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Madras Pen Shops -Revisited

hari317

By hari317
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hari317 Museum Piece

hari317

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Four and a half years after my last visit to Madras (Chennai), came a chance to visit the city again, in the middle of January this year for one week. I was desirous to meet up with my pen purveyor, the soft spoken, genial and humble L. Subramaniam of ASApens. He enthusiastically agreed to show me some of the pen shops that he himself frequents. We spent some good and fruitful time discussing pens, meeting a pen and watch collector and seeing the pen shops.

 

Of course, we visited Gem and Co at Parry's.

 

The Gem and Co. trio:

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Madras%20pen%20shops/Jan2014/P1010458.jpg

 

along with Subramaniam standing on the far right:

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Madras%20pen%20shops/Jan2014/P1010460.jpg

 

The display cases:

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Madras%20pen%20shops/Jan2014/P1010453.jpg

 

Subramaniam checking out a displayed newspaper clipping about Gem and Co.

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Madras%20pen%20shops/Jan2014/P1010452.jpg

 

The Madras High Court as seen from Gem and Co:

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Madras%20pen%20shops/Jan2014/P1010451.jpg

 

Of Course, Pratap showed off some of his beauties, this set of perfectly machined acrylic desk pens:

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Madras%20pen%20shops/Jan2014/P1010456.jpg

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Madras%20pen%20shops/Jan2014/P1010457.jpg

 

Also some rare to see sights for the casual pen collector:

 

Vials of genuine nib tipping balls from WC Heraeus, Germany, wish I could show you folks their nib retipping setup...

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Madras%20pen%20shops/Jan2014/20140111_161501.jpg

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Madras%20pen%20shops/Jan2014/20140111_161449.jpg

 

Some apparently original Parker USA repair equipment:

 

Nib knockout block:

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Madras%20pen%20shops/Jan2014/P1010445.jpg

 

Vac wrench with a serial number:

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Madras%20pen%20shops/Jan2014/P1010450.jpg

 

Over the years, the shop had accumulated a pile of junker Parker pens. Pratap apparently decided to use up at least some part of this pile to make a batch of bodies matching the Parker Vacumatic caps in his possession.

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Madras%20pen%20shops/Jan2014/P1010461.jpg

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Madras%20pen%20shops/Jan2014/P1010462.jpg

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Madras%20pen%20shops/Jan2014/P1010467.jpg

 

There is more, but maybe in a later post.

 

Cheers!

Hari

 

 

 

 

 

 

In case you wish to write to me, pls use ONLY email by clicking here. I do not check PMs. Thank you.

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tmenyc Collectors Item

tmenyc

Posted
Posted

Hari,

great story! Are any of those Vac-capped pens available?

 

Tim

Tim

 timsvintagepens.com and @timsvintagepens

 

 

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hari317 Museum Piece

hari317

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Hari,

great story! Are any of those Vac-capped pens available?

 

Tim

I did not think of buying any(but there were trays of these available), I had already exhausted my wallet, but I am sure you can discuss this with Subramaniam of Asapens, he should be able to help you out.

 

Best

Hari

In case you wish to write to me, pls use ONLY email by clicking here. I do not check PMs. Thank you.

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Finalist Extremely Rare

Finalist

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Enjoyed the read. I find myself drooling over Danitrios and Nakayas, but their price makes my brain explode. Then I look at my Gama Hawk and calm settles in. The smooth ebonite curves and great performance for a price I can handle!

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krishnanramani Mint

krishnanramani

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I will be visiting this saturday to give my Parker 61 for cleaning & servicing.

Krishnan R

Chennai India

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mehandiratta Donor Pen

mehandiratta

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I will be visiting this saturday to give my Parker 61 for cleaning & servicing.

Get the pics...

vaibhav mehandiratta

architect & fountain pen connoisseur

 

blog | instagram | twitter

 

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truphae_inc Mint

truphae_inc

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Awesome story and photos!!

Truphae Inc. - Luxury Pen Specialists
Authorized Retailer for Aurora, Montegrappa, ST Dupont, Visconti & more!
Visit our website: www.truphaeinc.com
#BeInkredible http://www.inkrediblebox.com ~ a monthly subscription pen & ink service
Follow along on Instagram @truphae_inc and Facebook www.facebook.com/truphaeinc
post-143213-0-89090000-1527565129.jpg

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amberleadavis Pen Dust

amberleadavis

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This is wonderful.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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penwash Extremely Rare

penwash

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Thank you, I really enjoyed the visit's narrative and photos.

With skilled hands and a nib re-tipping setup, there is little that you can't do to create/restore fountain pens.

- Will
Restored Pens and Sketches on Instagram @redeempens

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hari317 Museum Piece

hari317

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Posted (edited)

Thank you, I really enjoyed the visit's narrative and photos.

With skilled hands and a nib re-tipping setup, there is little that you can't do to create/restore fountain pens.

 

 

This is wonderful.

 

 

Awesome story and photos!!

 

 

Come on, hari. We need more.

 

 

Hari sir, I'm waiting for your next trip report to Madras😀

 

 

Really surprised and glad to see the continued interest in this topic. I discovered some pics of a fully handcrafted sterling silver pen made by Gama using the traditional art of silver wire filigree. This pen was photographed at the shop during the visit documented in this thread.

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Gama%20Royal/6F87D04A-3CCD-42D6-A986-984EF69F957A.jpeg

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Gama%20Royal/DDBBC3EE-75B5-4ECE-844A-CF54311B443E.jpeg

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Gama%20Royal/50A77AB6-8411-41B6-8CA7-8FBA1B940C02.jpeg

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Gama%20Royal/B14AB5CF-BCE3-4890-9A2E-07FD632027F3.jpeg

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Gama%20Royal/8230B648-E775-4BFA-8F6C-220D6176A9EB.jpeg

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Gama%20Royal/C9A11E6C-5342-47E9-B656-0D93F7ED9170.jpeg

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Gama%20Royal/7669C408-0F3D-4A2F-B47D-70BF5CAD0713.jpeg

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Gama%20Royal/7697A088-7159-481A-AD5C-708541BC711D.jpeg

Edited by hari317

In case you wish to write to me, pls use ONLY email by clicking here. I do not check PMs. Thank you.

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