Review Of Asa Swan

August 8, 2016

Hello Everyone,

ASA Swan is one of the less advertised models in their website, so its a relatively obscure product from ASA. i found it while browsing their complete catalogue. It is a simple acrylic pen, devoid of any extra appendages.

I chose the ASA Swan because of its plain and simple design, lacking any extra ornamentation or glitter. I liked its pristine look and de-glamorized appearance. As if the shiny body itself is speaking of the inherent quality. It’s a very personal choice to keep at least one pen with simplest of features. It was intended to provide the eyes some relief from the pressure of viewing all those too self-conscious gaudy Chinese pens for days on end. But I agree that the same featureless look that caught my attention may not appear attractive to many fountain pen lovers, as was evident from the flak I received from a few of my colleagues when I took it to work. Still I like this pen.

Today I am not allotting marks separately as this pen is more of a subjective choice.

ASA Swan

1. Appearance & Design: This is a rod shaped pen. The acrylic comes in different colours like white, light blue, green. Contrary to the common features of acrylic pens, these pens have a single coloured body with no ripples, swirls or patterns. That keeps things simpler. There are two kinds of designs, flat ended and round ended. The body tapers gently towards the section and the section has a notch like portion at the distal end, beneath the nib for easy gripping. The cap is a simple cap with ball end clip. Design-wise it may not attract all fountain pen users. It’s a light weight pen.

The body and cap

2. Construction & Quality : As usual the construction and material is very good from ASA. The acrylic is of good quality, smooth and the pen feels a quality product in hand. The clip is of good quality with springiness and it doesn’t catch rust even after rough use for sometimes. I bought it for everyday usage, although someone might feel tempted to use it more aesthetically, flashing it as a part of their sophistication and aristocracy. The cap fits on the section with three turns, which is a bit frustrating, but as I am accustomed to ASA products by now, that doesn’t pose many problems. There may be some minute imperfections or asymmetry in shape, but again that’s expected for such products. The threads are well crafted, so there is no tightness or problem while closing and opening the cap. The cap lip doesn’t have any rim, but it shouldn’t crack with normal usage.

3. Weight & Dimensions: The dimensions are as follows

Pen Length (Capped) 133 mm

Pen Length (Un-capped- with Nib) 120 mm

Pen Length (Un-capped- without nib) 101 mm

Section Length 25 mm

Cap Length 65 mm

Cap Dia 15 mm

Barrel Dia 14 mm

Section Dia 11.5 mm

This is a small fountain pen with slightly thicker feel. The balance is good, both in un-posted and posted state. But it’s a bit too much long for my hands while posted. No problem felt with long writing sessions.

The Schimdt medium nib....also notice the notch like area for easy grip

The Schimdt converter

4. Nib & Performance: It came with a Schimdt monotone medium nib unit, which was smooth but pretty dry. I had to correct it to suite my taste. The nib is a threaded one. One can choose from other no 5 nibs. There is no breather hole. No flex at all. As Schimdt nibs feature regularly in various higher end ebonite and acrylic pens, I presume that many of the users will be perfectly happy with that. If you wish for another nib, that could be arranged by ASA.

5. Filling System & Maintenance: This pen is 3-in-1 filling system. I use it with a schimdt converter as this helps me to keep the pen clean. As eyedropper the pen will hold a generous amount if ink.

6. Cost & Value (9/10): This pen is valued at INR 1250 (31 USD ). Its an affordable pen with great value on the long run. The availability is a bit of a problem as this is not one of their flagship models. I advise others to directly contact ASA for more information.

7. Conclusion: This is a nice little plain monochrome acrylic pen with a good default nib unit.

Have a nice day.

The whatsapp no of ASA is 9176607660

Email id: asapens.in@gmail.com, unik.services@hotmail.com.

Web site: http://asapens.in/eshop/

Edited August 9, 2016 by Samrat

August 9, 2016

Asa swan in green ebonite with Schmidt medium is one of my daily writers . It's a very good pocket size pen , especially for people who love thicker section like me . It's doesn't cramp your hand on long writing session. Mine was perfectly out of the box ..