Krishna Fountain Pens From Calicut (Kozikhode)

[SOMNATH]

About a month back, while casually browsing through the pages of FPN, I landed a post written by a fellow FPNer Mohan, as if by serendipity. The name of the article was " some untold stories about Calicut Pens". This was as brilliant an article as one would come across, especially for those interested in the old fountain pen makers and their brands in India. This was followed by another post on another FP brand of Calicut named Kim & Co, written by Hari - the walking Encyclopedia of Pens and a Connoisseur as well. Mohans's is a comprehensive and a gripping story about the evolution of fps in Calicut, starting from as early as 1950 till date ( 1990). His story is like a Kaleidoscope with introduction of new characters , their brief act on the stage and of course their exit out of the stage (read fountain pens).

These articles made me curious about 2 brands, namely, Kim & Co and the Krishna pens ( not to be confused with the Krishna pens owned by Dr Sreekumar) , both from Calicut. After searching on the google, i was able to get the phone numbers of both the companies, which were listed as "Optical"stores, though Krishna Pens retained the tag " Pen "at the end of their trade name. My first try at Kim & Co yielded no tangible result. They regretted that currently they were running out of stock and requested me to contact them after a month or so. The second , i,e Krishna Pens yielded some encouraging results. The owner Mr Ratna Singh was enthusiastic and cooperating, but his heavy Malayali Accent vis-a-vis his Sir name seemed awefully incongruous to me. So I asked him about it. He made a crackling sound & then explained that they owe their ancestry to the state of "Punjab", but were domiciled in Calicut , Kerala, since the last 3 generations and in the process adopted themselves to the local language and the culture. So, he was now a "neutralized" Malayali. He spoke to me in broken, but workable English interspersed with some Hindi, which I had difficulty in understanding, but then all is well that ends well and the deal was finalized - three hand made Krishna Ebonite pens to be couriered to my address for an agreed upon price plus the courier charge.

 

Mr Singh was very forth write with the delivery. I received the parcel on the fourth day. A rectangular packet wrapped in paper with the sender's name " Krishna Optical and fountain pen dealers" written on it was delivered to me by the delivery boy. Inside was a Spectacles case in red , bearing the shop's name which contained 3 beautiful looking pens in ebonite. They were big but not Jumbo and were more or less the same size, plus- minus a couple of mms between them. Three things about the pens that drew my immediate attention at the first blush were - the big wide rectangular clips with three rows of perforations at the top, a near perfect finish and the last being a glistening shine on the pens , in that order. Two of the three pens were in ripples with the third one was a mix of ripple and swirl.

 

The packing cases.

 

The trinity inside the spectacles case.

As soon as the initial excitement waned, it dawn on me that the clips on the pens were typical of the Kim & Co and were the hall mark on their recent editions. That being so, what were these broad clips so typical of the Kim & Co doing on the Krishna Pens? I wanted an answer to it and immediately at that. I picked up the phone and dialed Mr Ratna Singh's number and the call went through on the first go. I thanked him for the lovely pens and before hanging up, i asked him about the clip issue and even broached the name of Kim & Co. Mr Singh however brushed aside the Kim & Co factor and maintained that they were Krishna Pens and were hand turned by a gentle man whose name I can not recall right now. I let go the topic least it heart his ego. I thanked him once again and hung up. Mr Singh's answer made things worse for me and I could realize for the first time what the old adage " from frying pan to fire" actually meant. But then, when one door before you closes, the other one opens - I suddenly recalled that Mohan in his article on the FPN ( which I referred to in the beginning) had indeed mentioned that Krishna Pens currently has no manufacturing facility of their own and were engaged in marketing Kim & Co pens. So, if one were to go by what Mohan had to say, then the three pens that I received from Mr Ratna Singh were actually Kim & Co pens!!!!

 

May be, some of our FPN members would step in and enlighten us on the matter.

 

 

Comparison with Jinhao 159.

Two out of the three pens were in yellow black and green black ripples respectively with a well polished flat top and bottom while the third one was in brown black with a rounded top and bottom.

All three pens were simple ED fillers with a good capacity to hold ink.

 

A close up view of top of the caps.

The nibs were #5 ,fine tipped, unbranded golden monotone with the words "iridium point" etched on them. Other than the clips, another interesting part was the feeder section. Two of the three pens had the finned ,Sheaffer type ebonite (appears to be so) feeders.

 

A view of the nib.

 

View of the feeder.

The following are some basic measurements of the pens:

Yellow black ripple with flat top:

Length with the cap on = 14.5 cms

Posted = 17.4 cms

Unposted = 13 cms.

 

Green black ripple with flat top:

Length with the cap on =14.5 cms

Posted = 17.4 cms

Unposted = 13.1 cms.

 

Brown black ripple with rounded top:

Length with the cap on = 14.4 cms

Posted = 17.3 cms

Unposted = 13 cms.

 

One more close up of caps with the clips.

 

With the caps along side.

 

Posted.

 

sections along side the barrels.

 

A pip into the inner side of the cap.

 

Another view of the feeders.

Before I sign off, I must be truthful enough to admit that this was a fountain pen journey well taken which was very satisfying and enduring to say the least.

I have used more of photographs and less of words which I thought would help the readers getting a near realistic feel of the pens besides helping them to form their own opinion on them.

Comments and views are welcome.

Best regards

Somnath

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[fountainpagan]

Thank you, Somnath for this great review.

 

Those are indeed Kim pens. And very nice ones, for that matter.

Could you eventually have their model names, through Kim?

[Jamerelbe]

Thanks so much for this review! I can claim no expertise when it comes to Indian pens - though I have a few (including several Rangas, a couple of ASA pens, and a gaggle of pens purchased from Fountain Pen Revolution) in my collection.

 

What I would want to point out, though, is that the different Indian pen manufacturers (1) tend to rely on the same kind of pen turning techniques (they're all using similar equipment, at least for the ebonite pens), (2) seem to source their ebonite from the same suppliers, and (3) tend to outsource their nibs and clips. [Just for example, So while it's possible that these are Kim pens (and/or made by the same third party manufacturer who also makes Kim pens?), it's still entirely possible that they've been made by Krishna, or by a local artisan who has no direct connection to Kim & Co.

 

Either way, they're great looking pens - and I trust they give you a great deal of enjoyment!

[SOMNATH]

Thank you, Somnath for this great review.

 

Those are indeed Kim pens. And very nice ones, for that matter.

Could you eventually have their model names, through Kim?

Thanks fountainpagan. No, unfortunately the model names, if there be one,has eluded me. I suspect if these pens have any specific model names per se. They possibly are classified as "big", "jumbo" or the likes. But I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Regards

Somnath

[SOMNATH]

Thanks so much for this review! I can claim no expertise when it comes to Indian pens - though I have a few (including several Rangas, a couple of ASA pens, and a gaggle of pens purchased from Fountain Pen Revolution) in my collection.

 

What I would want to point out, though, is that the different Indian pen manufacturers (1) tend to rely on the same kind of pen turning techniques (they're all using similar equipment, at least for the ebonite pens), (2) seem to source their ebonite from the same suppliers, and (3) tend to outsource their nibs and clips. [Just for example, So while it's possible that these are Kim pens (and/or made by the same third party manufacturer who also makes Kim pens?), it's still entirely possible that they've been made by Krishna, or by a local artisan who has no direct connection to Kim & Co.

 

Either way, they're great looking pens - and I trust they give you a great deal of enjoyment!

Thanks Jamarelbe. I am glad that you read my post.

Yes. Your observations on the Indian ebonites including my new acquisitions are precise and appears to be true. One thing that has to be remembered is that most of the old Indian fp brands had cropped up as " cottage industries" with little capital, lack of proper infrastructure, man power or a profitable market. Their main capital was their profound imagination and brilliant craftsmanship. So, despite the severe limitations, it is a wonder as to how they had been churning out the hand made beauties one after the other since the decades!

Regards

Somnath

[visvamitra]

Excellent review. Personally I don't like this clip.

[SOMNATH]

Excellent review. Personally I don't like this clip.

Thanks Visvamitra. Yes, some may not like the clip because of its unorthodox proportions.

[fountainpagan]

Thanks Visvamitra. Yes, some may not like the clip because of its unorthodox proportions.

 

Yes, but that is also way they are so recognisable. And the reason why one has to have, at least, one of these in the collection .

[Sagarb]

Brilliant review, love those pens

[mhguda]

Very nice write-up, and I would also tend to believe that these are Kim pens. I have a few ebonites with a clip like that; one was sourced from Kim and adapted somewhat by dr Sreekumar (before he launched Krishna pens), the other came directly from Kim via a fellow FPN member.

I would agree with Visvamitra in disliking the clip, it takes away from the beauty of the ebonite. But Fountainpagan is also right - it is such a unique clip that I'm not sorry to have at least one pen sporting it in my collection... And on the really gigantic Kim Jumbo in black ebonite, it actually does feel right.

[SOMNATH]

Brilliant review, love those pens

Thank you Dada.

[SOMNATH]

Very nice write-up, and I would also tend to believe that these are Kim pens. I have a few ebonites with a clip like that; one was sourced from Kim and adapted somewhat by dr Sreekumar (before he launched Krishna pens), the other came directly from Kim via a fellow FPN member.

I would agree with Visvamitra in disliking the clip, it takes away from the beauty of the ebonite. But Fountainpagan is also right - it is such a unique clip that I'm not sorry to have at least one pen sporting it in my collection... And on the really gigantic Kim Jumbo in black ebonite, it actually does feel right.

I am glad that you liked the post. Nice to note that you too have a few Kims in your collection.

[fountainpagan]

You are right, Margo, only the gigantic Jumbos, and Majors make those clips look normal.

[amk]

Nice review, Somnath. Nice pens, too. I really love the spider-web effect on the flat tops -stunning rippled ebonite.

[SOMNATH]

Nice review, Somnath. Nice pens, too. I really love the spider-web effect on the flat tops -stunning rippled ebonite.

Thank you amk. Yes, the web effect is very much palpable in the pics which you have rightly pointed out. Nice to know that you love those pens.

regards

Somnath

[flummoxed]

Congratulations on the pens Somnath! Sreekumar is wonderful to deal with, he once sent me replacement pens for free as the first shipment had defective pens (issues with threading, etc.). The clips on this pen look wonderful.

[SOMNATH]

Congratulations on the pens Somnath! Sreekumar is wonderful to deal with, he once sent me replacement pens for free as the first shipment had defective pens (issues with threading, etc.). The clips on this pen look wonderful.

Thanks a lot.