Honeymoon With The Fountain Pen Revolution (Fpr) Flagship: Jaipur V2 With Ultra Flex

[peroride]

Family owned and operated, Fountain Pen Revolution has come out with their version 2 of the Jaipur fountain pen. Currently there are only 2 acrylics, a blue and an orange and 1 ebonite brown which is the subject of this first look reviewlet.

What is it?

A piston filler of Indian origin designed and branded by FPR along with a stable of other brands that they sell.

The ebonite is smoother and finished better than the Himalaya v2. Himalaya looks and feels more matte whilst the Jaipur is slicker and sheenier.

The length is a smidge longer and girthier than the Himalaya with a more cylindrical shape. I much prefer its profile over the himalaya v2 and that pen feels almost perfect. Comparison to an M600 would longer, less taper and slight less girth. Jaipur hits close to Lamy Safari dimensions.

Left to right: Leonardo Momento Zero, Pelikan M600, FPR Jaipur v2 with Ultra Flex nib, Lamy Vista (clear Safari) and FPR Himalaya V2

The Jaiput v2 piston filler pen can be completely disassembled for maintenance which is a big plus. Additionally the ebonite feed and nib can be swapped for #6 plastic ones at the FPR shop.

Takes about one and a half turns to uncap and Jaipur posts deep and secure. I totally love this. The pen is light at 19.5 grams on my coffee scale.

How does it feel?

Imagine a light Pelikan M800ish/Lamy Safari sized pen with a very slight tapered grip ending at a very clear and useful ink window. Add an ultra flex steel cut out shouldered nib tuned with an ebonite feed backed by unencumbered volume of piston full of ink.

Finally, finally I have converted and firsthand witnessed the praise of pleasurable FPR affordable flex writing.

I dare say it is up there with 4x more expensive 14K Gold Jowo flex. Unlike my first stutterings with Himalaya v2, Jaipur v2 wrote straight out of the box no problems. No flushing of feeds or heat settings or bum leaky convertors. I just rinsed the nib and ....

WTH!!

Let's backtrack... I received shipping at work and could not wait to get home to ink the baby up. Everything check out: no defects and superb build quality, piston worky if not a bit stiff. Knock on wood, I got one from the good batch?!

then I came home all hot and bothered in the FP heat phase when to my surprise, I could not undo the blind cap. Blind cap? What's that you say? Well unlike a regular piston converter like Montblanc 146, Pelikan M series, Sailor Realo, etc etc FPR Jaipur v2 has a beautifully thin crafted end cap that the user screws to reveal the actual ribbed piston knob.

Clockwise knobbing fills and counter will dispense. I could not get the dang thing off and then I heard a rattle sound and saw separation from the piston mechanism and barrel. We were not dealing with a captured converter here.

So just before I'm ready to make love with my new pen, i dun brok it?!@ WTH!@#$

No amount of silicone gripper oven mitt strength twisting would undo the blind cap to access the knob for ink filling!

I was really upset as I was not sure I was either tightening the blind cap or loosening it.

It would not budge and so I had a pen that could not fill unless I syringed from the nib end which unscrews for nib swaps; basically Jaipur as a crappy eyedropper.

Then I remembered FPR introductory video and rewatched for the direction of the twists during the Jaipur overview.

https://youtu.be/rkX1p47KbM4

I ended up untwisting out the whole piston assembly then I was able to get better purchase on the blind cap and free it to expose the piston knob. But now I had a piston part to reattach. Luckily I was able to rescrew it back in and get the piston working again. I could filler up!

Writing, writing and writing

Jaipur v2 chews ink up and I love it.Finally can go full plow and refill to use up ink stash.

• Akkerman Garuda Rood - wet juicy yum
• Crappy De Atramentis Bamboo Green ink sample - feather like crazy but still juicy though had a couple of skips and hard starts
• Diluted Organic Studio Nitro also sold at FPR - WOW BAM POW! that and Akkerman have been stellar.

I dunno maybe it's the piston volume and not that skinny skank convertor of the Himalaya v2 but the Jaipur v2 feels like a homerun on the writing experience. Page after A5 page, I can just gush and pour without issue with the right ink.

The only negatives were the super tightening of the blind cap which I did not truly did not over tightened which I "fixed" with silicone grease ?! to the inner threads AND hard to turn, stiff piston which I hope to fix with silicone grease to the ink chamber though I kinda don't want to mess up the honeymoon by unscrewing the nib and potentially ruins it!!

In all, Jaipur v2 is a worthy flagship and I prefer it over my 2 Himalaya v2s: 1 good and the other meh . No heat setting, flushing, leaking, etc. I just fill and write now.

As a true testament to this pen, I bought another one at the time of this reviewlet, this time in blue acrylic to see if it holds up to this faithful ebonite version.

Hey, need more data points?

Here's YouTuber Larry of Larry's Fountain Pens with a word:

https://youtu.be/Rj2_eDTcSDU

Peace out, write on!

 

[timotheap]

Thank you for the review!

 

I am jealous, especially as it looks like the only FPR retailer in Europe (ie La Couronne du Comte in the Netherlands) no longer offers FPR pens... And with the customs from US to Belgium, it is simply not possible anymore.

 

I have an Himalaya V2 with Flex nib, and though I'd left the body of the pen hidden away for months because I didn't like it, I'm rediscovering it at the moment and I actually like it more and more. And the Flex (not even the Ultra Flex) is very very nice. The feed is wonderful - the only trouble is the converter didn't screw snuggly enough and so leaked ink everywhere in the barrel. Ah well, I've just eyedroppered the darling - without O-ring (turns out it's not that easy to find the right size where I am). Fingers crossed.

 

But now you've really got me pining for an ebonite pen with Ultra flex nib...

 

EDIT: I hadn't seen the price and just realized that with the Ultra Flex, it would be a tad too expensive for me. Ah well, I am now no longer jealous ! Still nice though.

Edited February 28, 2020 by timotheap

[trmsw]

I buy in the US and use a shipping service to send things back to Belgium. It costs about 20 euros which isn't nothing, but is worth it for more expensive pens. No problems with customs so far (touch wood) though of course you need to put a value of less than 22 euros on the customs form.

[trmsw]

That said, I was a bit disappointed by the ultra flex nib in my Himalaya V2, as it's just not fine enough.

[timotheap]

It sounds tempting - I think of Ranga pens too and again customs from India would almost double the price, but it's the kind of thing I'd be loathe doing.

 

My FPR flex is fine enough and I really like it, but again the type of paper is also a huge factor. After failing to heatset the section I put the converter back in, and was pleased to see the flow was more manageable. Wet enough that you can flex, but not so much that you lose the crispness if the line when non flexed.

 

It is a set up I have yet to find for the Ahab (Dixie #10 Is pretty much there)

[clericreborn]

Just wanted to say, your post inspired me. I was eying the Jaipur for it's great entry-level price on a gorgeous 14k nib as it is. Haven't taken the plunge on a gold nib as yet, though I've wanted to know what all the fuss is about. After all the rave reviews about the himalaya, and your further adoration for the Jaipur, I'm making a challenge to myself: Journal every day in April, and treat myself to a pen May 1st. ^_^ Hope your pens continue to treat you well.