Asa Tangerine Translucent Nauka Review

[dinuraj]

Hi,

 

This review has been posted in my blog at https://inkpensblog.wordpress.com/2017/05/12/asa-tangerine-nauka-review/ . Please check it for my other reviews.

 

I was casually browsing ASA Pens’ catalogue at asapens.in one day and I noticed a new listing for a Nauka in tangerine acrylic. It was a bright orange version of translucent Nauka (TransNauka). It was a limited edition (only 250 pens) according to the listing and so I made an order the next day itself. I already had one in ebonite and and one in translucent clear acrylic. I loved those pens and thought it would be a nice addition to that set.

Even though the website said it would take four weeks for delivery , the pen reached me in a week’s time (Subbu of ASApens told me the reason later). It came in a nice looking ASA branded wooden box as opposed to the regular bubble wrap.

It was a gorgeous pen. The acrylic was bright orange and the body of the pen had a brushed finish. The golden coloured clip augmented the beauty of the pen very well. It came with a golden coloured medium Jowo nib.

Okay. The pen is beautiful. But, what about writing performance ? It is one of the best nibs I have used. It is tuned very well and wrote very smoothly. It came a close second to my Lamy 2000 in the smoothness contest. The best Jowo nib I have written with. Hats of to Subbu sir if he has done some magic to this nib.

I tried a few inks in this pen. J. Herbin 1670 Rouge Hermatite and Private Reverse Orange Crush were the first two I tried. But, I settled with Diamine Sunset. That ink matched the pen in colour and in character.

ASA Nauka has been made in various materials and has been reviewed a number of times in FPN. So, I am not going to the details of the design, filling mechanism etc. ( These are the Nauka reviews in FPN that I have seen. Sagarb's review , s_t_e_v_e's review, Pen_andy's first impressions, bobje's review of ebonite nauka, bobje's review of dartmoor nauka, mehandiratta's review of TransNauka, amk's review and the latest touzeen's review of "Dolce" Nauka)

The cap finial is a big bulbus part which almost glows. I wonder how it would have looked if it was polished well instead of the brushed finish. Like a Mont Blanc Starwalker kind of finish !!! who knows..

The Tangerine Nauka is slightly bigger than the ebonite Nauka in girth and length. Actually, it is slightly longer than the clear transnauka as well. I don't know if it is by design or it is just this pen's peculiarity as all of them are handmade. Below are some comparison photos.

Out of this, the ebonite Nauka continues to be the most comfortable pen to write for long sessions due to its slightly slimmer grip section. But, that does not in any way mean that the Translucent brothers are not comfortable. They are also very nice to hold and have very good balance.

I have one gripe with the transNaukas. The cap threads are at the end of the section and they get exposed to ink when filling up and it gets stuck there. The ink can spread to the cap threads as well. It take a bit of effort to clean up those threads. You can see blue ink in the clear transNauka's pen threads and cap threads.

When I thanked Subbu for this beautiful pen, he gave me another pleasant surprise. My Tangerine Nauka is the first one in the limited release set. So, it is 1/250. I wish if the serial number was stamped in the pen as well. That was the reason for the fast delivery as well.

Overall, it is a very nice pen in all aspects and I carry it everyday along with my other Naukas in my backpack.

Edited May 12, 2017 by dinuraj

[visvamitra]

Very nice color. Thank you for the review.

[Cryptos]

If you use it as an eyedropper the thread issue disappears. That's what I did to my acrylic Nauka (before I gave it away to someone on FPN - the last time I ever do anything like that).

 

I've wanted to like Indian fountain pens for a while, but my experiences have not been that great, and at the price that is now being asked (close to USD100 for the one in this thread) I don't find they compete well with other regular manufacturers (Pilot, Platinum etc), though that may be simply due to the generic quality of the nibs used.

[cleosmama]

One thing that is nice is that Mr. Kandan is willing to customize a pen for essentially the same price as the pen not customized (say, if the pen is too large or too small). You can't get that kind of service everywhere. And you can ask for a JoWo nib, which is the same nib that Edison or Scriptorium uses.

[fpwriter]

That orange colour looks really nice and the photos have been taken extremely well. Congratulations on getting the pen before the delivery schedule too.

I recollect reading some where that this orange will soon be a standard offering. So what exactly differentiates the limited edition pens?

Thank you for the review and in advance for your responce.

Cheers!

Edited May 11, 2017 by fpwriter

[subbucal]

If you use it as an eyedropper the thread issue disappears. That's what I did to my acrylic Nauka (before I gave it away to someone on FPN - the last time I ever do anything like that).

 

I've wanted to like Indian fountain pens for a while, but my experiences have not been that great, and at the price that is now being asked (close to USD100 for the one in this thread) I don't find they compete well with other regular manufacturers (Pilot, Platinum etc), though that may be simply due to the generic quality of the nibs used.

Hello EOC,

This pen comes with a JoWo nib unit fitted only, the quality is at par with the best available today.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Best regards

Subramaniam

[subbucal]

One thing that is nice is that Mr. Kandan is willing to customize a pen for essentially the same price as the pen not customized (say, if the pen is too large or too small). You can't get that kind of service everywhere. And you can ask for a JoWo nib, which is the same nib that Edison or Scriptorium uses.

Thanks... This pen uses a JoWo no 6 model, mentioned above.. Is same which the above pen makers mentioned uses.

 

Just to clarify

[bobje]

Dinuraj, the Nauka glows in orange! Beautiful pen, and great photos.

[Cryptos]

Hello EOC,

This pen comes with a JoWo nib unit fitted only, the quality is at par with the best available today.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Best regards

Subramaniam

 

I was talking about the nibs of Pilot, Sailor, Platinum and so on. These are not Jowo nibs.

 

Super pictures by the OP though.

[Sagarb]

A superb review Dinu..and what a luscious pen...Brilliant photography.. Why not some writing sample?

[Namo]

 

I was talking about the nibs of Pilot, Sailor, Platinum and so on. These are not Jowo nibs.

 

Super pictures by the OP though.

The Nauka offers a design that is seldom seen - an alternative is the Oldwin classique, at 600... I am with you regarding the nib, but what I really like about the JoWo housing is that it makes it easy to change the nib and try something more exciting. I have two Naukas in ebonite, one it fitted with a Waterman super 6 (Le Man's nib in 14k gold) OBB nib, the other with a feed and B nib coming from a Platinum pen. I think this is really neat. :-D

[ManofKent]

Attractive pen. Thanks for sharing.

[half_inked_one]

"The cap threads are at the end of the section and they get exposed to ink when filling up and it gets stuck there. The ink can spread to the cap threads as well. It take a bit of effort to clean up those threads."

 

There is solution to that problem. In Franklin-Christoph pens like Model 02 the threads are at the end too, but they are thick and very easy to clean. The other advantage of such threads is that it takes 1.1-1.5 turn to close/open the cap.

One day pens like this beauty will have such solution implemented, I am sure.

[dinuraj]

Thanks Visvamitra, fpwritter, Bobje, EoC, Sagarb, ManofKent for the nice words.

Very nice color. Thank you for the review.

 

 

That orange colour looks really nice and the photos have been taken extremely well. Congratulations on getting the pen before the delivery schedule too.
I recollect reading some where that this orange will soon be a standard offering. So what exactly differentiates the limited edition pens?
Thank you for the review and in advance for your responce.
Cheers!

 

 

Dinuraj, the Nauka glows in orange! Beautiful pen, and great photos.

 

 

 

I was talking about the nibs of Pilot, Sailor, Platinum and so on. These are not Jowo nibs.

 

Super pictures by the OP though.

 

 

A superb review Dinu..and what a luscious pen...Brilliant photography.. Why not some writing sample?

 

 

Attractive pen. Thanks for sharing.

[dinuraj]

If you use it as an eyedropper the thread issue disappears. That's what I did to my acrylic Nauka (before I gave it away to someone on FPN - the last time I ever do anything like that).

 

I've wanted to like Indian fountain pens for a while, but my experiences have not been that great, and at the price that is now being asked (close to USD100 for the one in this thread) I don't find they compete well with other regular manufacturers (Pilot, Platinum etc), though that may be simply due to the generic quality of the nibs used.

That is a nice suggestion to use it an eye dropper. I was using the clear nauka as an eye dropper for a while. Then I got bored with the ink colour and moved back to a converter.

[dinuraj]

"The cap threads are at the end of the section and they get exposed to ink when filling up and it gets stuck there. The ink can spread to the cap threads as well. It take a bit of effort to clean up those threads."

 

There is solution to that problem. In Franklin-Christoph pens like Model 02 the threads are at the end too, but they are thick and very easy to clean. The other advantage of such threads is that it takes 1.1-1.5 turn to close/open the cap.

One day pens like this beauty will have such solution implemented, I am sure.

Yes. The block threads will solve this issue. Subbu sir should comment if that is possible on Nauka.

[dinuraj]

A superb review Dinu..and what a luscious pen...Brilliant photography.. Why not some writing sample?

 

Let me post writing sample sometime.

[Lexus77]

Wow, that really is a gorgeous pen.

[subbucal]

Wow, that really is a gorgeous pen.

 

Thank you sir

[fountainpagan]

Thank you Dinuraj for a great review, and excellent photos.

 

I love the Nauka.

 

I almost regret not liking demonstrator pens. This tangerine looks very appetizing