Asa Halwa Review

[Prithwijit]

Introduction

Halwa / Halva (Bengali: হালুয়া‎) is a famous and traditional sweet of India which is slightly gelatinous and made from grain flour, typically semolina. The primary ingredients are clarified butter, flour, and sugar.

So why would anyone name a pen after a confectionary item? The story behind this is really funny. It starts with me acquiring my first set of acrylic pen blanks called “Seasons” and sending a photograph of them to Mr. Subramaniam of ASA pens.

Image: Seasons acrylic pen blanks

Imagine my shock when he replied that the picture reminded him of Halwa. At first I was a bit miffed but then he shared a picture of a pack of Halwa and I found out more pictures of Halwa’s ready to be devoured.

Image: Box pack of Halwa’s

Image: Halwa’s ready to be devoured

I couldn’t help but notice a certain degree of similarity in the colour themes and was amazed at the connection between the two. Ever since then, we kept on referring to these blanks as Halwa blanks and the pen that was made naturally inherited the title.

Design

The design brief I gave ASA for the Halwa was quite simple. I wanted it to be based on the ASA Popsicle but having ASA Daily size with an ASA I-Can section. For those of you who may not be familiar with the ASA catalogue, this essentially means that I wanted a simple and classic cigar shaped pen with the external dimensions of an ASA daily white still taking #6 nibs like that of ASA Popsicle (a larger cigar shaped pen in the ASA line up) with a section that is designed like ASA I-Can / I-Will which in my experience is extremely comfortable. The section gradually tapers from the barrel towards the nib before starting to flare out about 7mm to 8mm before it ends.

As the images will stand testament to, ASA managed in delivering to me exactly what I wanted. The shape of the pen is a classic cigar shape with gradual tapering of the barrel and the cap towards the end filial. The entire pen is beautifully polished smooth and shines brilliantly. The pen comes with a chrome plated teardrop shaped clip which is similar to the one used in the ASA Daily.

I wanted to see the impact of the beautiful material and contrasting colours and thus deliberately kept the design simple. As you can see, the colour combination has indeed come out very nicely. Whether posted or unposted, the interplay of the colours comes out clearly. The only fly in the ointment is the slight mismatch in colours between the cap filial and the cap itself. I reckon it has happened due to paucity of material of similar colour being available, but nevertheless wish this could be avoided somehow.

Size and Balance

The Halwa is a full sized pen comparable in length to the ASA Daily, MB 149, Sailor 1911 L, etc. Despite being a full sized pen, the Halwa is quite light has an amazing weight distribution making it extremely well balanced. The writing comfort is incredible and it promises hours of stress free writing experience. The light material and the cigar shape both contribute to the comfort negating any apprehensions that might be there due to the length and the diameter of the barrel.

Nib

The pen was paired with a Jowo/WIN #6 steel nib with Ruthenium plated finish with a medium tip. The nib is smooth and lays down a consistent medium width line on the paper.

Filling Mechanism

I prefer pens that accept standard international cartridges and compatible convertors. I find them to provide the best proposition around value, system longevity, convenience and widespread compatibility. The Halwa has the aforesaid filling mechanism and comes with a Schmidt K5 convertor out of the box.

Build Quality

As is usually the case with ASA, the fit and finish of the pen was superlative. The final polish and the attention to detail in obtaining the desired finish is impressive. It is however a hand-made pen, so there is likely to be some fine traces or quirks if one inspects very minutely. They are not visible to me with naked eye.

The only area where there is still some likely room for improvement is where the cap filial meets the rest of the cap. Apart from the slight colour coordination issues I mentioned earlier, the clip ring is not flush fitting with the rest of the cap (About 0.5mm difference in diameter) and ASA can look into bettering this aspect of the design.

Writing Experience

The combination of the Jowo nib with WIN feeds and sleeves is very well known within the community and is usually considered a winner. The pen is smooth laying down an acceptable line of medium width. Where I found this nib a bit lacking was on the flow and it seems a bit dry to me. This is quite surprising since I have a lot of other Jowo/WIN nibs and I have generally found them to be excellent wet writers out of the box. I haven’t done any tweaking or tuning yet, but might do some simple stuff to try and increase the flow just a bit.

Price and Value

The Halwa was not sold as such to me like a commercial sale. Rather Mr. Subramaniam took a modest remuneration akin to cost of any pen in the ASA Stellar collection towards getting the pen made. Nib and blank costs were obviously extra. This is a great value because I am not aware of anyone else giving one off custom pens at regular pen prices and that too at the value end of the spectrum.

Specifications

I will put in my usual disclaimers here. I don’t have access to precision measurement instruments such as Vernier calliper and you would have to settle for the approximate measurements I made using a normal ruler and my eyes which means there might be a little bit of deviation due to parallax effect. However, given these pens are handmade and there are small piece to piece variations anyway, the measurements I am providing should give you a clear indication of what to expect from the pen.

Length (capped) – 157 mm
Length (uncapped) – 140 mm
Length (cap) – 75 mm
Length (section) – 25 mm
Maximum width (Cap) – 15.5 mm
Minimum width (Barrel) – 14 mm
Maximum section width – 13 mm
Minimum section width – 10 mm

Conclusion

This is the first pen I should have reviewed given that this was my first custom / semi-custom commissioned pen done from ASA. Needless to say that I am thrilled with it. Both as a writing instrument as well as a visual object or art it is superlative. Friends who have got a chance to play with my pen have commented positively on its balance, comfort and overall writing experience.

Postscript

Ever since getting this pen made, I have been pestering Mr. Subramaniam to release it as a regular product. I am happy to let you all know that he has finally agreed to make a small set of limited edition pens (approx. 10 to 15 pieces) using similar rainbow themed acrylic blanks. The design will be an updated/modified version of Halwa and the product is getting a proper name called “Santulan”. Let’s hope he can releases it before Christmas.

Edited November 7, 2015 by Prithwijit

[vig2432]

Beautiful pen. Enjoyed reading the review

[Sanjay13leo]

Halwa to the true sense the colors of the pen truest match the colors of the halwa. The review is also very colourful and filled with the beautiful pictures. The artisan has brought out the best. Congratulations on such a splendid pen. Wishing you many more and much more. Great review, good quality pictures make it a wonderful read too.

[RayJ]

Halwa?!

Can't stop laughing. I keep my hands away from food while writing.

Thanks for the detailed review.

[Sanjeev Prakash]

Nicely written. Crisp and lovely photos !! Yes ASA does go that extra mile to add value and joy in his creations.

[fountainpagan]

Thank you for this interesting review, as you so well know how to.

 

Nice pen. Great photos.

[Sagarb]

A truly eye-candy..I believe that it made your pen box more vivid..congrats.

[Prithwijit]

Attaching a side by side picture of the ASA Daily and ASA Halwa to highlight the lineage.

 

 

Regards,

 

Prithwijit

 

 

[pgd84]

Great review with stunning pictures as always!!

[TMac]

Very nice review of a beautiful pen. I only recently discovered ASA pens, bought 2 and waiting on the most recent group buy. Great pens!

[Mickey17]

This is hilarious! Great review. The pen looks... tasty!

[avoiceinthedistance]

Sweet. Thanks for the review.

[amk]

I want one of the limited edition! It's marvellous.

 

I wonder if Mr S. could ship each pen with a tray of halwa? I'm missing my Indian sweeties (nowhere to get them in my area, sadly). Long time since I had any sandesh, too!

Edited November 16, 2015 by amk

[Prithwijit]

  On 11/16/2015 at 10:34 AM, amk said:

I want one of the limited edition! It's marvellous.

 

I wonder if Mr S. could ship each pen with a tray of halwa? I'm missing my Indian sweeties (nowhere to get them in my area, sadly). Long time since I had any sandesh, too!

 

Anyone who cites Sandesh is either a Bengali or has more than superficial knowledge of Bengali sweets. Given that Mr. Subramaniam grew up in Kolkata (erst. Calcutta) in Bengal, I am sure your comments would resonate very well with him.

 

As I mentioned in my review, ASA will commission a very small set of a refined version of this pen in similar materials. However not more than 2-3 will be available in each colour. If you are truly interested, you can reach out to him and book one for yourself.

 

Regards,

 

Prithwijit

[subbucal]

  On 11/16/2015 at 10:34 AM, amk said:

I want one of the limited edition! It's marvellous.

 

I wonder if Mr S. could ship each pen with a tray of halwa? I'm missing my Indian sweeties (nowhere to get them in my area, sadly). Long time since I had any sandesh, too!

 

Why not? Am looking at a few in line with Halwa, in other finishes. Very limited numbers. Maybe once the Nauka Group buy production and process in complete.

 

I will keep you and this thread informed, with all developments.

 

Yes, maybe with some Halwa too!!

 

:-)

[Cryptos]

EoC would be very interested in a clipless version of this. Especially if it is designed to take Jowo nib units.

[mhguda]

I'd be interested in the version with a clip. It looks wonderful. Such beautiful colors.

[taike]

A clipless version - with the cap made as a single piece - would be super nice.

[Cryptos]

A clipless version with the cap flush to the barrel would be even better!

[kirki.mandrake]

I would like to reserve 1 just when it goes into production, with the cap made as a single piece.
please, I would not lose it!