some notes in the margins.

 

And as always great review

Edited August 12, 2015 by L.Velvet

[fountainpagan]

Thank you Hari for this interesting review.

 

Very racy looking pen, indeed. I find it quite similar to the Montblanc Slimline, too, nib and all.

The section is very much alike, or the other way around, to the ASA Spear.

 

It is funny they have used the Mebson's clip, leading to think it would be the pen's name, and then name it quite differently.

I very much enjoyed reading the Mebson's story.

 

Thank you WDP4BAAZ for the extra information: super.

Edited August 12, 2015 by fountainpagan

[hari317]

Quite like the slim design, thanks for the pleasant surprise.

 

Datoon - that made me chuckle too, very innovative.

hehe, thanks!

 

Datoon is the Hindi word. It means the long, small and slender neem tree branches that people in rural Indian areas used for brushing teeth instead of tooth brush.Its an ayurvedic medicine.That's why their teeth are strong.

BTW nice review and pictures Hari ....

 

Thank you Baaz.

 

Probably one of the most interesting indians fountain pens. Paired with extra fine nib, it will be very usefull for book readers to write some notes in the margins.

 

And as always great review

 

Thank you!

Thank you Hari for this interesting review.

 

Very racy lookind pen, indeed. I find it quite similar to the Montblanc Slimline, too, nib and all.

The section is very much alike, or the other way around, to the ASA Spear.

 

It is funny they have used the Mebson's clip, leading to think it would be the pen's name, and then name it quite differently.

I very much enjoyed reading the Mebson's story.

 

Thank you WDP4BAAZ for the extra information: super.

Thank you! The MB Slimline/Aurora Hastils are comparatively thicker, have push caps and their nibs are atleast double the size on the Datoon. HTH

 

Best

Hari

[fountainpagan]

Really the Slimline is thicker?? I find mine to be so thin, and unconfortable, I hardly use it. I cannot imagine using the the Datoon.

But it still is a very nice pen, with a very interesting story, and tradition, attached to it

Edited August 12, 2015 by fountainpagan

[hari317]

Really the Slimline is thicker?? I find mine to be so thin, and unconfortable, I hardly use it. I cannot imagine using the the Datoon.

But it still is a very nice pen, with a very interesting story, and tradition, attached to it

yeah it is quite thin. Actually that is why I posted the comparison picture with the Parker cartridge, you can see that the cartridge is thicker at the mouth than the Datoon. The Hastil takes the Parker cartridge so it has to be thicker, the Slimline is slightly thicker than the Hastil, I can post some pics since I have the pens, but it will be too tedious.

[fountainpagan]

There is no need, Hari, I believe the comparison is correct.

 

I just cannot imagine writing with a such thin pen. and it is so unsusual, indian production wise...

[hari317]

 

 

I just cannot imagine writing with a such thin pen. and it is so unsusual, indian production wise...

Actually there is a very very wide range of fountain pen sizes manufactured in India, as I have attempted to stress in the opening of my review. I have some ultra thin ballpoints made by Deccan in my small collection, i have neglected to document those as there is only limited interest for BPs on FPN, but believe me that a very very wide variety of pen sizes are made here.

 

Best

Hari

[shrujaya]

Hi...all this talk of thin pens reminded me of a fountain pen that I wrote about way back in 2008...the Prasad Baby...the entire post about Prasad Pens is here ... at that time it was the thinnest FP that I had seen...I didn't measure the dimensions though...

 

Then, Waseem Uncle of Deccan once gave me a ball pen made of ebonite, which was thinner than the Prasad Baby...it just had enough space for a refill to be inserted...that's all...no section, just the tip of the BP refill peeking out of the barrel...and a cap...fully functional...and it is really amazing...

 

The Deccan Lilliput that Hari mentions is another such thin pen...

 

This Datoon is in a different league altogether, isn't it Hari? very tempting...ha ha ha...as always, nice descriptive post and wonderful photographs...

 

Jai

[fountainpagan]

Actually there is a very very wide range of fountain pen sizes manufactured in India, as I have attempted to stress in the opening of my review. I have some ultra thin ballpoints made by Deccan in my small collection, i have neglected to document those as there is only limited interest for BPs on FPN, but believe me that a very very wide variety of pen sizes are made here.

 

Best

Hari

By pens I meant fountain pens. I know absolutely nothing on ballpoint pens, indian or other.

I understand there are some thin size fountain pens produced of course. But, you will convey it is not the size coming to mind first when talking about indian made fountain pen, is it not?

[hari317]

Hi...all this talk of thin pens reminded me of a fountain pen that I wrote about way back in 2008...the Prasad Baby...the entire post about Prasad Pens is here ... at that time it was the thinnest FP that I had seen...I didn't measure the dimensions though...

 

Then, Waseem Uncle of Deccan once gave me a ball pen made of ebonite, which was thinner than the Prasad Baby...it just had enough space for a refill to be inserted...that's all...no section, just the tip of the BP refill peeking out of the barrel...and a cap...fully functional...and it is really amazing...

 

The Deccan Lilliput that Hari mentions is another such thin pen...

 

This Datoon is in a different league altogether, isn't it Hari? very tempting...ha ha ha...as always, nice descriptive post and wonderful photographs...

 

Jai

I do have the babies in all the colors that were put out by Prasad, Thanks to you. I agree the Datoon is in a different league.

 

Thanks for your kind comments Jai.

 

Best

Hari

[darkizz_89]

Wonderful review, Hari!

I would love such a slim pen for quick notes and the ebonite factor is a big plus.