Visit To Gem & Co, Chennai, Makers Of Gama Fountain Pens And One Of The Oldest Pen Makers In India … Part 1

[shrujaya]

This visit was almost a year ago. We had visited Chennai to meet my brother, Mahesh, Shubha, his wife, and Teju, their son. We were there for three days. I did not have any specific plan as such and went along with whatever Mahesh and Shubha had in mind. On the day before we left Chennai, we were sitting around and chatting and I felt I should visit Gem & Co. I have been using their fountain pens, had corresponded with Mr Pratap, its genial proprietor, and I have come so far and I would surely regret if I didn’t visit their shop. I tentatively asked Mahesh if he could go along with me to Gem & Co., as I did not know my way around. As we did not have any specific plans for the evening, Mahesh agreed to chaperone me to the shop.

 

Gem & Co. is located in the bustling Parry’s Corner area in Chennai and they have been selling and making pens for the last 80 years or so. Gem & Co. is among the oldest pen sellers and more importantly, pen makers, in India. My friend, Hari, has written about the history of this iconic pen shop and his visits to the shop on fountain pen network. So, I will take a few sentences from his posts on FPN … “Mr. Pratap Kumar is the owner of this establishment. He is the grandson of Mr. M.C. Cunnan who started this store, and till a few years back the shop was being managed by Mr. Pratap's father Mr. M. Prabhat Kumar. Gem and Company have an illustrious past as one of the largest pen stores in the south of India and were representing major brands of the day like Pelikan, Parker and Sheaffer. They were also the authorised repair center for these brands and still hold a huge inventory of spare parts including parts for vintage Mont Blanc pens. They were also the main dealers for the Madras based Pilot pen company and their own brand the GAMA pen. GAMA is a pen brand in existence from the 1940s in South India. In the past they had a nice line of Gold nibbed models such as the Gama Kid, Gama Coronation, Gama Manifold and the Gama Royal. In addition to pocket pens, from time to time they also made some hand turned acrylic desk pens in really limited numbers. The shop has been re-laid now, and I remember in the past when they had still kept installed wooden Pelikan pen display cases. Gem and company deals exclusively in pens, ball pens, inks and refills only and carry no other stationery items.”

 

My brother and I entered Gem & Co. and, I am sure every fountain pen geek would understand this, it was like being transported to a pen heaven. It is all pens everywhere. Despite being re-laid in the recent past, the shop still looks like it is wrapped in time. It reminded me of the shop that sold magic wands in Diagon Alley. You could see those cardboard boxes arranged on top of each other on the far shelf and also in the room inside. This is the first impression you get when you enter the shop.

 

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This is how Gem & Co. looks from the street ...

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That's Mr Pratap (in the greenish t-shirt) conversing with Mahesh (in the blue shirt) ... and one of the assistants (in the white shirt) ...

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Pens ... Pens ... everywhere ...

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On this shelf ... on that shelf ...

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You can see the blue-black, red-black, purple-black, and white-black acrylic fountain pens in the glass case ...

 

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The Gama Jumbo ebonite fountain pens ... the shiny black and the brushed black ... you can also see the Gama Demonstrator (transparent acrylic) model in the centre

 

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More Gama ebonite fountain pens ... striated green and striated brown Gama Jumbos ...

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The inside room ... more boxes ... god knows what treasures are stocked inside ...

 

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Those cardboard boxes with pens inside ... oh, I want to see what's inside these boxes ...

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A pen repair in progress ...

There is more to come ... just hang on ...

 

[fountainpagan]

Great story, and most informative. Almost as if I was part of the visit.

 

Can't wait for the next episode.

 

Thank you shrujaya.

[shrujaya]

Thanks fountainpagan ... I am glad you found the post informative and a good read ... you don't have to wait much ... Part 2 is up already ...

 

Regards,

 

Jai

[fountainpagan]

You are welcome, shrujaya.

 

Yes, I saw it, read it, and wrote about it

[flummoxed]

Thanks Shrujaya, I will be in Chennai in a month and have a couple of hours in between different meetings to kill and plan to visit them.

[Sagarb]

Thanks Shrujaya...brilliant article..I just loved it and willing to visit there ..

[shrujaya]

Dear flummoxed ... thanks for visiting, reading, and liking this post ...

 

Dear Sagar ... thanks for your support ... I am glad you liked the post ...

 

Please do visit Gem & Co., in case you have time ... I am sure you'd like to buy some pens, but even otherwise, you'd enjoy looking around the shop, talking to Mr Pratap, and soaking in the ambience ...

 

Regards,

[amk]

Thank you so much Shrujaya - I am feeling badly 'homesick' for India right now and very jealous of your great experience. Your photos really capture the magic of the old-style pen shop. Needless to say next time I visit Chennai I know exactly where I need to go!