Pens From India

[Stephany]

I have a very good friend going to India for the holidays and when she asked what I wanted my eyes lit up. Naturally, a fountain pen. BUT, I don't know what to request.

Any ideas????

Many thanks in advance!

Stephany

[JEBennett]

I know there are a lot of folks who sell India-made ebonite eyedropper pens - The only one I've had came from Steve Braun at AllWriteNow.com, and I loved it while I had it (got too fine a nib on it, I'm a broad guy). They are comfortable, hold a ton of ink, and if you don't do something foolish like see just how robust the feed is by putting in liquid sumi diluted by water...

 

Also, definitely have her bring you back some of the Camlin/Camel ink. I've never laid hands on it, but reading around these forums it sounds insanely good for the money, like Waterman ink but at $0.25 a bottle instead of $10.

[manojd]

which city will she be visiting? There are only a few pen manufacturers and some of them only sell locally in the town they are in.

[rwilsonedn]

One person to ask about this would be Hari, who no doubt will chime in this evening. From my limited exposure, I would say the real treasures are the Deccan and Ratnamson pens, both of which are beautifully made in a variety of styles, and seem to invariable write wonderfully.

ron

[hari317]

I have a very good friend going to India for the holidays and when she asked what I wanted my eyes lit up. Naturally, a fountain pen. BUT, I don't know what to request.

Any ideas????

Many thanks in advance!

Stephany

 

Stephany, the availability of pens in India depends on the cities that you friend is planning to visit, if you PM me the city details, I may be able to suggest shops that carry FPs.

 

The easiest pen brand to find is probably Camlin (website), their ink is also very good, esp: Royal Blue and Permanent violet. I recommend the camlin Trinity FP and the SD FP, reviews of both these pens are available on FPN.

 

In South India, an ink company called Bril is very famous (Website)

 

Chelpark is another ink company with excellent shades, all their shades are good.

 

Other FP make is Wality/Airmail and Chelpark but these are not available in all the shops, you will have to search these out.

 

India also has a handmade FP cootage industry, the pen Ebonite pen makers are located primarily in the south of India, the pens are sold by mail order except for Deccan pen stores at Hyderabad with over the counter sales.

 

Best,

hari

[akrishna59]

hari has given thorough inputs and there is little to add.

 

be sure to try the camlin SD which is the first signature pen made in india. all stores may not carry it but once we know the cities that she will be visiting we will be able to help you out a little better. hari, shrujaya, ashishwakhlu along with others are the experts on the subject. the inks are also good and you will love them, though the shades may not be as numerous as in the west.

 

tks.

 

krishna.

[kazoolaw]

Deccan Masterpiece

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/114738-fs-deccan-masterpiece-ed-pens-in-bhr/page__p__1131733__hl__%2Bdeccan+%2Bmasterpiece__fromsearch__1#entry1131733

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Deccan%20Masterpiece/IMG_3130.jpg

gary

Edited November 20, 2010 by gary

[watch_art]

deccan mp =

[shrujaya]

Hi...in most of the big cities in India you are likely get Camlin or Wality fountain pens and as Hari said, inks too...in many colours...but if it is Hyderabad, then a visit to Deccan Pens is a 'must and should' as we say it here...if not their Masterpiece, you can surely get their iconic Advocate...and if you are lucky, then a new model maybe...but, grab whatever you get at Deccan Pen Stores...

 

Good luck shopping...

 

Shrujaya

[Stephany]

I have a very good friend going to India for the holidays and when she asked what I wanted my eyes lit up. Naturally, a fountain pen. BUT, I don't know what to request.

Any ideas????

Many thanks in advance!

Stephany

 

Stephany, the availability of pens in India depends on the cities that you friend is planning to visit, if you PM me the city details, I may be able to suggest shops that carry FPs.

 

The easiest pen brand to find is probably Camlin (website), their ink is also very good, esp: Royal Blue and Permanent violet. I recommend the camlin Trinity FP and the SD FP, reviews of both these pens are available on FPN.

 

In South India, an ink company called Bril is very famous (Website)

 

Chelpark is another ink company with excellent shades, all their shades are good.

 

Other FP make is Wality/Airmail and Chelpark but these are not available in all the shops, you will have to search these out.

 

India also has a handmade FP cootage industry, the pen Ebonite pen makers are located primarily in the south of India, the pens are sold by mail order except for Deccan pen stores at Hyderabad with over the counter sales.

 

Best,

hari

 

 

She will be visiting Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Udaipur. She is not on a tour, but visiting friends who live in New Delhi. I will investigate the suggestions you have already mentioned and start compiling a small list.

Thanks to everyone for their input.