Asa Monal - A Custom Beauty

[drmukherjee]

Recently I found myself to be using more pocket pens than bigger pens but I lacked any good custom pocket pen.

 

So I went to Lakshminarayanan Subramaniam of ASA Pen who suggested me to look into ASA SWAN ,I liked the model

and thought how to spice things up .. I recently acquired only 1.5 rods of the very illusive and sold out

Conway Stewart Flecked Amethyst and thought to make a custom pen based on ASA SWAN out of those blanks ..

The end result

http://i.imgur.com/QGnOBg7.jpg

 

THE ASA MONAL

1. Appearance & Design:- The pen is a rod shaped pen .The body and the section is made from Conway Stewart Flecked Amethyst blank.

The cap is made from black glossy Indian Ebonite and te cap finial is also made from the CS blank. I opted for this custom design

mainly for two reasons . Number one being there wasnt enough CS material available anywhere to make a full size cap and number two

this design shows off the fusion between EAST and WEST ..

http://i.imgur.com/BH5UPPj.jpg

 

The fusion between EAST and WEST

Here the gorgeous CS blank weds the Indian shiny ebonite .. I also made a smaller cap from the CS blank ( still in making process)

 

2. Construction & Quality : As always ASA made a fantastic job with the CS blank. The finish is world class ,devoid of any tool

marks or imperfection . I cant even feel the joint where the black ebonite meets the Flecked Amethyst finial on the cap .

http://i.imgur.com/LKaYidd.jpg

The cap opens in very convenient

one and half turns . The section is a nice and smooth hourglass transition from the barrel and the threads are perfectly smooth

http://i.imgur.com/UyESpOB.jpg

The smooth barrel to section transition with hourglass section

3.Comparison :- As this pen is based on the model of ASA SWAN a comparison with it only fair.

Both pens are almost equal in length when capped . However the barrel of the ASA MONAL is a little bit thicker and has flat ends .

http://i.imgur.com/shct06r.jpg

 

 

ASA MONAL AND ASA SWAN CAPPED

Opening the cap of both of pens reveals hourglass section in both , ASA MONAL has slightly thicker section diameter which I enjoy a lot ..

http://i.imgur.com/DdUe9K8.jpg

 

ASA MONAL AND ASA SWAN UNCAPPED

4. Nib & Performance: - IF you ask anyone from India the best Indian nib , I am sure they will come up with KANWRITE ..

The ASA MONAL is custom fitted with KANWRITE #35 M FLEX nib unit ( same unit in noodlers ahab)

The beauty of this nib unit is that not only it writes super smooth out of the box but also you can swap the nib unit with inexpensive

nib units from KANWRITE with the range of EF,F,M,B,BB, RTOBLQ,LFTOBQ ,STUB in regular line and F,M,B in flex lines . This gives an amazing adaptability

of the pen .. EF TO BB just in one quick screw in and out

http://i.imgur.com/DVBEg2L.jpg

 

KANWRITE #35 M FLEX AND SCHMIDT M

http://i.imgur.com/KIPa9Nu.jpg

 

ASA MONAL DISASSEMBLED WITH #35 KANWRITE NIB UNIT

 

TO give an size comparison of the ASA MONAL with LAMY 2000

http://i.imgur.com/DHFlzt7.jpg

 

ASA MONAL AND LAMY 2000 CAPPED

http://i.imgur.com/OFxqsKh.jpg

 

ASA MONAL AND LAMY 2000 UNCAPPED

5. CONCLUSION AND WRITING - The ASA MONAL is an example of true custom beauty ,an wonderful writer and superb craftsmanship of ASA ..

I am very much delighted to possess this beauty ..

 

http://i.imgur.com/5eMgc0s.jpg

Edited August 27, 2016 by drmukherjee

[visvamitra]

Nice review, thank you.

[fountainpagan]

Very nice review. Thank you.

 

Another great ASA.

 

Enjoy greatly your pen.

[drmukherjee]

Very nice review. Thank you.

 

Another great ASA.

 

Enjoy greatly your pen.

Thank you. As always ASA delivers consistent craftsmanship..

[drmukherjee]

. As always ASA delivers consistent excellent craftsmanship..

[bobje]

Dr. Mukherjee,

Your collaboration with L. Subramaniam created a truly striking pen -- what an inspired combination of black and amethyst! You've chosen an elegant section, and your recommendation makes me want to try a project with these Kanwrite nibs. In addition to showing elements of east and west, the pen also presents a magical, fantastical quality, much like the Mad Hatter in "Alice in Wonderland." If the black cap is the hat, the amethyst is the ribbon. And if your pen sold for 10 shillings and 6 pence, you got a bargain! Wonderful pen, Dr. Mukherjee, and thank you for sharing the project. What does "monal" mean, incidentally?

 

[drmukherjee]

Dr. Mukherjee,

Your collaboration with L. Subramaniam created a truly striking pen -- what an inspired combination of black and amethyst! You've chosen an elegant section, and your recommendation makes me want to try a project with these Kanwrite nibs. In addition to showing elements of east and west, the pen also presents a magical, fantastical quality, much like the Mad Hatter in "Alice in Wonderland." If the black cap is the hat, the amethyst is the ribbon. And if your pen sold for 10 shillings and 6 pence, you got a bargain! Wonderful pen, Dr. Mukherjee, and thank you for sharing the project. What does "monal" mean, incidentally?

 

Thank you BOB. MONAL is a bird found in Himalayas ,as ASA SWAN is named after a bird but swans are not

so much colorful as this pen , I thought I would name it after a more colorful bird .. Here is a picture

of MONAL taken from WIKIPEDIA

 

http://i.imgur.com/Ppec9gc.jpg

[Sanjay13leo]

Congratulations On a beautiful pen

Convey Stewart Blanks are pretty blanks and a rarity these days.

The pocket pen with a black cap seems a nice touch of fusion too

Wonderful review, good clear detailed pictures. The nib on his pen is wonderful and a great choice in my opinion. Wishing you long lengths of wonderful writing and great memories with the pen. Thank you ASA for another wonderful pen. Would love to see more in the future sir. All the best

Edited August 28, 2016 by Sanjay13leo

[Prithwijit]

Hi Daktarbabu,

 

Congratulations on designing, commissioning and obtaining a truly unique pen. I like the factthat every part of the pen is unique and customized - the shape, size, materials, nib and even the name.

 

Its also probably the first custom pen that I am seeing (apart from Azaadi) that combined acrylic and ebonite in one pen.

 

Regards,

 

Prithwijit

[drmukherjee]

Hi Daktarbabu,

 

Congratulations on designing, commissioning and obtaining a truly unique pen. I like the factthat every part of the pen is unique and customized - the shape, size, materials, nib and even the name.

 

Its also probably the first custom pen that I am seeing (apart from Azaadi) that combined acrylic and ebonite in one pen.

 

Regards,

 

Prithwijit

Thank you. Would not be possible without your help regarding the blank. .

[drmukherjee]

Congratulations On a beautiful pen

Convey Stewart Blanks are pretty blanks and a rarity these days.

The pocket pen with a black cap seems a nice touch of fusion too

Wonderful review, good clear detailed pictures. The nib on his pen is wonderful and a great choice in my opinion. Wishing you long lengths of wonderful writing and great memories with the pen. Thank you ASA for another wonderful pen. Would love to see more in the future sir. All the best

Thank you sanjay

[jay.is.here]

Lovely pen. where can we get kanwrite nibs?

[drmukherjee]

Lovely pen. where can we get kanwrite nibs?

Kanwrite nibs are readily available from manufacturer directly in India ,I don't know about rest of the world ..

[pgd84]

Doc,

 

Congratulations on your custom pen & thank you for the review!

 

Regards,

 

Prads

Edited August 29, 2016 by Prads

[Sagarb]

Lovely pen..wishing to see it in person in our next meet.

[drmukherjee]

Lovely pen..wishing to see it in person in our next meet.

Sure would love to ..

[drmukherjee]

Doc,

 

Congratulations on your custom pen & thank you for the review!

 

Regards,

 

Prads

Thank you

[RobertJWarren]

Very nice review and great pictures. Thank you!

[gopool]

Great review, great story and great workmanship by Subbu Sir of ASA pens.

[drmukherjee]

Very nice review and great pictures. Thank you!

Thank you