Review of ranga splendour

[Harish N V]

Greetings to everyone. This is another review of a Ranga Pen. This is the third review of Ranga pens and this time it is the ranga splendour made in black regular ebonite with a matte finish.

   As you can see this is a torpedo shaped pen and has a gold clip. The pen is really nice to hold and the simplistic design is really nice. The pen  feels very light even though Iam not saying the exact weight as i have not measured it. But this light weight is very comparative. I am saying after i have gotten a bit used to a Giant bamboo from Ranga. So for small pen users, the size and weight can be intimidating! It came with a Bock fine nib and a Schmidt converter. The Ranga packaging always includes a freebie and this time it was a Bril fountain pen which i gave to one of my students.

 

This box is also of a bigger size compared to the boxes of smaller ranga pens like the 4c. It had also an eyedropper and a visiting card of Ranga showing the various models, contact details etc.

 

The design is very attractive and the torpedo shape is something that really catches the eye. The matte finish is a great job which has a very few tool marks but which also bears the mark of a perfect handcrafted pen. In my personal opinion these marks are things i don't mind at all and give a relief from the boring perfection of mass produced pens.

 

Of course being a handmade product, you can customize several things. You can order in a multitude of acrylics and ebonites which are categorized as premium and regular. Also you have clipless options, matte/polished finished, ranga/jowo/Bock/Schmidt nib options. The communication process as usual was hazzle-free, warm and prompt. Hats off to Mr. Kandan. The delivery was made in about 9- 10 days which is really a standard again which Ranga has kept up in all their deliveries.

 

As you can see, the pen is uniformly black and huge. Here are pictures comparing it with Ranga Giant Bamboo, Ranga model 4c and Gama supreme. Also i have compared with my hand.

 

 

As you can see it is a touch bigger than the Supreme and a touch smaller than the Giant Bamboo.

 

The most striking part of the pen has been the grip section. The grip section is a bit different from the other pens i have used from Ranga. In the sense, that the others have long and very spacious grip sections which are somewhat thin. This one has a shorter, fatter hour glass shaped section which i find is extremely comfortable. This is the most comfortable grip sections among the Ranga pens. Iam not discounting any of the other grips. They are really good in their whole way. But personally this one suits me the most.

 

The balance is perfect for me now that iam used to big pens. I would not use this pen posted even though the torpedo shape allows for a perfect posting. Posting makes this pen absurdly long.

 

  

 

The nib wrote perfectly out of the box and there is a story behind this. Last time when i got a Bock medium, i had to tune it and mentioned to Mr Kandan about this and told that iam a little reluctant to tune nibs myself. So this was taken note of and Mr Kandan had aligned the tines and hence the nib wrote straight out of the box and has not stopped after several pages of everyday writing. The pen is around two weeks old. I really like this attention to detail that Ranga provided. The fine point really suits me and the Bock runs perfectly wet and saturated.. It is a little thinner compared to the Jowo Fine on my 4c. But this trend cannot be generalized i guess. It is quite smooth and the dual tone matches the pen beautifully. As in my previous review, BOCK nibs have more flexibility and are generally more nice to write with compared to the JOWO nib ( Again it is a personal preference). JOWO nibs are rigid and smoother compared to the BOCK and many people would prefer this.

 

The fine nib really helps me in my teacher duties during school timings where i use this pen to illustrate physics and math problems, do corrections etc. I also use it to write journals everyday. It is a very comfortable everyday writer which can be used on different types of paper. The pen does not leak when carried in my bottom or top pocket.

 

The cap has a minor issue. The clip is not completely tight and sometimes tends to go a little off center and a gentle push brings it back. I really don't know what to make of this. The clip is completely functional and very very usable. So there is no complaints on the side of functioning. But of the other hand the OCD part of me says, "this should be fixed and the pen has to be perfect". As you can see the clip is a little off centre and this can be brought back easily.

 

To wrap up things, the pen is very reasonably priced and the level of craftsmanship is really good. Also the communication process, the variety of materials, colours and nib choices makes it a really top class pen that is priced amazingly. The shipping is Bang on, and i think given all these factors, The Ranga Pen company is a true master of this price category. There are no doubts in my mind. These factors make me buy more from them and i have purchased a Ranga model 5 in clear which iam yet to see as it is in  my parents house and iam yet to go there because of the monsoons. The clip issue can be overlooked i guess. Because it is an error of one piece and not fully reflective of what generally happens with pens from Ranga company. Thanks Mr. M.P. Kandan and others from the Ranga pen company. This is surely not my last pen from you all and hence you will see more reviews which Iam very happy to write.

[K Singh]

Thanks for the detailed review 👍 Actually I prefer this model over all their large ones like the giant bamboo or model 5, because I don't like step-down at the barrel.

 

Have already bought too many pens in past few months but look forward to having this some day. Also they have a flat-top Splendor as well. That's the one that appeals more to me.

[Harish N V]

Ok. In my last review also you mentioned about the step- down and your preference. Surely the flat-top will be a good model. I was surprised about the size of this pen. It was only a touch smaller than the giant bamboo. 

[mhguda]

@Harish, I think you are mistaken about the name of the model. You can see a Splendour here;

I have one like the third from left, but without a clip, as is my preference. You're right that it is a huge pen, but it is not torpedo shaped. I think yours looks like the 8B which is also a big pen, but not as big as the Splendour. (I have two of those - again, clipless. Plus the slenderer 8, with a clip.) The nib on your pen does look small in comparison with the pen body though...

Keep up the good work with the reviews. Nice to know you're a physics teacher too... and use your pens for that work, too.

[K Singh]

1 hour ago, Harish N V said:

Ok. In my last review also you mentioned about the step- down and your preference. Surely the flat-top will be a good model. I was surprised about the size of this pen. It was only a touch smaller than the giant bamboo. 

Sorry about repeating the same thing.

 

Yes this is a giant model. Ranga do give specifications for all their models. Or you can just ask them, so that you have an idea about the pen's size 👍

 

 

17 minutes ago, mhguda said:

I think you are mistaken about the name of the model. You can see a Splendour here;

 

Actually Ranga has the Splendour model in the above torpedo shape too.

[Harish N V]

Yes I thought about it. The body of the pen I received is somewhat slender. It's more a giant 8b for sure. 

 

But in my mail exchanges, my order was placed as a splendour torpedo and I got this. It can be now named as giant 8B

[Harish N V]

Thanks a lot to both of you fir reading and giving feedback

[mhguda]

2 minutes ago, Harish N V said:

Yes I thought about it. The body of the pen I received is somewhat slender. It's more a giant 8b for sure. 

 

But in my mail exchanges, my order was placed as a splendour torpedo and I got this. It can be now named as giant 8B

That's strange... I thought Ranga was more particular with their pens.

The Splendour I have is a little smaller than the model 5 and Majestic, but all my other Rangas are smaller.

[mhguda]

17 minutes ago, K Singh said:

Actually Ranga has the Splendour model in the above torpedo shape too.

My mistake. I found it, and you're right, they do sport a torpedo model. But to my eyes, it does seem like a souped up 8B...😉

[Harish N V]

https://rangapens.com/splendour-torpedo

 

 

[K Singh]

11 minutes ago, Harish N V said:

Thanks a lot to both of you fir reading and giving feedback

🙏🙏

 

5 minutes ago, mhguda said:

My mistake. I found it, and you're right, they do sport a torpedo model. But to my eyes, it does seem like a souped up 8B...😉

Yes you are right. It does look like a giant 8b. I have the 8b but I like the size of this Splendour model more.

[Harish N V]

[Harish N V]

Isn't it more like the above pen? 

[mhguda]

Now I'd like mostly to see the Splendour torpedo compared to the 8B in one and the same picture.... because I can't see much difference between the two, if they're not put side by side. My Splendour is almost 2 centimeters longer than my largest 8B.

[K Singh]

53 minutes ago, Harish N V said:

Isn't it more like the above pen? 

Yes, yours is a Splendour model.

 

12 minutes ago, mhguda said:

Now I'd like mostly to see the Splendour torpedo compared to the 8B in one and the same picture..

 You can check the dimensions in the link @Harish N V mentioned above.

[mhguda]

@Harish must have really large hands...

[sansenri]

I'm picking up this topic again, as I have the picture mhguda was looking for...

I recently got a Ranga Splendour from Ranga, and since I don't have very big hands, but really wanted to try this model with a size 8 nib, I went for the Torpedo Splendour, which has an hourglass section, and which actually proves this large pen is usable even by someone with medium size hands like me!

The Ranga Splendour comes in three different shapes, and the Torpedo version in very rightly defined as a souped up 8B!

Souped up quite a bit in fact, but that hourglass section still allows me to hold the pen comfortably without strain.

I bought the pen threaded for Bock size 8, as I have a Bock #8 14k F nib.

 

I ordered the pen on a recent Ranga group buy, in solid red ebonite, polished, and I was expecting the usual very good Ranga quality finish, but the result surprised me for how good it is, if you didn't know you could almost mistake it for urushi...!

 

Here is the pen in all it's glory!

 

and here is the comparison with the 8B

 

 

here is the nib and the ebonite feed

 

 

This pens, and the slightly flexy and big 14k Bock nib are really a good match! The pen is very comfortable, with a good (not too heavy, not too light) weight and balance, which makes you feel being in very good control of this big nib!
I'm very happy with this pen!

 

 

[mhguda]

Wow. Thank you for posting the picture, and I can clearly see whence my mistake...

Funny, BTW, you have the same ebonite 8B that I have...

But my Splendour is the duofold type, though with conical finials. It is a very big pen, comparable with the Majestic and the Varuna Gajendra (model 5)  though these are even longer. But because the sections are comfortable to hold, the pens work well. I too do not have large hands, but all these pens are comfortable for me.

The red ebonite is wonderful! I have an Abhimanyu in that color, and yes it's very beautiful. And great to write with, too.

[sansenri]

glad it was useful,

I have a model 5 but it's too big for me! for some reason the Splendour torpedo shape works better for me, it's probably due to the section, but also the barrel that is just that tiny bit smaller than the model 5 to allow the pen to feel more comfortable.

I also do appreciate the lack of the step in the Splendour.

[K Singh]

11 hours ago, sansenri said:

I'm picking up this topic again, as I have the picture mhguda was looking for...

I recently got a Ranga Splendour from Ranga, and since I don't have very big hands, but really wanted to try this model with a size 8 nib, I went for the Torpedo Splendour, which has an hourglass section, and which actually proves this large pen is usable even by someone with medium size hands like me!

The Ranga Splendour comes in three different shapes, and the Torpedo version in very rightly defined as a souped up 8B!

Souped up quite a bit in fact, but that hourglass section still allows me to hold the pen comfortably without strain.

I bought the pen threaded for Bock size 8, as I have a Bock #8 14k F nib.

 

I ordered the pen on a recent Ranga group buy, in solid red ebonite, polished, and I was expecting the usual very good Ranga quality finish, but the result surprised me for how good it is, if you didn't know you could almost mistake it for urushi...!

 

Here is the pen in all it's glory!

 

and here is the comparison with the 8B

 

 

here is the nib and the ebonite feed

 

 

This pens, and the slightly flexy and big 14k Bock nib are really a good match! The pen is very comfortable, with a good (not too heavy, not too light) weight and balance, which makes you feel being in very good control of this big nib!
I'm very happy with this pen!

 

 

The pen looks great 👍. I have an 8b but this Splendor seems more ergonomic to me.