Madras pen shops

[jvmadhavan]

Does anybody live nearby could check the fate of these shops in Chennai, so that people around could make use of their service

[hari317]

Does anybody live nearby could check the fate of these shops in Chennai, so that people around could make use of their service

huh?

[mohan]

i visited the williampenn outlets at hyderabad and delhi airports ..got private reserve DC electric blue shade...its really dark saturated ink but they neither had noodlers at hyderabad nor at delhi... infact willianpenn delhi airport outlet had Sailor,Caran D'ache,Montblanc inks .and they even dont import trademark private reserve inks shade like American blue or Cosmic cobalt etc..thts bad..

Dear Rishi

I have got cosmic cobalt, electric blue, and american blue from William penn, banglore. But you have give order and wait for 2-3 months!

[subbucal]

An article in today's Time Of India, Chennai edition about Taj Pens "Fountain Of Passion"....

 

 

[Sridhar]

lovely post Hari....cheers, sri

[RON_D_SAVIOUR]

Looking at previous posts, it is great news that fountain pens specially made in India are still managing to earn respect. In Kolkata there are also few shops who sell quality fountain pens. Among them "Fountain Pen Hospital" is a good one. It is just beside the Esplaned/Dharamtala Metro Station. The shopkeeper's name is Raj. He is an honest seller with loads of experience in fountain pen repair (thats the good thing). In the shop you can find variety of pelikan,Montblanc, Cross and other Pens. He has also helped me to find some vintage pens in great condition.

 

Also there is a shop named "Pens and Ink" in Axis Mall near rajarhat,Kolkata. The seller sells pilot, sailor and other branded Inks. His Pen collection is also good. But still not a single seller of Noodler's Ink or Daimine Inks. Really missing that part.

Edited October 20, 2013 by RON_D_SAVIOUR

[hari317]

Came across this article in "The Hindu" about Gem and Co.

 

http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/survivors-of-time-a-pen-for-your-thoughts/article4238049.ece

[patsy1946]

I'm new to this website just set up and account. Can anyone tell me how to shop in the pen store and does anyone know where to buy the Gamma pens? Any help appericated.

 

[hari317]

I'm new to this website just set up and account. Can anyone tell me how to shop in the pen store and does anyone know where to buy the Gamma pens? Any help appericated.

 

 

https://www.google.co.in/search?q=gama+pen&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb&gfe_rd=cr&ei=FmSmU7q-KZGGvAT5r4K4DQ

[Alex2014]

I love this ebonite fountain pen made in Chennai.

 

 

 

 

[visvamitra]

@alex2014 - the pen looks cool indeed.

[kingmt]

I just visited Gem & Co yesterday so are still there and still making pens.

 

Google Photos album

https://goo.gl/photos/yraSsoRgSYWUJ5nb7

 

I ended up getting 8 pens, prices ranging from 950 Inr to 65 Inr or $14.50 to $1 at current exchange rates. The 4 expensive pens are handmade, the black gloss is Ebonite, I was told the other 3 are acrylic.

The acrylic with the ink window was the most expensive, the main body isn't just 2 pieces of acrylic glued together, the clear section is actually almost full depth with an outer shell around it. This way it won't break at that joint. This is important as all of the pens are eyedroppers. There were a couple different patterns as well as matte Ebonite

The Ebonite was the second most expensive at 750 Inr, the green and black was 550 Inr and the long thin one was 350. All of which came with the black embroidered velveteen pouches

The 2 swirl body pens were the cheapest at 65 Inr, and I don't remember the price of the 2 bar windowed ones. These are cast semi mass produced pens.

The owner also showed me the black and red acrylic on shown here: https://viewwide.wordpress.com/2016/02/06/a-tradition-of-fountain-pens-in-chennai/ and he also showed me a clear acrylic version of the same pen.

The only real downside of the shop was that it is cash only so I had to go find an ATM. By the time I got back to the shop my total for the pens was 2800 Inr, if you do the math you will see I only paid for the 4 expensive ones. Somewhere along the way the owner decided to give me a discount, who am I to argue with that.

The shop itself is not impressive at all but the personal attention to detail is. After I picked out some pens the owner would dip them in ink so I could test write with them, even the cheapest ones.

Unfortunately there had to be a downer, the Ebonite pen nib somehow dodged the owner's attention to detail, it will write just fine when dipped but the pen nib has a gap between the tines which prevent the ink from flowing properly. When I take it back to be fixed I guarantee I will get an apology. You don't do that level of customer service and knowingly have something like that happen. I spent probably half an hour picking out and testing pens and the owner never rushed me. He did rush some of the others in the shop to fetch things to show me though. That is one of the things I do like about India, the concept of personal customer service.

I probably won't get back there until the 29/30th right before I leave. So if anyone would like me to pick up some pens for them let me know via PM. There will however, be a small handling fee attached over and above shipping once I get back to the US. I can only bring so many pens through customs without getting too much attention. And since I won't have a chance to come back if another pen doesn't work quite right I will make sure and only test pens that have been partially filled. I will of course empty and clean them before getting on the plane...

 

So in case I get inundated with requests, here are some ground rules, requests will be granted via lottery, you may request up to 2 pens, be as specific as possible and note which one is first pick. I will make a decision on how many extra 'gifts' I purchase based on the requests but at the moment I am thinking of around 6 more. If I only get 3 requests then all three will get both picks, if I get 6 requests then everyone will only get their first pick.

 

- Michael

Edited April 23, 2017 by kingmt

[iSukhi]

A small request to @hari317 ji, If you can upload the pictures in the thread again to make this thread alive again. It will help new people like us.

[RetiredAdman]

Your pictures bring back a few memories to my mind. Never been to India but was in Singapore in 1975. The Indian market shops of that date looked much like the shops you photograph.

 

I bought my first calculator, a Casio, in one of the shops. The manual was in Japanese, which I did not read at the time. Which made learning the calculator quite an experience.

 

The shop personnel were always polite and knowledgeable about their products. Loved the trip there.

 

Have a good day,

Randal

Always wanted to see India. What brought you there, Randal?

Regards,

Ed

[hari317]

The original article alongwith the pictures is now available for download as a pdf document at the following link

https://ia801507.us.archive.org/11/items/MadrasPenShops/madras%20pen%20shops.pdf

HTH