Deccan Advocate-Flat Top-Review

[Aditkamath26]

It was in the November of 2017 that I visited the Deccan Pen Stores in Ameerpet in Hyderabad. It almost felt as if I had finally entered my place of pilgrimage. The gentle and kind face, accented by senile wrinkles, of Mr Haleem Siddiqui welcomed me. He was about to leave the shop for prayers but after seeing me enter and ask for their own pens, he decided to delay his prayers, much to my denial.

He showed me a very limited selection of Deccan pens and I saw my pen almost instantly. We talked about the shop and about pens in general. He told me that there was a recently finished Deccan Advocate that cost 30000 INR and housed a gold nib. And then he told me that he did not see many teenagers who were crazy about fountain pens. I promised him I would be back another day and also visit their Abids branch. I’m still waiting for that day…

Now let’s get into the pen.

Design and Writing Comfort: The pen is a different design than many. It is a flat top Deccan Advocate and a design that I had never quite seen. It looks good and is an oversized pen. The section is concave. The pen is made of ebonite and is quite light. It is a really good pen in the hand and feels really comfortable. I have started using it in school and it is a joy to write with it for hours. I have reached that point of loving to write with this pen, that I get upset when teachers do not give any notes. It is a good companion during Accountancy and Business Studies. It can be posted but becomes absurdly long and back heavy. Being ebonite, the pen does feel warmer and softer to the touch than acrylic or resin.

Looks and Construction: The pen is completely handmade. And as I said, made of ebonite. Mine is the Dark Brown Rippled version and looks really beautiful. Coupled with the imperfections of the ebonite, this pen almost looks and feels organic. Like something that could grow in the soil.

This pen falls a bit back in construction and finishing. The section has a few rough-cut marks that could be felt. You can kind of see these marks in the third picture. Also, the end of the cap tends to scratch the barrel. You can see that in the fourth photo. The clip wiggles in its place but now I have slightly glued it and has been solid ever since. The biggest problem was finishing. The pen was so poorly polished. It had tool marks all over. Once I reached Abu Dhabi, I ordered some Novus #1 and Novus #2 polish and some nail buffers and polished it to a mirror finish. That’s when I could truly appreciate the beauty of ebonite. The beautiful ripples can be seen here in this photo.

Filling Mechanism: The pen is a simple eyedropper and there is nothing more to it than that. Since it is a huge pen, it holds a ton of ink. However, I would like to share something interesting here. I asked Mr Siddiqui if I required silicone grease for this pen. He replied in positive and greased up my pen for me. When I told him that silicone grease was scarce in UAE, he told me how I could make some of my own grease. He told me to melt some coconut oil and candle wax together in a ratio of 1:2. Then a thick paste would be formed and after cooling, it could be used as grease. I haven’t tried this but since he is a pen expert, I am willing to take his word for it.

Writing: I originally had a Kanwrite flex nib in this pen and after heat setting the nib and feed, the writing experience was of perfect ink flow, but the nib was really scratchy. It would write really smooth at a high angle but not at a normal angle. So I ended up grinding the nib to a scratchy italic. I hated the nib and threw it away. I now have some experience grinding nibs and have a #6 JoWo medium nib with a stub/italic grind. Its quite in between those grinds I believe. Coupled with and ebonite feed, the writing is really nice, wet and perfectly smooth with ample line variation on Rhodia 80gsm paper. The nib was a single tone gold and I removed some plating to make it two-tone. This was done using an electric eraser. I use this pen in school just for the fun writing experience and comfort. My friends, every now and then stare into my books and admire the line variation and of course, my Deccan Advocate.

Final Thoughts: At the price of 950 INR, I must say, its quite worth it considering it is a handmade pen from one of the oldest pen shops in India. Yes, it does have its share of problems but not any that cannot be corrected. I would place this pen much higher than the Pilot Metropolitan and Lamy Safari/Al-Star/Vista. It doesn't however reach the level of my TWSBI ECO, ASA Nauka or my Platinum 3776 Century. But it is a nice addition to anyone's collection who prefers large pens.

(The photos were taken with a Nikkon D5300 in natural light. I must admit this was a very difficult pen to photograph considering I am a total newbie to photography.)

Thank you for reading my review and hope it was useful. I look forward to another review but I am out of pens now

Regards,

Adit Sreesh Kamath

Edited April 12, 2018 by Aditkamath26

[hari317]

Congrats. I am a big fan of the advocate.

[farazqamar]

Nice pen and good review!

[Aditkamath26]

Congrats. I am a big fan of the advocate.

 

Thank you! Me too!!

[Aditkamath26]

Nice pen and good review!

 

Thank you Mr Faraz! This one is surely making its way to the Pelikan Hub this year.

[bobje]

Detailed review, wonderful personal story and handwriting, and lovely photographs. Thank you, Adit.

[Aditkamath26]

Detailed review, wonderful personal story and handwriting, and lovely photographs. Thank you, Adit.

Thanks a lot!!

[pepsiplease69]

Thats a brilliant recipe, coconut oil / candle wax 1:2 mixture to make sealant grease.

 

I shall definitely try this.

[Aditkamath26]

Thats a brilliant recipe, coconut oil / candle wax 1:2 mixture to make sealant grease.

 

I shall definitely try this.

 

I too want to try this badly. But if anything goes wrong, I have to bear the wrath of my mom.

[Bold2013]

I have this great pen also but mine is eyedroppered and threaded to fit a pelikan m800 nib.

[PAKMAN]

Beautiful pen! Huge!

[Aditkamath26]

I have this great pen also but mine is eyedroppered and threaded to fit a pelikan m800 nib.

That would make it a dream combination. Brown rippled ebonite with a Two-tone m800 nib...

[Aditkamath26]

Beautiful pen! Huge!

Definetly agree with that.

[shrujaya]

Aah Adit ... congratulations, and so ... you finally got your Advocate ... my first Indian handmade fountain pen was the Advocate and ever since, I have been a Deccan fan and a huge Advocate follower ... that's a new clip they have on the Advocate now ... you have a lovely hand, as they say, letters like pearls!! Enjoy your Advocate ... it gives you a great writing experience ...

 

Regards,

 

Jai

[Aditkamath26]

Aah Adit ... congratulations, and so ... you finally got your Advocate ... my first Indian handmade fountain pen was the Advocate and ever since, I have been a Deccan fan and a huge Advocate follower ... that's a new clip they have on the Advocate now ... you have a lovely hand, as they say, letters like pearls!! Enjoy your Advocate ... it gives you a great writing experience ...

 

Regards,

 

Jai

Yes, finally got my Advocate. I know how happuly I was while getting it. I absolutely adore this new clip though it was slightly loose. Thanks for the compliments. I have another Advocate waiting for me with my cousin. I am surely enjoying it..

[majorworks]

Beautiful pen, and very nice photos and review. Are you kidding, 950 INR for that pen? That's just over $14 US. It's like you stole it.

 

I wouldn't worry one bit about some machining marks, etc. It's a handmade pen and that's what gives it character. Congratulations on your Deccan!

[Aditkamath26]

Beautiful pen, and very nice photos and review. Are you kidding, 950 INR for that pen? That's just over $14 US. It's like you stole it.

 

I wouldn't worry one bit about some machining marks, etc. It's a handmade pen and that's what gives it character. Congratulations on your Deccan!

I agree. Its almost like I stole it. Well a tiny bit machining marks could be accepted but I am talking about actual rough cuts on the section in other words, like seams in plastic sections. There were many other machining marks but I was quite able to polish it out.

[pepsiplease69]

 

I too want to try this badly. But if anything goes wrong, I have to bear the wrath of my mom.

Tried the coconut oil mixture with paraffin (easily available here in super markets under canning supplies)

 

The result I got was a little too solid of a paste. I think because both paraffin as well as the coconut oil I used are both pretty much solidified in normal room temperatures. I wasnt able to stick to a 1:2 proportion as per the recipe.

 

The resulting mixture was not gooey enough.

 

Ive melted it down again and tying to add a teaspoon of vegetable oil.

 

A word of advice: microwave is your best friend.

[mitto]

So is the flat top Advocate better than the sigar shaped Advocate?

[Aditkamath26]

Tried the coconut oil mixture with paraffin (easily available here in super markets under canning supplies)

 

The result I got was a little too solid of a paste. I think because both paraffin as well as the coconut oil I used are both pretty much solidified in normal room temperatures. I wasnt able to stick to a 1:2 proportion as per the recipe.

 

The resulting mixture was not gooey enough.

 

Ive melted it down again and tying to add a teaspoon of vegetable oil.

 

A word of advice: microwave is your best friend.

 

Do tell me how the new mixture turned out. Now definitely I think you should add more coconut oil to it. I will try it after your results.

 

P.S. Use the mixture only for cheap pens first. I do not want you to destroy the expensive ones.