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I have already posted a written review for the pen here:https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/267666-pierre-cardin-masterpiece-fp-review-with-pictures-a-mont-blanc-for-the-starters/ But now as i have also done a video review which i think is better, I thought of sharing it! Do share your views and comments and also like it if you find it useful or fun! Here is the link: http://youtu.be/OJ7gQu2Ogps

The Camlin 22 fountain pen I’m reviewing in this post came to me along with a number of other pens, ranging in price and quality, that were provided to me free of charge by Kevin of www.JustWrite.com.au, in return for an impartial review. I’ve previously purchased a few lower-end Indian fountain pens – mostly from (another) Kevin (of Fountain Pen Revolution fame), but this was the first time I’d tried a Camlin pen, and I was keen to see how it would perform. Valued at AU$12.95, this is neither dirt cheap nor especially pricey – but I’ve found it to be a pretty reliable performer, over the few weeks I’ve had it inked up. This is one of those pens I’d hesitate to score out of 10 – for appearance and build quality I’d have to score it lower than some of the other pens I’ve been reviewing, but it has some pretty good selling points too. So I’ll settle for giving you a run-down of the pen, and let you make up your own mind about whether you want to try one out. ______________________________________________________________________ 1. Appearance & Design – A simple, (mostly) no-nonsense pen The Camlin 22 appears to be made out of some kind of plastic or acrylic – it has that faint whiff of I-don’t-know-what that my Noodler’s pens tend to arrive with, though not quite as noticeable. The cap, grip section and barrel are all made of the same coloured plasticky material (mine was black, but they also come in blue, green, red and grey). The top 2½ cm of the barrel is transparent, providing a pretty good ink window – the rest of the pen is opaque. I’m not sure what to make of the cap – the bottom half is surrounded (reinforced?) by a ribbed steel section that will probably protect it against cracking – I just can’t decide whether it enhances or detracts from the overall look of the pen. It blends in well, though, with the chrome accents at the top and bottom of the pen, and the clip (stamped with the brand name, ‘CAMLIN’) is nice and springy – it’ll hold the pen very securely in a shirt or jacket pocket. http://i.imgur.com/5zhi1Bp.jpg … 2. Construction & Quality – Pretty acceptable for a cheaper pen! Though the pen is really not that much to look at, it’s pretty sturdy, and looks like it’ll take a good beating. Given the lowish price point, this is a pen you won’t be worried about using and abusing somewhat – though owing to the large ink capacity, I don’t think I’d be just tossing it into a backpack or handbag! http://i.imgur.com/FPPs1i2.jpg … 3. Weight & Dimensions – Fairly lightweight, but a comfortable fit in the hands Weighing in at 16g uninked, the Camlin 22 is pretty light to carry and wield. At 132mm capped and 116 uncapped, it’s longer than my TWSBI Diamond Mini, but still fits reasonably well in my shirt pockets. I don’t find I need to post the cap to use it comfortably, but the cap WILL post quite securely, and quite deeply too – providing an overall length of 142mm. The grip section is a tad slender (tapering down from 9.5mm to 8.5mm), but I tend to grip it on the threads for the cap – which is around 10.5mm, and very comfortable. … 4. Nib & Performance – Very fine, bordering on extra fine – but glides smoothly enough! The nib is a pretty plain, somewhat squat hunk of stainless steel that tapers to a very fine point – and though it’s notionally a Fine nib, I find it lays a very fine line indeed (which is just fine by me!). Despite the lack of ‘sex appeal’, though, it’s very serviceable. I found it slightly scratchy at first, but was able to smooth it out nicely with some 12000 grit micromesh. It’s a heck of a lot nicer than the Serwex nibs I’ve encountered before, though – those things are horrible! Though I don’t know much about either manufacturer, I’m guessing that Camlin is the better quality of the two all round – it shows in the workmanship of their pens more generally, but especially in the quality and performance of their nibs. This is quite acceptable – though I’m betting that, as with the Serwex 101s I have in my collection, you could easily swap this out for an FPR nib (which you can purchase separately from Fountain Pen Revolution, but they’re also available from JustWrite for Australian customers). The feed appears to be made of ebonite – which makes it even easier to adjust for a replacement nib (by heat setting, and/or additional sculpting) if need be. http://i.imgur.com/cgIfMhF.jpg http://i.imgur.com/WlzF38r.jpg … 5. Filling System & Maintenance – It’s an Eyedropper – what else is there to say? Though I’ve been somewhat wary of eyedropper-filled pens in the past, I’m beginning to appreciate them more and more. They have the advantage of being very easy to fill… and very easy to service. The ink capacity of the Camlin 22 would be around 2ml, which is pretty good compared to a cartridge and/or cartridge converter pen – but still not excessive. The pen can pretty easily be broken down to its constituent parts for cleaning and maintenance – if I were scoring this pen, I’d probably give it a 9 or 10 out of 10 here. … 6. Cost & Value – A pretty decent pen, for not a lot of dough I think Indian fountain pen manufacturers at present are facing some stiff competition from their Chinese counterparts – for around the same price, you could buy something like a Jinhao x450 or x750, both of which are solid brass pens with reasonable nibs… Or the Jinhao 599 which (if you don’t mind its Lamy Safari-style tripod grip) I would say is the nicest pen I’ve got in this price range. But this is a good, serviceable pen, very lightweight and very reliable. http://i.imgur.com/7pRkcpo.jpg … 7. Conclusion All in all, this is a pretty decent pen, for a relatively low price – one of the better lower-end Indian pens that I own. Its one big advantage over the Jinhao pens I’ve referenced is its larger ink capacity – and (probably) the fact that if you don’t like the nib it comes with, it would be very straightforward to swap in an FPR nib, which now come in XF, F, M and broad, as well as Fine Stub and Flex (which may or may not work with this feed). …

I bought this from JK pen stores (Abids, Hyderabad) this afternoon. He has a got a new stock of fountain pens of all sizes and makes - ebonite and acryllic. There were some which looked exactly like The Gama Supreme Jumbo (flat top), but they did not have Gama engraved and he told me that it was Swarna manufactured locally in Hyderabad. This one, he told me, is from Swarna - black matte. Jumbo size. http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii616/rakshitpai/20140518_170144.jpg http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii616/rakshitpai/20140518_164919.jpg http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii616/rakshitpai/20140518_175536.jpg http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii616/rakshitpai/20140518_225306.jpg

Hello everyone. I am a young fountain pen user from Mumbai, India, and this is my first post. Being in Mumbai, my first encounter was with the Airmail pen company, already well documented here, especially by Hari317. Their factory is my second home-I am there every week, looking at how stuff is made and going through all the pens they have. Although I now know everyone there, I am closest to Mr. Nirmal, who humbly tells me he knows less than half of what his brother does! Very often, we talk for hours over 'chaai'. Recently, while we were discussing Deccan pens, he removed a very old box of ebonite pens made by them, and I am going to document this pen. It was made entirely on a lathe machine in two colours-brown and green. The pen has been out of production for many years, and I got what were the last few pieces. I have requested Mr. Nirmal to make these pens again, and it should be available to everyone soon(but in very small quantities). If not, I have the last few models and will consider myself very lucky! These pens have the standard monotone yellow wality nibs, tipped fine. They are average nibs, and usually require minor adjustments. After scraping the feed channels with a pocket knife, and aligning the tines, this pen writes decently well, putting down a wet, fine line. It does have a fair amount of feedback, which, to be honest, I do enjoy sometimes. Whenever I want a buttery smooth pen, I always have my Deccan and Kim Jumbo! As compared to other Indian pens(Gama, Deccan and Kim), this is actually a small pen. I like the size, and find it to be perfect, comparable to the medium sized pen by Prasad Pens(Tenali-documented by shrujaya) Along with this, I have a few other wality pens that are quite rare, and I will document them soon. I hope you enjoyed this post. Please excuse my horrible photography and any other mistakes I have made, as I am fairly new to this forum. Do take time out to appreciate the effort that has gone into making this pen-it was made ENTIRELY on the lathe, by hand. I have seen the making of the 69A(documented by Hari), and boy, it is a time consuming process.

Bought this from JK Pen stores in Abids, Hyderabad. He had a bunch of fountain pens in a box. Many were missing sections, nibs.. among them were few pens which looked in good shape, this being one of them. The nib was, at first, very scratchy. It felt like a shard of glass or sand being stuck between the nib tines. I washed it throughly and that made it a little less scratchy. Then one day, when scribbling, I heard a crack and then... buttery smooth writing http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii616/rakshitpai/20140426_180156.jpg http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii616/rakshitpai/20140426_180321.jpg

Kim Nova fountain pen. The barrel does not have threads. The cap slips on. Made of ebonite, so the 'slip on' isn't as good as with regular plastic barrel pens. I didn't think that a thread less barrel would make any difference, but I must say, it has a really good feel. The nib was modified as per my request by the ebay seller (krishnapens). Broad, wet and buttery smooth http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii616/rakshitpai/20140426_122558.jpg http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii616/rakshitpai/20140426_122747.jpg

I bought this from JK Pen stores located in Abids, Hyderabad. He had a bunch of them in medium and jumbo size. This one is a jumbo. The nib has "Ambitious" engraved on it. http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii616/rakshitpai/20140426_122204-1.jpg http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii616/rakshitpai/swarna-nib.jpg

This is my review of the Gama Mayil. Sadly, Prataph tells me that they are no longer in production. May be the community can pester him to produce more of these beauties. He told me that people hated the color combination. I think it is bold and deserves attention. Moreover, the acrylic barrel and the ebonite nib section produces a strangely perfect balance (for me). Hope you all enjoy the pictures.

Among all Indian Fountain Pen Brands I own (Deccan, Ranga, Gama, Ratnam & Sons, Wality, Pierre Cardin) there is only one brand that interests me: The gama (pens) from Gem and Co. Over a period of time, the owner of Gem and Co. - Mr. Pratap has come to know exactly the kind of pens I love and use. Being a mathematician/ researcher all I do is work with pen and paper... fountain pen ofcourse. I have figured out that larger pens with fatter nib sections suit me better. I can forget that I am writing and really focus on the problem at hand. Hence most of the pens that I buy are bulky and heavy. My parents live in Chennai and I in Bangalore. Every time I visit them I call up Pratap in advance and he picks out the pens that he thinks I'd like. Invariably I end up buying a pen or two. I get my old pens cleaned and serviced while we (me, my wife and Pratap) chat away the hot Chennai afternoon at his shop on NSC Bose Road. These are a few pens that I acquired this time around. I'll probably get around to writing a detailed review later for each of them (once I use them long enough). I just could not wait to show these ones off. As all the pens are gamas I'll only use the product name (if it has one). All the pens are eye-droppers. All the pens have IPG stock nibs. However the nibs are all uber-smooth and the feed keeps up with fast, continuous writing. From left to right: Hawk, Mayil, Piston filler, Italic with sheaffer nib and feed The Hawk in the company of the Mayil (Peacock) Closes up of the sheaffer 1.7mm cursive italic nib and feed Italic Pen Gama Piston Filler Hawk Mayil Writing Sample

A pen or a stick? A Seaman's 'stick' pen that belonged to my wife's grandfather. At least 50 years old. Compared with a 'tiny' M200 Opened up to reveal 2 pens Nib has the following - "M?HATRE", "WRITE" & "TIPPED 1CP????" The brand name faintly inked on the body Body is in good condition. One of the nibs is in excellent condition but the feed is damaged. The other, mostly the black ink side is badly corroded and the feed is also damaged. Any idea of the feeds that may fit this?

I finally received my FPR Guru Flex today in the mail and it is a very interesting pen. Interesting in the sense that I can't make up my mind about it. Here are my thoughts from the first time using it. http://i.imgur.com/kWKuieKl.jpg Aesthetics: 5/10 I don't think this is an ugly pen, however, it isn't pretty. I like demonstrators, especially when they are well done. This, unfortunately, isn't the most refined of demonstrators. The points where the plastic is joined looks very sloppy and the threads suffer from the same problem. The pocket clip works well, but looks very very cheap. This pen comes in at about 5 inches, pretty similar in length to the Noodler's Ahab, but much thinner. I would have preferred if it were a bit thicker, both for aesthetics and ergonomics. http://i.imgur.com/FBUAUAgl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/k8HZHTvl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/ePawEAll.jpg Ergonomics: 7/10 Despite being a bit thin for my taste, it is actually very comfortable to use. The grip section appears smooth, but it is not slippery. The cap threads aren't sharp and don't interfere with writing. Filling System: 7/10 Piston filler. The piston knob is a little stubborn at first but it works smoothly and it fills up with ease. Hold a good amount of ink, I haven't measured this but it is pretty close to the Ahab. Nib and feed: 7/10 Here is where the pen gets interesting. I took out of the box and I was underwhelmed. I handled it, and it felt cheap. I filled it and the piston mechanism left something to be desired. And then I wrote with it. This nib is smooth. Very smooth. The feed keeps up with fast writing and this thing flexes with ease. No railroading whatsoever, and I can get it to flex just as much as my Ahab. Granted, I have no tinkered with my Ahab much at all, but as far as out of the box performance goes, I have to say the Guru impressed. http://i.imgur.com/9hJ8wlZl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/TeTki0ol.jpg Value: 7/10 This pen costs $12 from fountainpenrevolution.com. With shipping it is $15 and you get a free Serwex pen with it (at least I did, not sure if this is still the case). http://i.imgur.com/qJxSGGgl.jpg Overall: 33/50 I won't compare this to a Hero type pen because the Chinese companies don't offer a flex version. In terms of value I would compare it to the Noodler's Nib Creaper and Ahab. The Nib Creaper costs $14 without shipping and the Ahab costs about $20. If you can get a Nib Creaper for ~$15, I think that would be the best option. The Ahab is more ergonomic and better built, but more expensive. Overall I would say that I like the Guru. It is an interesting pen with a very nice flex nib. The shipping is a little long (I waited 11 days iirc) but it is a pen that not many people have and which writes very well for the price.

Below is my attempt at reviewing together the four pens made by the Ranga Handmade company that I own. [i will also put up a copy of this review on my blog fpensnme.blogspot.in]

SHORT EBONITE PEN. Please see my latest ebonite pen. Inspired by the shape of an old Indian pen – Oliver Bauna – A short stout “ egg “ shaped pen. http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3700/12379095953_f834886640.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7317/12379096453_4976d543c3.jpg http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3718/12378939415_f4ae263a5f.jpg http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2888/12379383544_3350290899.jpg http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3681/12379383184_f85a43fc00.jpg Ambitious Medium nib kindly contributed by Kevin of Fountain Pen Revolution. Filling - Tank. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7406/12378941505_06dbb11a20.jpg OLIVER BAUNA. Comments/ Suggestions highly appreciated. Sreekumar.

So, I did not know where else to post this, so i will post it here. I yesterday Got a bunch of pens, Some of them in ebonite. Was very happy to have these good pens. So i filled them up in the night, Checked them and kept them in my carry case for the next day. I inked the two Kim&co. pens with black and blue inks and that is what i use the most in office. came to office today. Took out the black pen and well it didn't write, gave it a tap, shook it.... and still nothing, so i open up the pen and to my surprise the pen is empty. Then I picked up the blue pen because i needed to take notes, and it doesn't write as well, Shook it, tapped it, failed to write, then opened that too and whooooaaa..... its empty too. Two fully filled ED, with decent capacity, completely dry overnight with no signs of leakage whatsoever. So out of surprise i took out my Ratnam and sons and Gama (filled at the same time, and both ebonite as well) to see if they were dry too..... but to my surprise they were still full. So, i suppose the Kim's i have are just thirsty and drank up all my ink..... Just wanted to share this experience to see if someone else has had such a thing happening to their pens. Sorry to make it so dramatic... Its more fun to write this way.... Let me know what you people think might have happened. And If you have had such experience.

This is one of my favorite pens. It is an Indian Handmade Acrylic pen from Gem and co. The pen is called Gama Acrylic Demonstrator. Hope you enjoy the review The three gamas: Kuyil, Acrylic, Ebonite Jr. More images of the acrylic demonstrator Note that a full transparent pen is also available where one can see the nib and feed fully. I however chose a semi-demonstrator pen where the section is black. I do intend to buy the full transparent one later since I love this pen so much.

The gama kuyil is an ebonite pen from Gem and co. based from Chennai, India. The deccan ambassador and the gama kuyil. A minor diversion: Among the deccan pens I prefer the Deccan Advocate Sr. and Jr. models. My wife prefers the Deccan Bullet Sr. My wife trying out the Kuyil From left to right: Deccan Advocate, Deccan Ambassador, Gama Kuyil, Gama Acrylic Demonstrator, Gama Ebonite Jr. A note on the Indian Ebonite pens I own: Since these pens are hand-made and the quality control is not supreme the same model can vary in quality across pens. If one reads the above review it is clear that I am not satisfied with my Deccan Ambassador. The reason why I have openly expressed my distaste for the brand is because I used a Deccan Ambassador of another fellow pen collector and found similar issues while using it. I know of a few people who use Deccan pens who have a similar opinion and I thought I could voice it. I purchased other pens from the company before coming to the following conclusion (Please bear in mind these conclusions are from using the pens that I have encountered from Deccan and are entirely personal): The deccan pens are in general over-priced. I have no problem with the price if the quality is good. I bought a white deccan masterpiece and sold it to my friend because I hated the aerometric converter and because the nib was OK at best (I admit it looked pretty and that was the only reason he bought it off me). I have no problems with the Advocate pens. Although I still think the pens are over-priced. I don't use my deccan pens as much as, say, my Wality or my Gama pens. Whenever I give these pens a try I just end being disappointed. I prefer the Wality Jumbo to the Deccan Advocates (don't get me wrong the ebonite is nice to touch). Again, these are my personal experiences

I thought it would a good idea if I wrote the review and posted the picture. I remember another member do this although I don't remember his name, I liked the concept. Cheers. I used an online picture optimizer to get a smaller size. Let me know if anyone wants a high quality picture.

I recently came across a box of this very interesting pen. Its vintage and were produced about a decade back, Though not much is known about this brand, any views or information, please feel free to add. I thought must share this with the forum and also record the existence... The pen is a full metal pen, with a shiny chrome finish. The finish has withstood the age and is in mint condition. The Clip designed after the Parker 75 Clip, with a scew type crown & bottom button. The pen is knock-off of Parker 75 from outside. Once you open the pen, it sports a nib section like the Parker 45. Probably the designer wanted best of 45 & 75!! The pen is a aerometric fill, was working perfectly even after decade + years. The pen had a Youth brand nib, which I changed to a gold plated wing-sung nib. Its writing excellent. So here are the pictures. The pen The Section the Pen opened The Nib (Parker 45!!) Please do share any other information of this brand or line up. Thanks for looking.

Not much is known about this company. We know that Wilson Pen Company was one of the significant pen manufacturers in India. They existed since 1939 as Wilson. They were headquartered in Bombay, India. (I learnt somewhere that they named their company Wilson, because the nibs they imported from USA during wartime had Wilson mentioned). During my school days, I remember Wilson was an envious brand. They used to come in many many models, introduced frequently and often high class replicates of famous Parker models. The most famous were the Wilson jotter pens & also a ball-point pen called "4-point pen" (used to write in 4 colours) Wilson actually paved the way to many western name brands in India like Kingson, Diplomat, Artex etc. They used to come in a plastic boxes mostly as pen sets. The boxes resembled & also open like the present day, manual mercury based "blood pressure monitoring" instrument. I had many Wilson pens but by now have lost all of them, but the pens were always in my mind. Recently, a friend of mine told me that he had a Wilson Fountain Pen, which he never used, since he fancied ball-points only. Thus came to my hands this beautiful Wilson 21, a deep red colour pen, with gold-plated clip and a cap band. (resembles vintage Parker) The pen posted The etching in the barrel "Wilson Regd" & 21 The Cap with clip & Band, "Wilson" is inscribed in both places. The Nib..Here to "Wilson" is written in nib, feed & Section Hope you liked reading about Wilson 21...

I have just had an opportunity to ink up a fountain pen produced in India that only days ago came out of the prototype stage and is now available to the public in limited numbers. It is a stunning innovation in Indian pen design and manufacturing, and very well executed. Best of all, its price is affordable for the overwhelming majority of fountain pen enthusiasts. The pen is a Guider "Twins." Designed independently and placed into production by Mr. Lakshmana Rao, the respected head of India's Guider Pen Works, it features two nibs, each with its own ink reservoir, at opposite ends of a black ebonite body. For all its 6.25" (15.8cm) length, the Guider "Twins" is lightweight, a special quality of ebonite, which is the characteristic material of quality Indian pens, and widely used by American fountain pen manufacturers until they switched to plastic in the 1940s. Each reservoir holds approximately 1.35ml of ink. That amount -- 30% larger than what many cartridge converters hold -- is more than adequate for average writing purposes, while serving to mitigate against ink "burping," a well-known feature [not a bug; hat-tip to Microsoft] of eyedropper pens. ("Burping is generally explained as the result of heat from your hand being transferred to the ink reservoir, which expands the volume of the air pocket in the reservoir as the amount of ink draws down and the amount of air exchanged into the reservoir grows in size by replacing the ink.) The smaller volume of ink which each reservoir of the Guider "Twins," and thus the ultimate size of the air pocket, bodes well for overcoming the "burp" phenomenon. The body, caps and sections of the pen are all ebonite. The caps are flat. One cap, however, is topped by a round, flush disk composed of acrylic. (The disk on the one I acquired, shown above, is white; another version of the same pen sports a red acrylic disk.) Against a ground of highly polished, lustrous ebonite, this end piece lends a sleek, dramatic flair to the pen's design. It also serves a welcome functional purpose: to remind you, if you use many inks, that one end of the pen holds a different color or brand of ink. (Of course, it's up to the user to remember which end holds which color/brand of ink.) Filling each reservoir with a different color of ink is extremely useful not only to ink enthusiasts, but also to writers (like myself) who are now able to devote one end of the pen to writing first drafts, and the other end to mark up revisions -- without having to rummage through their fountain pen collections, trying to remember which pen is inked up with what color. With this pen, both colors are right at your fingertips. Of course, if you fill both reservoirs with the same color, you'll be carrying close to 3ml of ink -- nearly three times as much as a cartridge converter, with the added advantages that you'll be twice as likely not to burp as you write that long journal entry, love letter or next chapter of your novel. The Guider "Twins" nibs are iridium-point Guider nibs. Both nibs are fine, in both senses of the word: line width, and smoothness. Each provides a touch of feedback on Clairefontaine paper, but so little that it's not distracting. Fountain pen users familiar with micromesh and lapping film will be able to fine-tune their nibs with a few brief twirls of the tines. For the rest of us, these Guider nibs will be perfectly respectable "right out of the box." Here is a writing sample, made with two different inks: Two features of the "Twins" are of note: First, there is no clip. Something had to give in designing a pen with two nibs, and apparently it was the clip. That said, it is probably wise not to attempt to carry this peen loose in your shirt or blouse pocket. At 6.25", it is likely to fall out in a moment of rash movement (think: bending over to retrieve a paper clip), and it would be a shame to mar the highly polished finish of this pen. Rather, it would be best to carry it in a pouch (I am making one of leather at the moment), and even better, a pouch with a built-in clip that can be slipped over the fabric of a shirt or blouse pocket (a task beyond my current leatherworking skills). Another reason to acquire and use a pouch is that the designer and manufacturer have fashioned it from an ebonite rod that has been machined to be as perfectly round as possible. Set it down on its side, give it a gentle nudge and, absent a cap clip, it will roll -- and once it runs out of writing surface and gravity takes over, the next stop is usually the floor, and all too many of us are familiar with the consequences. A second thing to note is that the cap threads at each end are closely machined and not interchangeable, as a way to make sure you don't mix up which ink is where. Each cap is designed to thread easily and securely on its designated end of the pen. My suggestion is that if you inadvertently mix up the caps, be attuned to any possible resistance you may encounter as you replace the cap. If you sense resistance, try putting the other cap on that end, and chances are you will not meet resistance. Moreover, note that the caps unscrew when turned counterclockwise. When recapping, it is always good practice to first turn the cap in a clockwise direction until you hear a gentle "click." That means that when you then turn the cap counterclockwise, the threads will be properly engaged, and you'll be less likely to strip the threads. The Guider "Twins" just recently went into production and is available in limited numbers from FPN member Mesu. Her ad in FPN Classifieds displays the pen in higher-quality photos than I've been able to take. If I sound enthusiastic about this pen, I am. (Full disclosure: I have no affiliation with either Guider or Mesu, other than having previously purchased a Guider Marala through Fountain Pen Revolution, and this pen through Mesu.) I own a good number of Indian ebonite eyedroppers, including the ones just mentioned, and a Guider super-mini, a Ranga Duofold Model 3, a Ratnamson No. 15, and a Gama Supreme. The design of this Guider "Twins" pen promises to give Indian pen design and manufacturing a shot in the arm, and to boost Indian ebonite eyedroppers from a niche market to a real contender in the global pen market. Innovative design and attentive, handcrafted production make this a desirable pen in any collection.

SOME MORE PEN STORIES ( and models) Hi friends, Pen makers experiences and stories I find always interesting. When ever I go to Calicut town, I have a tendency to go to Kim and Co and Krishna to see what all are happening there. As the shops are always busy, I stick up there either buying some pens, or as a silent bystander or if lucky I can find some senior pen collectors and share their experiences. One fine morning, as usual I found myself ended at Kim shop. Asked for any new model pen, one man in the shop ( around 25 years old) say to my surprise say yes. Delighted! New model! Then one customer comes to the shop with a Kim Big pen, says this is not writing properly ( I think he have bought it recently) Shop man takes the pen and writes it. I stood there , silently observing both customer and the shopman. To his and my surprise, the pen is writing with a beautiful fine line! sir, this has no problem no, I like to write it thicker ( it seems he dont know the word medium,calligraphy etc) Now the man goes inside. After 5 or ten minutes he comes back with the pen. Now its writing in a thicker line. Still our customer not happy. this is not the real way he says. Shop man asks are you an artist? yes pen is for drawing? both writing and drawing Now he goes inside and comes back in 10 or 15 minutes. And pen writing with a good line variation and have more flow also. A calligraphy nib! This is what exactly I want! He Exclaimed . Another happy ending story! Coming to the second part of the story, Of the many prototype models made in the workshop of Kim pens, only very few models hit the market after extensive testing . Even after that, if response from people is negative, they are stopped very soon. So what was that new modeloffered to me?. After successful completion of many years of production, Kim now feels that its time for its Small pen to retire and replaced by another model. I think now people prefer bigger pens. The New Small is dimensionally equal to Small, but looks and feels bigger. I think Small should be compared to Sachin Tendulkar, as both are retiring at the same time after many years of service! http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7418/10770156183_aa2580cfaa.jpg 20131109_170300 by mohancv, on Flickr THE NEW MODEL PEN FROM KIM. They are planning for yellow, lighter green, pink, black, rippled green finishes for this. Coming to the third part of the story, http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2882/10769946566_14212932a4.jpg 20131109_221144 by mohancv, on Flickr KIM LADY PEN This Lady pen is an answer to Kims own Lady pen of the past. Made by Sreekumar, the student of veteran pen maker Ramachandran, this pen do not go to production if I assume right. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7313/10769947406_d8bd108ec8.jpg 20131109_221551 by mohancv, on Flickr KIMLADY- OPEN. This is a small pen, well suited to small purses of ladies and is clipless. An eyedropper, and made of ebonite. ( earlier Lady pens were made of Celuloid).Cap opens in less than a turn. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7345/10770004094_342b5ef16b.jpg 20131109_221438 by mohancv, on Flickr Ink capacity only less than 1cc. May be due to its small size, or may be to reduce burping? http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7324/10769902525_e6dd6d5468.jpg 20131109_221456 by mohancv, on Flickr THE JEWELS http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2878/10769902085_76010bd80d.jpg 20131109_221528 by mohancv, on Flickr NIB. Nib is RITE SHARP, Made in Japan.( As far as I know, Ritesharp was an Indian Pen Maker, yet the nib does nt look Indian). http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7342/10770002364_5aa290624d.jpg 20131109_221725 by mohancv, on Flickr COMPARED TO A VECTOR. This is a phone conversation with me- why you want this? This is scrap( he have already sold me some antique Kim Lady pens) my wifes birthday, this should be my gift but its not finished I have no problem..I want a medium nib Medium? NoNonsense Nib, Wearever Nib,. both costs 150rs That I already have.. Townsend Nib is there costs 800rs .... is it too much? ( after few more discussions, I settled for a Ritesharp Japan nib for a 100 rs). After 2 days, I got this pen. One more happy ending story! Thanks for reading, Mohan.

Hey everyone, So im new here as a member, but I've been browsing the forums as a guest for quite a while, and one thing ive noticed is lacking is a single thread talking about Indian pens that are excellent deals, and ones that aren't worth even the cheap price. Recently ive stumbled across a wonderful website called fountainpenrevolition.com which im sure many of you have heard of, where they sell many many many kinds of Indian fountain pens, most of which are very inexpensive. This intrigued me, because id never seen much on Indian fountain pens. So in short: I think it would be nice to use this thread as kind of a compiled list of all known knowledge on these Indian pens. In your experience are there Indian pens that were cheap yet are beautiful writers and part of your daily use? Or are these seemingly low prices really too good to be true? Which pens do you suggest? Which do you suggest not getting?

Guider Glass ebonite and glass fountain pen (this pen came with a fine Guider nib... more on that in a minute) It occurred to me to drag this pen out and work with it when I read shrujaya's recent threads titled, "Meeting Mr Lakshmana Rao Of Guider Pens" which is in four parts (so far: 1,2,3,4). I've been carrying the pen with me for a couple of weeks now (this is the second time I've added it to my secondary pen case -- the first was when I bought it about a year ago). Here's my general impression: this pen is better than the sum of its parts. This is a fact which makes it difficult to review fairly. It is also a frustrating pen in that it is deeply flawed. I bought my example from Kevin at Fountain Pen Revolution (it appears that he his since stopped selling it). Before going any further, I want to say that Kevin is absolutely wonderful to deal with and I have no hesitation recommending him and praising him to the sky. He bent over backwards to help me. His customer service is another thing that makes this review difficult to write. In looking at other reviews of Guiders already on FPN, I found coffeetoofull's review of the Marala very fun because it has such great pictures of Guider's shop. LedZepGirl also has a good review of the Mani. However, the review I think has most baring on what I'm going to write is hari317's review of the Guider Jumbo. Hari really outlines the pen well and my review is going to be in almost complete agreement. Now down to glass tacks: Fit & Finish: 4/10 Ok, so here's the thing... this pen doesn't really hold up well to the standards of other, modern, pen makers. Not even for the price. When I write the "Fit & Finish" rating, I usually feel like I'm nit-picking. Not in this case. My Guider Glass wrote terribly "out of the box". It has bubbles where the ebonite end cap is glued in to the glass barrel. Not little bubbles but big ones, like when someone has tinted their own windshield... without a razor. The clip was misaligned (though I bent it a little and it's somewhat better now). There are deep cuts in the ebonite on the cap... not just scratches. The gold coating on the clip is just hideous. I mean... what parts of the pen does that leave? The nib? The nib, the section and the barrel looked free from manufacturing defect when I got the pen. Also, the seams where the various parts join are surprisingly smooth. For the record, I do NOT believe this pen was used -- I think it was new when I got it. Style: 7/10 The subject of the clip came up already, and it was even discussed in one of Jai's 'meeting' threads, which I referenced above. It's really such a shame this cheap-looking clip is used. It's just a big weird thing. To me it looks like some kind of utensil. Of course, the gold dipping combined with the letters for "GUIDER" stamped on it are the worst part. I also think it's ridiculous that the ball of the clip is created by bending the metal like origami. It makes it look like something that belongs in the shed. But enough about the clip. Otherwise, the pen is not unpleasant. First off, the ebonite has a lovely texture, and it's pretty amazing to have the barrel made out of actual glass. It's cool to the touch and it feels both unusual and really nice. The silhouette isn't what I would call "classic" but I like it. I really like the texture of the materials and the way the pen feels in the hand. If it weren't for these factors I probably would have gotten rid of it right after buying it. You don't see 3ml of ink sloshing around in a glass tube every day, and that really adds a lot to the experience of using this pen. In terms of a demonstrator, this is one of my favorites. I'm going to reserve discussion of the fact that it leaks for the filling system part of the review. In terms of style, it looks super cool, and it's a lot of fun to play with. It makes a great demonstrator. C/C Design / Filling: 5/10 It's an eyedropper. Did I mention it leaks? Yes, I used silicone grease. No, the leak isn't all that bad. By the end of the week, after carrying it in my secondary case, the ink works its way to the end of the threads. There's also a little nib creep. The upside is it holds a ton of ink (3ml, as I said) and it is super super easy to clean. Silicone is absolutely required to seal it, which means you have to wait until you're home to do anything relating to ink. I hypothesize that the seal is worse because of the different materials and the hardness of the glass. Because of this, I'm not entirely comfortable carrying it. I do plan to try using an 'o'-ring at some point but I haven't located one that fits. I'm not sure if that would be better or worse though. Nib: 4/10 The nib this pen came with was not usable for me. I messed around with it quite a bit, including heating and bending the feed to get it to fit better. It's, at best, a scratchy uninteresting nib, and at worst; it has a hard time delivering the ink from the feed to the paper. I basically found the Guider fine nib unacceptable. I also want to point out at this point that Hari had some of the same complaints, so I don't know if it was just that I got a bad nib. Either way, I ended up taking apart a wrecked Wearever I had sitting here, and using the gold nib from that pen with the Guider feed. This, I must say, worked surprisingly well. That's why I gave a "4", because the feed supported this other nib, and I include the feed in this part of the review. The addition of that old nib absolutely transformed this pen from something that arrived at my doorstep unusable, in to a pleasure to write with. One note is there is an occasional drip of ink after the pen has been sitting for a while, specially if it sat with the cap end down. Price: 5/10 I paid $39. That seems like a lot considering the build quality and the nib, but the actual materials are quite nice. So it's a little hard to say. I would not say it's a deal when there are quite a few pens at this price point which are far superior. But, again, I'm giving it a '5' because the quality of the materials is so high. GLAMAH SHOTS (we bring out your best... then we take your picture): Notice the bubble by the end cap; it's very visible in this photo: http://www.suramar.org/fpn/guider-glass_1.jpg http://www.suramar.org/fpn/guider-glass_2.jpg This is with the Wearever nib: http://www.suramar.org/fpn/guider-glass_3.jpg http://www.suramar.org/fpn/guider-glass_4.jpg Here's the underside of the clip and one of the cut marks on the cap. http://www.suramar.org/fpn/guider-glass_5.jpg Couple of writing samples. Don't be a hater. First one is on Clairfontaine, and second is Tomoe River from PaperForFountainPens.com http://www.suramar.org/fpn/guider-glass_7.jpg http://www.suramar.org/fpn/guider-glass_6.jpg Guider Fine vs. my old Wearever 14k (sorry for the poor focus): http://www.suramar.org/fpn/guider-glass_8.jpg Along side the donor pen that saved its life: http://www.suramar.org/fpn/guider-glass_9.jpg Compared to another Indian pen, and then Pilot Limited Edition Custom Heritage 91 (read Custom 74 with flat ends) and my Omas Milord Cruise: http://www.suramar.org/fpn/guider-glass_10.jpg http://www.suramar.org/fpn/guider-glass_11.jpg Conclusion: I would not suggest you buy this pen unless you have a nib that needs a home. It's a shame because the Guider Glass has a lot of upsides. The glass eyedropper setup is really cool -- holds a ton of ink and looks great. The materials this pen is made from are really nice too. The Ebonite is warm and soft and contrasts with the cool glass in an interesting way. The ebonite feed also seems pretty darned good for what it is... especially considering the fact that I bent it and played with it. However, again, if it weren't for the fact I had another nib, I wouldn't have kept this pen. I also don't think that it's worth $39 to just get an eyedropper pen body, essentially without a nib.

Before going into the actual review of the pen, I would like to recap part of my experience with fountain pens. I used to write with fountain pens from secondary to high school and I ceased when I started attending university, for sake of ease (that is what I thought those days). I still remember my green Pelikano and red Auretta, the short blue cartridges and some questions about their mutual incompatibility ... I started again some years ago out of curiosity and since then I have focused on affordable pens: in spite of the fact I am a product manager in a high tech company (... sort of ...), I use to write down notes by hand, so a pen is first of all a work instrument, then it must be reliable, available and cheap. My search of the perfect balance of quality, functionality, features and appearance has not yet finished and never will, of course. On the contrary, I learnt a lot of things that I am more and more fascinated by, like construction materials and technologies, filling systems, behaviour of different combination of inks and nibs and so on. And knowledge of product increased too: I started from the "classic" manufacturers and I bought an Aurora Ypsilon, a short afterwards I got a black Lamy Safari as an everyday writer, since I felt the former being too ... luxurious (but I do like a lot my Ypsilon!). Then came Chinese products and converters: a Baoer 79, some Baoer 388, a Baoer 100 (my first review: see here) and many more. Then, looking for a cheap piston filler (a Lamy 2000 is definitely out of budget) I discovered Fountain Pen Revolution and I became a loyal customer. Indian pens are joys and sorrows, their average quality is lower than Chinese products, but I feel the latter soulless and the former more related to me, and they can hold surprises for you, like the Serwex 962. Today I own four Serwex 962: a red, a dark blue, a green and a black one and I first came into possession of the black one as a bonus pen, added to an order from FPR that included a Camlin 47, a Serwex 1362 and a couple of Serwex 362. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8523/8679638356_db97dcbb27_z.jpg Array of Serwex 962 di S.R.GE, su Flickr I was happy of having the opportunity to try that pen: I had already noticed it on FPR site and I read an internet review of it, together with its big sister, the 362. My first impression was quite positive: the pen is small and well proportioned, even if its design is quite linear and simple, so I bought three more, to complete the colour set. Let's go into details. Appearance & Design: 6/10 First of all, Serwex 962 is a piston filler: a solution that is rarely found in this price range. General aspect of this pen may be defined utilitarian: sleek and linear when capped, a bit less harmonious when uncapped. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8256/8679641042_83f3546312_z.jpg Serwex 962 di S.R.GE, su Flickr The cap is satin-finished metal, while the body is plastic with smooth finish and pleasant feel; barrel and section are separated by a yellow transparent plastic segment, that acts as ink level check window - in the later part of the review, I will refer to the ink window as part of the section. The nib can be really defined as minimalist, as it is really small, but linear, tidy and somehow elegant. Cap is screw-type and has a most linear clip, whose colour can change depending on sample, from gold yellow to steel grey; the former is a better solution, since it couples very well with the standard golden nib. On the thread side the cap has smooth finished band where brand name SERWEX is engraved: the band finishing stands out on the cap, a quite sophisticate detail that I would not expect from a pen that is made to be simple (but not easy, indeed ...!). http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8382/8678527565_da92fcb69f_z.jpg Serwex 962: cap comparison di S.R.GE, su Flickr When uncapped, the pen seems a bit rough: although it is overall slim, section and barrel have different width and being the section very thin, the edge between the two has a noticeable width, that breaks body's harmony. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8532/8679640426_d6beec44f2_z.jpg Serwex 962 uncapped di S.R.GE, su Flickr Construction & Quality: 6/10 The Serwex 962 is a simple pen and it has an overall sturdy appeal, and indeed no remarks can be done to construction of pen's body: the piston knob is perfectly connected to the barrel and when the former is well tightened in working position, it almost disappears. I may have some concerns about plastics, that have a cheap look and feel and the typical smell of Indian pens! Quality of material seems to vary from sample to sample, in fact my black one has a failure into the ink window, as shown in the picture below: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8400/8678526923_22c7990acc_z.jpg Serwex 962: section defect di S.R.GE, su Flickr Again, the cap of the black one has a manufacturing flaw: the rim of the opening has a kind of crack as shown below: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8260/8678525443_c2bbf1bdf1_z.jpg Serwex 962: cap defect di S.R.GE, su Flickr Such defects do not appear into the other three units, indicating some variability in quality of materials and workmanship. Weight & Dimensions: 7/10 First of all, some figures: the pen capped is 135mm long, 116mm uncapped, the maximum diameter is 10mm and 8mm at section and it weights about 13g filled. Being the cap screw-type, it will be unlikely used posted, also considering that inner threads could damage barrel plastics; this is not a problem for me as I hardly write with fountain pen posted. Nevertheless, I feel Serwex 962 very nimble, light and, in a word, handy; as I said in a previous review, I am not for bulky pens, especially at work, but I think this pen could not be comfortable for everyone, since it can be felt as really thin, also because the section is thinner than barrel. Nib & Performance: 7/10 Serwex 962 comes with just fine nib and it can hardly be replaced with a different one, being it so small. The nib is a standard design, gold plated unit, even if very thin and carries an incision saying "IRIDIUM POINT" (uh ...?), while "SERWEX" is engraved on the feed below, even if is very hard to be seen. Here again there is some variability from sample to sample, both in line width and in tactile feeling. Common properties are: nib rigidity, direct consequence of its shape and size, the substantial wetness of flow and prompt start. The line is fine, a bit wider than expected from such a slim nib. What is different: the black and green samples have a thinner markthe blue and green sample have some slight skipping, especially when performing close curves and more evident in the blue onethe blue sample is slightly more scratchy than the other threethe blue sample has a sort of square line, while the other three are more smooth.As a general consideration, this model has a pleasant behaviour, with partial exception of the blue one: I tried a bit of tuning with partial success, aligning tines and enlarging them a bit, but without grinding, a technique I do not like, since tailors the nib too much to my hand. Here below a writing sample of the four pens - I apologise for my bad writing. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8538/8679636468_babee312cb_b.jpg Serwex 962: Writing Sample di S.R.GE, su Flickr Filling System & Maintenance: 8/10 As anticipated, this sleek pen is a piston filler; ink capacity is limited by the reduced section, but arguably it can hold more ink than a couple of short cartridges and definitely more than a Chinese or Indian standard converter. The piston works well, but as always, performances and quality are not homogeneous: the green one is hard to push down and the black one presents a potentially defective gasket, because moving the piston up and down after having emptied the pen, it does not perfectly clean ink from the check window as expected, but actually I have never detected ink leakage from piston knob as predictable in case of infiltration through the piston. Filling operation is very easy, the system sips ink quite up to full capacity and very few cleaning is needed at end. I noticed a slight tendency to blot when the pen is almost empty; I think the cause may be similar to what happens to eyedroppers in the same condition: probably because barrel is quite thin, the hand warmth could heat the air inside, making it expand and eject the ink. Maintenance is limited to the nib, that is easy to be extracted, being friction-fit. I saw on Fountain Pen Revolution site the pen completely dismantled, piston mechanism included, but at moment I have not been able to figure out how to remove piston, worm and knob. I noticed on the back of the knob a sort of round seal, maybe it is a cap for a screw, but I have not had dare to try. Cost & Value: 7/10 As told, I received the first sample new as bonus pen from Kevin at Fountain Pen Revolution, but its price is 7$ on that site: buying a bunch, the 2$ of shipping cost can be easily amortised (actually, I recently noticed shipping at FPR is now 3$ ... after all I am a Genoese: very, very worst of Scots!). Anyhow, even 10$ for a piston filler is worth to try: the result is a reliable, sturdy pen for every day use. Conclusion (Final score: 39/60) My final verdict about Serwex 962 is a mixture of positive and less positive opinions, but no really negative issues arise. The pen writes well after all and it needs less tuning than other cheap pens I tried, in fact I bought four for every day use. Its look is sleek and unbalanced at same time, cheap, but with sophisticated solutions. What I like is its linear appearance, especially when capped, its handiness and nib performances in most cases. In few words: simple, not easy, but handy.