BBC Article On Indian Artisanal Pens

[OCArt]

Link here

[HartGummi]

I am both happy and sad to see Fosfor gain more attention. The waiting list will keep getting longer.

[Dimy]

Ah the lovely art pens......as hart said above the wait times are rising fast...., I feel by the time I am actually able to get such pen it will be nakaya custom pen wait territory for me......jokes aside, they really are beautiful pens.

 

Fosor and such brands I fear will become way too collectable in future... sadly I don't think I will get one on time...well who knows though and that's part of the beauty of these things.

 

Thanks for sharing OCArt, they look lovely.

[Karmachanic]

13 hours ago, HartGummi said:

I am both happy and sad to see Fosfor gain more attention. The waiting list will keep getting longer.

 

And longer. The 89 week projected wait came to an end late October. Manoj had health problems; and then the C thing. I continue to wait patiently, knowing that a beautiful, very carefully made, unique pen will one day arrive. I'll post images, hopefully in July.

 

Funds do not change hands until work on the pen begins.

[hari317]

Really happy to read about the success of our Artisans and their pens.

[Rewpert]

I had not heard of Fosfor Pens before reading this article - but I have just contact them about ordering one of their novel "IRIS" model pens!

 

'Rew.

[sgphototn]

As one who sees Indian pens as a great value in craftsmanship and style, thanks for the article. I'm particularly interested in the buffalo horn pen from Lotus.

 

Has anyone here purchased one? I'd be very interested in your thoughts. Thanks.

[HartGummi]

1 hour ago, Rewpert said:

I had not heard of Fosfor Pens before reading this article - but I have just contact them about ordering one of their novel "IRIS" model pens!

 

'Rew.

The waiting period is around 96 weeks. There is a premium option that reduces the waiting period, but even that has a long queue.

9 minutes ago, sgphototn said:

Has anyone here purchased one? I'd be very interested in your thoughts. Thanks.

@hari317, Vaibhav Mehandiratta and a few other users have bought from Fosfor. One of the shortcomings of Indian pen makers is the limited selection of materials.

Fosfor offers a very wide variety of materials. His pens turned out of Conway Stewart acrylics and SEM ebonites are extremely beautiful.

 

Lotus doesn't offer buffalo horn as a regular offering. I believe somebody must have sent him that.

[sgphototn]

1 minute ago, HartGummi said:

Vaibhav Mehandiratta and a few other users have bought them. One of the shortcomings of Indian pen makers is the limited selection of materials.

 

What are the materials Indian pen makers would like to have available? Are there prohibitions, import or otherwise, that makes materials difficult to acquire?

[HartGummi]

15 minutes ago, sgphototn said:

What are the materials Indian pen makers would like to have available? Are there prohibitions, import or otherwise, that makes materials difficult to acquire?

Colors and patterns are limited although there are exceptions like Ranga. 

 

Ebonite sourced locally has pits and other imperfections. It is one of the reasons why you see brushed "Bakul" pens so often. India has high custom duties on almost every import. 

 

If you are willing to go for a more expensive (depends on your budget) pen then Lotus will be a good choice. Unlike Fosfor Lotus doesn't have a waiting list that stretches for months. In my experience Lotus returns emails promptly too.

 

This one was made by Lotus. Looking at Lotus' website it would appear they do not make pens on demand, but apparently they do. I have a hunch Mr. Singhi imports premium materials.

 

[sgphototn]

11 minutes ago, HartGummi said:

Colors and patterns are limited although there are exceptions like Ranga. 

 

Ebonite sourced locally has pits and other imperfections. It is one of the reasons why you see brushed "Bakul" pens so often. India has high custom duties on almost every import. 

 

If you are willing to go for a more expensive (depends on your budget) pen then Lotus will be a good choice. Unlike Fosfor Lotus doesn't have a waiting list that stretches for months. In my experience Lotus returns emails promptly too.

 

This one was made by Lotus. Looking at Lotus' website it would appear they do not make pens on demand, but apparently they do. I have a hunch Mr. Singhi imports premium materials.

 

Thanks so much. I've wondered why you see so many ebonite pens from India in  basic colors like red, green, brown, and blue ripple/mottled, and black. 

[Karmachanic]

1 hour ago, sgphototn said:

Thanks so much. I've wondered why you see so many ebonite pens from India in  basic colors like red, green, brown, and blue ripple/mottled, and black. 

 

If you go to the Lotus Pens site you will find on their landing page a link to "Custom Pens" and on that page a link to Turners Workshop where you'll find many blanks to chose from, including Conway Stewart and Omas.

 

Fosfor will also work with you on materials.

[sansenri]

happy to see this, Indian pen artistry deserves to live and prosper (and so do fountain pens )