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  1. subbucal

    Wilson 21

    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...
  2. I have been trying to reach Subbu via Instagram where he is fairly responsive but I have messaged him twice in the past 2-3 weeks and haven't heard back at all. Has anyone been able to contact Subbu recently? I placed an order around mid December 2020 and want to know the status since I was told that the pen would ship on Feb 7. I'm not quite in a hurry but would like to know what's happening if possible. I hope everything is fine with him.
  3. Aditkamath26

    Asa Maya: Detailed Review

    INTRODUCTION: Greetings everyone. I'm back after quite some time and this review is long overdue. The ASA Maya was a pen that I fell in love with on the first sight. I read about this pen in Sagar da's review and wanted one of my own. I get how this is Mr Subramanium's design of a dream pen. So I got one Maya from Mr Subramanium and a kind pen friend from Saudi Arabia, gifted me another one. So without further ado, I'll get straight into details. DESIGN & COMFORT: The pen has a nice classic design to it. With a straight cap, and a barrel that first bulges and then tapers towards the ends, both subtly, the pen has a nice aesthetic flair to it. It seems to have a few curves borrowed from Kaweco's Dia 2, while still maintaining the original Indian charm. The section is simple business. Straight, with a touch of taper and ending with a thick block towards the nib. The trim on one of my Maya is chrome coated and on the other, I have sanded this chrome coating to bare brass. I have also given a baakul finish to the section on this Maya. The pen is quite comfortable in the hand. It has ample length and girth for my hands, that I consider to be larger than usual. The material it is made of, i.e. ebonite, is very nice to the touch. Especially on the Maya with the baakul section. Since it is made of ebonite, it is very light in the hand. Here lies my only gripe. I wish it was slightly heavier. A brass ring or two towards the end of the barrel might solve this. CONSTRUCTION & QUALITY: As far as I could find, there are no flaws with the construction of this pen. The threads are slightly rough, but I do know how to smoothen them using some Novus polish. The quality of ebonite is acceptable at this price. The brass trimmed Maya had a lot of pits, spots and discoloring. I used a gel-pen and touched these up. The baakul finish is beautifully done on the chrome trimmed Maya, whereas on the brass one, I had to redo it since the lines were kind of tilted. I can understand that the baakul finish is done by hand, but would appreciate a little more attention over there. NIB & WRITING EXPERIENCE: The chrome trimmed Maya has a Schmidt Fine nib and is a beautiful writer. Depending on the ink, the nib writes from a Japanese fine to a Japanese Fine Medium, which was quite a surprise since this is a nib from the west. It is smooth, with a lot of feedback. its great for controlled writing and handwriting practice. The brass trimmed Maya has a Jowo 1.1 Stub (that I've hand torched to an antique finish that should go well with the brass as it ages). This nib is fun to write with. As most of my Jowo nibs, I found it a bit dry. Its very smooth with a whisper of feedback, which I've smoothed out. It has ample line variation while still being usable for daily writing. (Please ignore wherever I wrote polished ebonite. That was a failed project ) WRAPPING UP: The Mayas are my go to pens for school and I've written 3-hour exams with these without any fatigue. I highly recommend these to anyone who needs a well priced pen for daily, long writing. Mr Subramanium of ASA pens is flexible to work with, and can do customizations without much hesitation. That said, I hope this review was useful to someone out there. Any comments, either here or on PM, are always welcome. I hope do to more reviews in the future
  4. A Special Edition Jinhao "Lord Venkateshwara" pen from House of Jinhao; Jinhao Model-601 A full Brass metal Pen with Gold Accents. The Figurine of "Lord Venkateshwara", is etched on the barrel and an antique finish is given. The cap has the "Vaishnavism" Symbols of "Conch", "Sudarshan Chakra" and the "Tilak" etched. The top crown has a black jewel on which the Sun representing Lord "Surya Narayana", is embossed. First preview... will review in detail in due course The Jinhao Special Edition Pen The Figurines-1 The Figurines-2​ Pen in the Box The Special Box
  5. So today, a little package from India arrived on my doormat; slightly unexpectedly, but only because it was nearly two weeks earlier than anticipated! The packaging was very secure, with a thick outer envelope, double layers of bubble wrap, a plush velvet pen sleeve and finally cellophane over the pen itself; I'm pleased to say it survived the trip from India to the UK entirely unscathed, and as a bonus fit neatly through the letterbox! Mr. Subramanian of ASA Pens was very communicative and helpful, with emails on receipt of the order, processing, and on dispatch. No faults at all with the postage and dispatch! First impressions: this is a Big Pen. Capital B Big. As in, if you thought the Noodler's Neponset was large, this is bigger. Despite this, the pen is pleasantly lightweight for the size and, when filled, balances at nearly the exact midpoint of the length making for a comfortable writer without undue fatigue. Construction: the pen is made of clear acrylic resin throughout. ASA Pens' website states that the pen is entirely hand-turned with no CNC involved, and I have no reason to doubt them; the contouring is smooth throughout and the pen sits very nicely in the hand. The section, cap jewel and end of the barrel are crystal clear, and the barrel and cap are sanded with micromesh to give a pleasantly textured, misty, fogged finish that feels surprisingly warm to the touch for some reason! This is, of course, where the pen gets its name; the nebulous fogged finish gradating into the crystal acrylic like the a galaxy into the vastness of space. The threads are solid throughout, with the section taking over 11 full turns to unscrew from the barrel! Not coming loose any time soon The cap smoothly and firmly screws on in a little over 2/3 of a full rotation. The nib and feed are friction fit, and took a little tinkering to rearrange for optimum writing, but are easily removable for cleaning etc. The trim is chrome throughout, with a very stiff clip: not that this is a pen one would be likely to carry around in a pocket! Stamped (lasered? engraved? heat-embossed?) on the side of the barrel is "ASA Stellar Galactic / India 2015" - this branding is next to invisible when the pen is empty, but shows up once the barrel is filled with ink. Weight: - Capped: 31.0g empty - Uncapped: 20.5g empty - Cap: 11.0g Dimensions: - Length capped: 15.3cm - Length uncapped: 14.0cm - Length posted: don't even bother - Barrel diameter: 16mm at the widest point - Section diameter: 13.5mm in the middle of the taper Nib and feed: my pen came with a standard unbranded IPG nib, with a fairly fine point. There is an option to upgrade to a JoWo nib at checkout for a small extra cost, but I didn't feel this was necessary and indeed the standard nib is smooth with a little more springiness than my other steel-nibbed pens. I believe the feed is ebonite (?), and it easily keeps up with even the fastest of my writing without flinging ink everywhere! On the subject of ink, I measured the volume of the barrel to 1mm below the section threads as 4.1ml, over double the ink capacity of any of my other pens! You could write for days on end with just one fill of this pen. Writing: the pen is a pleasant writer, especially for those with larger hands (like myself!). It's nicely balanced and easily long enough to use comfortably without posting, and frankly the length gets a little absurd if you were to try! The nib is smooth enough to be unnoticeable during writing, and is fairly forgiving of changes in angle. Thoughts and opinions: for a handmade pen that cost me a hair over £20 (Rs ₹ 1,050), including free shipping halfway across the world, I'd say the ASA Galactic is exceptional value for money. If you like demonstrators, big pens, or just fancy something a little unusual, then this could be a worthy addition to your collection. It's great fun to be able to see the huge ink reservoir sloshing around, and the clear section gives a good insight into the capillary action that feeds the nib! However, for people who prefer a smaller or lighter writing instrument, this isn't the one for you I'm afraid. Picture time! http://i.imgur.com/V8pMb70.jpg?2 Showing the texturning of the barrel and cap, with a little glimpse of the logo. http://i.imgur.com/y4G9146.jpg?1 Another view of the unfilled pen showing the engraving. http://i.imgur.com/9Oro9cM.jpg?1 Nib on show! Note the clear section. http://i.imgur.com/2JyPFFZ.jpg?1 All filled up woth Röhrer & Klingner Alt GoldGrün http://i.imgur.com/29X1TeE.jpg?1 Look at how that crystal acrylic blends into the fogged barrel! http://i.imgur.com/7r4Q0ZB.jpg?1 And all filled up. There's a little breather hole in the cap in case you didn't notice earlier. http://i.imgur.com/vXETcPr.jpg?1 A capped size comparison with (left to right) the Noodler's Neponset, Jinhao 159, TWSBI Vac 700, LAMY Safari, Platinum Century, Noodler's Ahab, Pelikan M600 and Kaweco Sport http://i.imgur.com/FDeOXET.jpg?1 And the same, but posted! See what I mean about the length getting a bit ridiculous? http://i.imgur.com/mTclr7c.jpg?2 Finally, a little writing sample. I hope this little review has been of interest; ask away of you've got any more questions about this lovely pen! Cheers all, Alex
  6. Hi, This review has been posted in my blog at https://inkpensblog.wordpress.com/2017/05/12/asa-tangerine-nauka-review/ . Please check it for my other reviews. I was casually browsing ASA Pens’ catalogue at asapens.in one day and I noticed a new listing for a Nauka in tangerine acrylic. It was a bright orange version of translucent Nauka (TransNauka). It was a limited edition (only 250 pens) according to the listing and so I made an order the next day itself. I already had one in ebonite and and one in translucent clear acrylic. I loved those pens and thought it would be a nice addition to that set. Even though the website said it would take four weeks for delivery , the pen reached me in a week’s time (Subbu of ASApens told me the reason later). It came in a nice looking ASA branded wooden box as opposed to the regular bubble wrap. It was a gorgeous pen. The acrylic was bright orange and the body of the pen had a brushed finish. The golden coloured clip augmented the beauty of the pen very well. It came with a golden coloured medium Jowo nib. Okay. The pen is beautiful. But, what about writing performance ? It is one of the best nibs I have used. It is tuned very well and wrote very smoothly. It came a close second to my Lamy 2000 in the smoothness contest. The best Jowo nib I have written with. Hats of to Subbu sir if he has done some magic to this nib. I tried a few inks in this pen. J. Herbin 1670 Rouge Hermatite and Private Reverse Orange Crush were the first two I tried. But, I settled with Diamine Sunset. That ink matched the pen in colour and in character. ASA Nauka has been made in various materials and has been reviewed a number of times in FPN. So, I am not going to the details of the design, filling mechanism etc. ( These are the Nauka reviews in FPN that I have seen. Sagarb's review , s_t_e_v_e's review, Pen_andy's first impressions, bobje's review of ebonite nauka, bobje's review of dartmoor nauka, mehandiratta's review of TransNauka, amk's review and the latest touzeen's review of "Dolce" Nauka) The cap finial is a big bulbus part which almost glows. I wonder how it would have looked if it was polished well instead of the brushed finish. Like a Mont Blanc Starwalker kind of finish !!! who knows.. The Tangerine Nauka is slightly bigger than the ebonite Nauka in girth and length. Actually, it is slightly longer than the clear transnauka as well. I don't know if it is by design or it is just this pen's peculiarity as all of them are handmade. Below are some comparison photos. Out of this, the ebonite Nauka continues to be the most comfortable pen to write for long sessions due to its slightly slimmer grip section. But, that does not in any way mean that the Translucent brothers are not comfortable. They are also very nice to hold and have very good balance. I have one gripe with the transNaukas. The cap threads are at the end of the section and they get exposed to ink when filling up and it gets stuck there. The ink can spread to the cap threads as well. It take a bit of effort to clean up those threads. You can see blue ink in the clear transNauka's pen threads and cap threads. When I thanked Subbu for this beautiful pen, he gave me another pleasant surprise. My Tangerine Nauka is the first one in the limited release set. So, it is 1/250. I wish if the serial number was stamped in the pen as well. That was the reason for the fast delivery as well. Overall, it is a very nice pen in all aspects and I carry it everyday along with my other Naukas in my backpack.
  7. Dear FPN members, After successful launch and Group-buys for FPN members, on our last two offerings namely the ASA Nauka (Ebonite and Translucent) and ASA Maya, we are thrilled to announce our new product line ASA Mist. We are ever grateful to FPN members for all their support and encouragement for our products. We recognise this and we are happy to announce an International Group Buy here for ASA Mist. ASA Mist offers an amalgamation of two of the most sought after materials, in the pen making. We have kept the section and cap button in Ebonite. Rest of the pen, namely the cap and barrel, is in Translucent Acrylic. (Similar material to our Trans Nauka). Also one model in full opaque Red Acrylic ASA Mist will sport our new section design. Based on feedback from our valuable customers and specific inputs from Mr. Sagar Bhowmick, (one of our long-time customers and FPN member), we have developed this special section design. Ebonite section is most friendly for long writing hours. The pen section is an hour glass section (as in our models Genius, I Can etc), but with the thicker Girth and shape of our sections in model like Maya, Forever or Popular. We have got some encouraging initial feedback for this section design. About ASA Mist is a regular size pen, with following measurements:- Length Capped – 140 mm Length Uncapped – 100 mm ( without nib) & 125mm (With nib) Barrel Dia – 14mm, Cap Dia- 16mm Section – length10mm (Hourglass with dia- 11mm at the middle and 12mm at bases) (being fully handmad pens, the above may vary +- 2-3 %) Colours:- Mist will be available in Translucent Finish and in 3 colour variants viz. Tangerine, Aqua Blue and Clear. Also, or those who like an Opaque pen, we also have one model in full opaque Red Acrylic Nib and filling systems:- Mist will be made available in two filling systems (Eyedropper system and a 3-1 Filling system) Eyedropper with ASA Nib in Fine, Medium or Broad. 3 in 1 Filling with a choice JoWo ( Use as Eyedropper, with Converter or Cartridge). Prices are as follows:- We are offering a special 25% discount in this Group Buy. Eyedropper filling. (Regular Price 38USD, FPN Group Buy Price 29USD) 3-1 Filling with Choice no6 JoWo nib unit and Schmidt K5 Converter (Regular Price 65USD, FPN Offer price 49USD) *Jowo nib unit will be a Polished Chrome finish (matching to Clip), in F, M, B, 1.1 or 1.5 nib widths Special Offer:- 5 Customers will be eligible by way of lucky draw for an “Architect Grind” in their nib. Customers who wish to participate, will have to opt –in at the beginning itself. The Architect grind will be done by our special nib master Mr. Jaspreet Singh. (You can see his work in Instagram, his handle is @jazzorilla) Sample at-https://www.instagram.com/p/BoJV-U6leMD/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1op2pw1uegl5f Group Buy Window:- (Imp) This group buy window will be open from 24/09/2018 till 23/10/2018. All Orders placed between 24/09/2018 till 30/09/2018, will ship by 31/10/2018 All Orders placed between 01/10/2018 till 23/10/2018 will ship by 14/11/2018 We will ensure strict adherence to above timelines. Shipping:- Will be done Via India Post, Registered Airmail, which is included in above Price and usually reaches in 3-4 weeks from shipping date. Its trackable to most countries Payment:- Payment to be made to my PayPal- unik.services@hotmail.com In order to participate in the group buy, please fill the “Google Form (Link Below)” and Reply in the thread with "Form Submitted or just repost the choices in thread https://goo.gl/forms/xKhmmb8milAjCm0r1 Or Our Existing Customers Use the below link to directly buy from our website. http://asapens.in/eshop/asa-mist-translucent-acrylic-fountain-pen?search=international%20group%20buy Links to our previous Group Buys and some reviews here:- ASA Nauka- http://www.fountainp...nslucent nauka ASA Trans Nauka- http://www.fountainp...l=+trans +nauka ASA Maya- http://www.fountainp.../?hl=+asa +maya http://www.fountainp.../?hl=+asa +maya Some Pictures of ASA Mist :- Find more at our Flickr Photostream , ,
  8. mehandiratta

    Asa Patriot - The Classic

    Lately ASA has released lot of pens and believe they will be coming up with lot more in near future. And today I am reviewing another great pen by them which is ASA Patriot. My detailed review is also shown at wordpress page here Link ASA Patriot I had my eyes on Gama Eyas / Gama Hawk for a quite a long time because i wanted an ebonite pen with the rounded top and bottoms. I was just about to buy the pen and then ASA came out with this beauty named PATRIOT and i quickly grabbed the same. DESIGN & BUILT: The pen is a regular sized pen and comes in 5 color options, shiny black, matte black, light brown rippled, dark brown rippled and green rippled finish. Its a regular sized pen which comes with JoWo nib options of F, M , B and 1.1 Italic size. The pen that i reviewed today comes with 1.1 Italic nib. ASA Patriot with 1.1 JoWo Itaic nib It has a clean and minimalist design. The pen open in 2 and half turns which I beleive is the highlight of the pen being an Indian pen. The top and bottom of pen are rounded which are quite nicely done and has been paid lot of attention as it is a handmade pen. ASA Patriot - Top of Cap and Bottom of Barrel ASA Patriot - Uncapped The section of the pen is finished in black shiny finish which is quite okay and provides for sturdy grip. However i would have liked it even more if the section would also have been given a matte finish. Below is the image which shows the pen broken down in to parts, which shows the Schmidt K5 converter also. ASA Patriot - Taken apart The Clip is chrome finished and quite sturdy and the O ring of the clip is well hidden by the rounded cap top. (Update: these are push in type clips, thus no O ring )The Also i got an option to engrave my name on the pen and i opted for the same to be done at the cap which really adds to the beauty of pen. ASA Patriot - Sturdy Clip ASA Patriot - Name Engraving As mentioned earlier the pen is the regular sized pen and below are the few images to show the comparison against various pens. ASA I Can vs ASA Patriot vs Pilot Metropolitan vs Sheaffer No Nonsense - Capped ASA I Can vs ASA Patriot vs Pilot Metropolitan vs Sheaffer No Nonsense - Uncapped This is a well designed pen which is just a class apart in built quality. Actually its a no fuss design. For the detailed review and more images along with the writing sample please follow the link : ASA PATRIOT
  9. ASA TranNauka - JoWo 1.1 Nib The review is simultaneously posted on my blog here : Link The pen I am about to review has sold in huge nos. and probably one of the best-selling pen of ASA. There was a time when I was after Mr. Subramaniam to make a demonstrator pen with screw in nib units from JoWo/Schmidt but somehow he was not able to procure the good material which could withstand the threading to be done for those units and then we gave up. Then one fine day he informed me that he had procured a new material and will be launching an already successful Nauka in the demonstrator version (which was named TransNauka) and I was too excited for the pen and I told Mr. Subramaniam it would sell in huge nos. and therefore I convinced him that we should do a group buy for the same on FPN (TransNauka Group Buy) and believe me, it was immensely successful. ASA TranNauka – In love with Rains The group buy was so successful that he had to stop taking orders on his website for a fortnight even after the Group Buy was closed because of his limited production capability. I have already reviewed a few pens from ASA as below: ASA Rainbow : LINK ASA Viraat : LINK (Absolutely love this fat pen) ASA Spear : LINK ASA Porus : LINK ASA Patriot : LINK ASA I-Can : LINK ASA Galactic : LINK It’s been three months since I have got this TransNauka and further below is my effort to do a detailed review of the pen. Design : 4.5/05 There is an old age saying: “Beauty lies in the eye of beholder” And to my eyes, this pen is the just pure aesthetic pleasure. It’s a beauty. TransNauka inspires awe when it is inked and I believe it one-ups the already existing Nauka. It’s simple, classic, sublime and is on the lines of Bauhaus Design movement which is a unification of art, craft, and technology. The design of Nauka was inspired by famousMORA STYLOS OLDWIN CLASSIC and in fact, one of the fellow fountain pen connoisseur Prithwijit was the force behind the development of Nauka. ASA TransNauka – Uncapped The pen without cap looks like it’s just one piece as the grip section merges with the barrel in such a form that there is no step down which is generally prevalent in many pens. The pen gradually tapers towards the bottom to an almost pointed end. Similarly, the pen tapers towards the grip section till it meets the threads at the top which holds the cap. ASA TransNauka – Comparative pic when pen uncapped and capped The pen comes only in the brushed matte finish and personally prefer the brushed version better than the polished version as the polished version tends to develop micro abrasions and smudges and also looses shine over the period of time. The cap of the pen unlike the bottom of the barrel is not torpedoed shape at the top rather it is like a hemispherical dome. The pen I bought comes with chrome finish ball-end clip and it also comes sans the clip. The cap is almost 3/4th the size of pen making it a very large pen. ASA TransNauka – Cap and Barrel ASA TransNauka – Cap is 3/4th of Pen when uncapped I found the pen very minimalist with no branding. One thing I believe can be improved is to reduce the gap between the cap finial and nib unit when the pen is closed. The pen is beautiful and is bang for the buck at the price and yeah this beauty is handmade. Built & Construction : 04/05 One look at the pen and you won’t actually believe that this pen completely hand-turned. It’s almost perfectly shaped and finished from the exterior. ASA TransNauka – Lovely Finish One thing I found that as much as the exterior is well finished and shaped, the interior of the barrel was not paid much attention. There are certain undulations in interior (1 or 2 places) of the barrel which result in the formation of O-rings like shape inside the barrel with ink. I received two pens, matte brushed finish and the clear polished one. The clear polished one was all over the places with regards to finish and thus it was not launched officially. This brushed finish is superb barring one area with regards to barrel interior area. The brushed finish is also better because of the fact that it hides the lathe marks and also is not smudge-prone. The quality of material used is quite good but is brittle in nature and thus one has to be careful with regards to handling (against falls). The acrylic used is the hard non-modified PMMA and apt thickness of the material are used in pen and is quite better compared to ones used in TWSBI. ASA TransNauka – Cap View showing material thickness and finish ASA TransNauka – Material thickness in Barrel and Grip Section The pen is quality finished one which needs to be handled carefully and if proper care is taken it will last you ages. I love my TranNauka but I care for every pen that I own. If you are the one who keeps throwing his/her pen here and there then I suggest you go for the ebonite version. Balance & Size : 04/05 The cap of the pen doesn’t post securely and that’s because of the design. But.. But… But… the pen is so big even uncapped @ 135 mm that there is no need for posting. The pen is little heavy towards the nib and I believe this could have been countered by providing solid crystal end at bottom of barrel. Nevertheless, this was no issue for me, it’s a minute difference and some of you won’t even notice. ASA TransNauka – Writing with it – Unposted and Posted Initially, I had trouble adapting to the grip of the pen because of gradual slope of grip section from barrel to top of nib unit but now that I am using the pen since 3 months I have gotten used to it. The grip might also be fat for some because of the design and might not be so good for people with small hands. Now for me, it was okay because I prefer big pens with good girth. The pen is big yet light in weight but one thing I noticed is that when uncapped it is lighter than Ranga Bamboo Demonstrator but almost 4 gms heavier when capped and both are equal in length when uncapped but when capped the TransNauka is larger of the two. ASA TransNauka – Weight – Capped and Uncapped Few specification of the pen are as follows: Length of pen (closed) – 160 mmLength of pen (open and unposted) – 135 mm (including nib)Length of pen (open and posted) – 176 mmLength of Cap – 78 mmMaximum Dia of Cap – 21 mmMaximum Dia of Barrel – 14 mmDia of Barrel ( Near Barrel Bottom) – 8 mmMaximum Dia of Grip Section – 13.5 mmMinimum Dia of Grip Section – 11 mmWeight of Pen with Cap – 27.9 gms (inked)Weight of Pen without Cap – 17.13 gms (inked) Below are the pictures of the pen in comparison with others : ASA TransNauka vs Pilot Custom 823 vs ASA Patriot vs Lamy Safari – Capped ASA TransNauka vs Pilot Custom 823 vs ASA Patriot vs Lamy Safari – Uncapped As clear from above pics its a bit fat compared to others. Nib : 3.5/05 The pen can be bought in a variety of #6 sized nib options from JoWo or Schmidt and in various point widths. The one I have here is JoWo Steel 1.1 Stub nib in Black Oxide finish. ASA TranNauka - Nib Shot in Rain The nib is a screw in nib unit and easily replaceable. The nib that I got was a lemon and was scratchy out of the box. I had to tune it and now it performs the way I want. ASA TransNauka – JoW0 1.1 Nib in Black Oxide Finish ASA Nauka vs Pilot Custom 823 vs ASA Patriot vs Lamy Safari – Nib Comparison Advice to people if you are buying the pen from ASA do avail the option of pen/nib testing this might delay the pen delivery but pen and nib will be checked for writing before dispatch and yeah there are no extra charges for that. Ink Filling Mechanism: 05/05 It can take international long or shot cartridges, international converter and can be used as an ED also. The pen looks best when eye dropper-ed and I applied silicone grease to the threads before using it as ED pen. ASA TransNauka – Using as an ED Pen Ink capacity as an eye dropper is 4 ml and will vary with every pen as it is handmade one. Below are the images of handwritten review of the pen sample writing: ASA TransNauka – Handwritten Review – Page 1 ASA TransNauka – Handwritten Review – Page 2 ASA TransNauka – Handwritten Review – Page 3 ASA TransNauka – Handwritten Review – Page 4 Conclusion : 21/25 The pen was bought at group buy price of Rs. 2200 and it was a steal at that price. And now the prices have increased yet it is a value for money option. Beautiful pen but I won’t recommend this to people with small hands. What I Like: Beautiful Design Handmade Quality Finish- Exterior Good Balance and Size Good Ink Capacity Well PricedWhat I don’t Like: Internal Barrel Finish Poor OTB Nib How to Buy: The pen was bought via group buy on FPN and there will be another group buy in near future for the same. Simultaneously who don’t like waiting for group buys can buy directly from ASA website : LINK. And the last I checked it's available on pre-order only with waiting for 4 weeks. For more reviews you can check my blog here : LINK
  10. One of the newest models of fountain pens released by ASAPens is the Asa Genius 2015 Fountain pen. ASAPens generally makes ebonite ED fountain pens at reasonable prices which is of great value to pen connoiseurs in India and abroad. This Asa Genius is a mini variant of the Asa I can pen already reviewed by mehandiratta (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/284421-asa-i-can-beyond-bang-for-a-buck/?p=3266558) DESIGN The ASA Genius pen is an Indian ED pen. The design is very minimalistic and no embellishments are added. The base model comes with a generic IPG nib. But, one can add a JoWo #6 Friction fit Nib in F, M and B variants. You can also convert it into a 3-1 pen by buying threaded Jowo unit with a converter attached. All this can be done by ASAPens. The pen has a fairly big grip section and is very comfortable to use. One of the problems of the Asa I can pen is the inability to put it into a shirt pocket. The relatively short barrel of the Genius alleviates that. One can also see the Pelikanesque clip on the cap. NIB AND SECTION The pen is fitted with a JoWo #6 F nib. This is a steel nib which is smooth with a hint of feedback. The pen comes with an ebonite feed which is traditional in Indian ED pens which suits the theme of the pen. The relatively long section should prevent burping of ink. The pen is availbale in 5 finishes- Shiny Black, Matte Black, Light and Dark Brown Mottled and Green mottled. The pen wrote immediately after filling it with ink. No adjustments were needed. CONCLUSION If one is in the market for affordable ebonite EDs, this is your best bet. ASAPens have done an excellent job in crafting an EDC pen which can be put in your shirt pocket. Also, the option to convert it into a 3-1 pen is also very good. They have priced it very reasonably. My only gripe is if it had an ink window, it would have been very nice but that is just nitpicking. Since this is my 1st review, comments are welcome
  11. "Dark am I, yet lovely, daughters of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedar, like the tent curtains of Solomon." Song of Solomon(1:5) Black like the last night of the "Nightfall" of Issac Asimov and dark like coal tar with a clip flowing like milky way from the infinite darkness of the infinite space, this is an extremely gorgeous and attractive pen. This pen reminds me of the black coat of a lawyer, which means nothing but business. This classic Cigar shaped design with a continuous flow from barrel to section, the uniformity of the design and the monotone steel coloured nib and the steel clip, speaks of nothing but business. It is a pen with Executive looks. It is a design full of gravity and wisdom. The more I think about it the more I find that it is a very well thought of design for a hand-made pen. What we find is not mere art, not mere uniformity of and seductiveness of curves. Rather we discover efficiency. The Revolution is a regular size pen. The cap comes out is exactly 2 and a half turns. The clip is quite tight but due to its unique curved design it gets in a shirt pocket effortlessly but firmly and comes out equally easily.Word Gama is engraved with a cursive italic font at around middle of the barrel. Usually one would not even notice it. When one does, it just adds to the beauty of the pen. Where the cap comes out in just few turns, the section takes a lot many turns to come out. This has been done apparently to avoid any leak when the pen is being used as an eyedropper. The pen is almost as heavy as Pilot MR. However, in case of ebonite, the weight is more uniformly distributed. Therefore the centre of gravity lies at almost middle. Ebonite pens usually feel better than pens of other materials. Same goes with this pen. What I also notices is that the construction is sturdy. The walls of the section and barrel are really thick.The nib is large. Only a tad smaller in size than the section. Moreover, there is no step from section to barrel. The uniformity of the transition and the size of the nib makes it possible to hold the pen from almost any place. The section is thick enough to be held comfortably and not too thick to hold. The pen feels substantial but not humongous.The pen posts firmly and securely. Not using the pen even up to 24 hours I didn't notice any drying. I chose a fine nib. I like fine nib more than medium or broad nibs. This nib is good. It is a JoWo nib. It looks classy and is outright beautiful. It does not skip even while writing fast. It does not fail. It doesn't dry easily. On scale of nightmare;scratchy;correctable;smooth;super smooth; and ooolalalaaaa!!!, I would call it smooth. The nib is smooth and fine. But less smooth than say a Schmidt fine and a Lamy fine or a Pilot medium. What you feel is not feedback. It feels as if the pen has some affinity with paper. However, going by reports of some of my fellow FPN members the report of M nib is excellent. You may preferably go for medium if you want a nib that writes super smooth. However, even if you go for fine I won't say that you got a bad deal. I have been using this pen for three weeks now and I have had no issues with it. In fact the pen is being used ever since I bought it. While writing you would surely enjoy it. That is the best part. The pen feels like 'The Pen'. Good balance and good grip. Posted or unposted the pen feels just right and looks seriously beautiful. Good pen for long duration of writing. The pen offers little flex. My fellow member Anup Ji had to once use pliers on the nib!! Yes! It's that hard. Thankfully that also means that you can't damage the nib by normal wear and tear. Which is a good thing. Being a triple filler, the pen offers a lots of variation in filling. The pen takes standard converter, standard international converter and comes loaded with a Schmidt K-5 converter. The pen can also be used as an Eye Dropper. I have used this pen with all these options and they all work as they should be. At present the pen is being used as an Eyedropper.Because of advanced threaded nib, I never faced problem of burping or leakage in this pen. Which is a very good thing. For around Rs. 2000/- I got a very attractive ,prim and proper , executive looking pen which is very strong, sturdy and durable. I also got a three in one filling system and a nice Jowo nib. I got a pen that can be used as an Eye Dropper and will not face burping issues. I got a schmidt converter. I think the deal is really a great value for money. Here comes the score board. Looks:- 4.5/5 Build:- 5/5 Engineering:-4.5/5 Nib and Writing:- 3.5/5 Balance:- 5/5 Value for Money:- 4.5/5 Conclusion:- This is a really nice pen. I purchased it from ASApens.in(NAYY). The customer service was excellent. I got this pen with my son's name engraved. I am very sure that he will use it. The pen has the potential of lasting for a very long time. I am a happy and satisfied user.
  12. After 2 successful rounds or group buy for ASA Nauka here This is the third round of limited production run for Trans Nauka. Trans Nauka is the demonstrator version of Nauka and is in Bakul / Matte finish. After my numerous follow ups with Mr. Subramaniam to make demonstrator 3 in 1 filling mechanism version of Nauka and after lot of test and trials, we are happy to announce the launch of ASA Trans Nauka. Please find few more images as below: Kindly Note that there is only one variant which is Complete Translucent or Brushed Finish. And it is limited production run. The pen comes with option of clipless and with clip. Nib Options are:Ambitious 35 mm Nib - Fine Medium (F-M) (for eyedropper only)JoWo #6 Nib in F, M, B, 1.1 Stub, and 1.5 Stub. Scmidt #6 Nib F, M, and B Group Buy Prices are as Follows: ED Version : US $30 / INR 1200 JoWo Nib Version : US $55 / INR 2200 Schmidt Nib Version : US $45 / INR 1800 The above prices include shipping and Schmidt converter (only for CC mechanism) Now for the good part, first 20 customers will get option to engrave name on the cap and are also eligible for the one give-away of Trans Nauka ED Model... The person amongst first 20 who register will be selected via Random.org Please find the link to google forms below to submit your choices: http://goo.gl/forms/TJI9gwB60M4UGVf13 Please don't forget to full Google form for your choices.. And other comments or options.. Can be made in questions or comments section
  13. For me Fountain Pen is a stamp of one's personality. It speaks of one's moods, character, choices, style and his inner self. Like eyes, it is a sort of window to one's intellectual soul. That is why I love using them. It sets me apart in an age of mass production. It is my attempt to keep my individuality intact. So,when I hear that a pen, especially a good one, will no longer be produced, I feel a personal loss. I feel as if a part of my past will no longer be available for me to access and touch. A minority complex pervades my world and I feel all more alone in a world which no longer understands me. I am holding this Oliver F 27 and feeling this nostalgia and a kind of gloom. I liked this pen. But they say that the company has stopped producing them. The only place one can get them is on ASApens and they will never get restocked. They are the last of their kind. On the site, this pen is the most reviewed pen. One reviewer Anup ji went to the extent of claiming this pen to be the 'perfect pen'. Their claim is not without a reason. It was one of the premium pen produced by the Oliver company. It is made of best acrylic available and contains a Schmidt Medium nib. Nowadays, it is impossible to get a pen holding this nib made of such quality in Rs. 750/- I paid. The nib alone costs 400-450/- Rs(8 $ approx.) The pen is beauty to behold. It is made of such glittering, flamboyant( but not gaudy) colors that one can fall in love with it.The marbled acrylics reflect and refract light like a crystal. It instantaneously catches the attention of those around. It is not a normal looking formal feeling fountain pen. It exuberates joy and life. The fluorescent green I ordered looks even more pretty and classy than in pictures. The clip, the nib and the rings are all made of steel and they add to looks of this pen. Needless to say that a lot of thought and hard work has gone in its design which makes its demise all the more unfortunate. The pen is balanced. I found it more pleasurable to write with the cap unposted. It uses standard international cartridge and converter. The only thing I didn't like was the nib. In fact it is a superb nib. It is extremely smooth and never skips or gives any trouble. Problem is that I am not a big fan of Medium nibs. They write on the broader side of medium and the line is too wet. On normal JK paper we use, there are chances that the impression of the words may show on back. So I talked to Mr. Subramanium of ASApens . He advised me to use a thicker ink and that solved the problem!!! I used Lamy since I did not have Pelikan ink. Now, as the writing sample would show the line variation is visible and the wetness of the line has lessened. The service of the sellers was excellent. Complete support before and after purchase. I received this pen within 4 days of order. This is quite fast when we understand that the pen was shipped from Chennai all the way to Faridabad. Overall, a pen that they should continue to produce. Its lively, impressive and colourful. A balanced and smooth writer.A high quality writing instrument. A prized possession. Flamboyance par excellence.
  14. This is the review of custom designed pen PORUS (caved in version) executed by ASA pens. The detailed review of the pen is done here : LINK ASA Porus (Customized Pen) There is a brief history about the pen that I am reviewing today. There was always an urge to design and get a customized pen and actually get executed. It all started whenPradeep from Mumbai took initiative to bring all like minded crazy people who just love fountain pen and actually are real serious about them. One fine day Sulagno (I hope i have spelled his name correctly) asked why cant we do a customized pen and seeing an opportunity i jumped in and gave certain design inputs and offered to do CAD drafting for the same. What came out is a series of design inputs by Me, Sulagno, Rakshit, Pradeep, Anirban Bhattacharya, Burhan (from Singapore) and not to miss out Mr. Subramaniam of ASA Pens, who was the guy who gave certain technical inputs and who in actual executed one more custom pen after the SNIPER. ASA Porus – Beauty So here we are with new pristine white pen PORUS (named after Great Indian King- Porus, who was well built and tall). ASA Porus DESIGN & BUILT: There were lot of iterations done for the design of the Pen. Pen had to be over sized, fat pen with long grip section that criteria was clear from the beginning. Three iteration were made, one flat top straight shaped, second stepped design and third the cigar shaped and lot of liking went for the cigar shaped and it was finalized for design. ASA Porus – Uncapped It is designed to be clip less pen to give it a minimalist look. This is a no fuss design with no metal parts except the nib. It is a pure beauty when kept on the table. Just so clean, simple and elegant. This is a pristine white pious pen. Sign of peace. ASA Porus – Photoshoot Made of out of high quality white acrylic this pen has thick acrylic section and has fantastic built quality. Seems well built. however i will be careful to use it as it is milky white and top of that it is acrylic and has a bit of heft. A fall here or there might give certain crack or damage the pen. So I take precaution while using it for sure. To add to this unlike other Indian acrylic cheap pens it has no Odor. ASA Porus – Close up Overall a well designed and executed pen which is equally well built. ASA Porus – Aptly named Now moving to certain details. The pen has rounded cap top and rounded barrel bottom which is quite evident in the pictures. ASA Porus – Rounded top and bottom The pen opens in 7 turns which i beleive is bit on higher side. Can certainly be reduced. But that doesn’t take way the credit of amazing built quality of pen. ASA Porus – Uncapped Cap has in built inner lining and has breather hole to avoid moist deposits inside the cap. So that nib can breathe. Images below might give clearer picture. ASA Porus Cap Closeup with breather hole ASA Porus – Cap inner view Porus comes in two versions one is flat flushed version and other is caved in flushed version. In both the cases cap is flushed with the barrel ASA Porus Flat Flushed Version vs ASA Porus Caved in Flushed version along side Gama Supreme (Pic Credits : ASA Pens) ASA Porus – Caving around meeting point of cap and barrel ASA Porus – Slightly Opened cap showing 2 mm caving in The pen is over sized jumbo pen which you can have an idea from few images below. ASA Porus vs Gama Kuyil vs Pilot Metropolitan vs ASA Rainbow vs Gama Airborne – Shot 1 The detailed review of the same can be found here : LINK
  15. Out of my recent acquisitions of 5 pens, the pen i am reviewing today is one of the new introductions by ASA Pens which adds to the growing list of their lineup. DESIGN: The pen is a quite long comparable to likes of Gama Kuyil and also it seems to be inspired from Gama Kuyil and in many ways it betters the look and feel of Kuyil. The grip section i feel is better than the kuyil. The barrel is just a bit thinner than Kuyil. ASA I.Can vs Gama Kuyil – Capped ASA I.Can vs Gama Kuyil – Uncapped The top of cap of ASA I.Can is bit longer and it gives the pen a distinct look. It comes in 5 colors matte black, shiny black, green-black mottled, brown-blk mottled, light brown-blk mottled finish. As it is a big pen, it surely won’t fit in a shirt pocket. For more please click here for my blog ASA I Can
  16. It is always a dream of every FPNer to custom make his/her own fountain pen. And not everyone can buy a Nakaya pen. One of my favorite nibs were Pilot nibs and I liked Pilot pens like the Pilot 78g, Prera, Mr etc. But affordable(for an Indian) pilot pens had great nibs in a cheap plastic. So to remedy that, I conceived of an idea to make an ebonite version with pilot nibs. Generally, japanese ebonite pens are very expensive and are limited editions and so out of my reach. So, I contacted Mr. Subramaniam of ASA pens with the idea. We took a Pilot tank nib and feed and wanted to make an ED in an ebonite barrel. I wanted a flush design in which the barrel meeets seamlessly with the section. So, this is the result. Subbu has exceeded himself and created this masterpiece. Since, Pilot does not make separate nib units, Subbu had to destroy a Pilot 78g and was gracious enough to charge only for the nib. The design is primarily adapted from ASA spear I called it Atsushi which means industrious and a compassionate warrior as I thought Pilot pens are understated workhorses. No affliation to ASA pens. You could contact Mr. Subramaniam in the ASA website or send an email to unik.services@hotmail.com Leave your comments below. [Edit: grammar]
  17. ASA – Galactic Jumbo Demonstrator ASA – Galactic was my first demonstrator. I never liked the demonstrators but i decided to go ahead with the purchase and amazingly I was the first one to buy this. Following is my review of the pen. Design & Build: My first demonstrator is a jumbo sized pen which has a fogged finish. The pen looks like what it is named “Galactic” The real beauty comes out when you ink up this pen. Aaaaah so beautiful. I have suddenly started liking the demonstrators. The pen is beautifully engraved with company logo on the barrel and also my name is engraved on the cap (Special thanks to Mr. Subramaniam). Made out of acrylic the barrel is in fog finish with crystal clear bottom and screw in crystal top at the cap. Filled with ink. Uncapped Pen with my Name engraved on Cap The grip section is again made of acrylic resin and i love the way the it shows ink spread out unevenly. It has a big nib which complements the pen perfectly. Clear Crystal Top and Bottom Built wise i believe it needs certain care as this is a acrylic pen. For further details and handwritten samples and review please click ASA GALACTIC
  18. Hello fellow fountain pen lovers This is an update to the Group Buy that we created for custom hooded nib pen made in acrylic or ebonite at fountain pen network. Group Buy Link : FPN GROUP BUY Link for Buying Pen : ASA SNIPER The new images are as below. Also there is a new blue color. Enjoy. Products will start shipping on 28th March.
  19. Dear All This is a dedicated thread for group buys of ASA pens. Currently we are pitching in for the ASA hooded pen prototype. Would request all to submit their names who all are in here for the customized hooded ASA pen either in acrylic or ebonite..
  20. ASA – Galactic Jumbo Demonstrator ASA – Galactic was my first demonstrator. I never liked the demonstrators but i decided to go ahead with the purchase and amazingly I was the first one to buy this. Following is my review of the pen. Design & Build: My first demonstrator is a jumbo sized pen which has a fogged finish. The pen looks like what it is named “Galactic” The real beauty comes out when you ink up this pen. Aaaaah so beautiful. I have suddenly started liking the demonstrators. The pen is beautifully engraved with company logo on the barrel and also my name is engraved on the cap (Special thanks to Mr. Subramaniam). Made out of acrylic the barrel is in fog finish with crystal clear bottom and screw in crystal top at the cap. Filled with ink. Uncapped Pen with my Name engraved on Cap The grip section is again made of acrylic resin and i love the way the it shows ink spread out unevenly. It has a big nib which complements the pen perfectly. Clear Crystal Top and Bottom Built wise i believe it needs certain care as this is a acrylic pen. For further details and handwritten samples and review please click ASA GALACTIC
  21. Some months back, I had written a review titled "Fountain Pen Revolution in India" There I had written that "...it is good that ASA is making its own revolutionary contribution in making of the high standard fountain pen in a substantive manner." And it is good to see that ASA is scaling up on the spiral. Some weeks back, ASA came out with its own branded FP by name Athlete. And it is a well constructed pen. It is an ebonite FP, and the capped surface is smooth. So, it gives a really nice feeling to hold it. The pen comes with ASA branding, with name of pen Athlete written on it, alongwith India and year of manufacture. Though in my opinion the imprint could have been more prominent athlete_1 athlete_3 The cap is threaded cap, as with all EDs manufactured in India. The Nib - The pen originally came with a steel #6 (35 mm) nib. Which in my opinion is not really the right size nib for this FP. The reason is that the curvature of the nib and the curvature of the section seemed to have a mismatch, leading to the nib times not touching. The exact issue can be seen wrt another custom pen made to order by ASA and hosted on its photostream Lil Kuyil Opened So I changed the nib with the dual tone Wality Fine nib - which I had couple of them in spare. (I am told that Wality has currently stopped making these nibs!).However going by some posts by other members of FPN - they have not found it an issue with the stock nib and their writing experience with the stock nib is good. Overall its a very well constructed FP, with a finger friendly grip. However the finger stoppers on section were not necessary - because that bump is sufficient to hurt fingers for those who hold their FPs closer to nib. athlete_2 Writing sample with original nib: ASA Athlete Writing Sample Writing sample with Wality dual tone F nib athlete_4 Ink filling- It is an standard ED fountain pen. And it can take a good amount of ink. Clip has good design, though its folded metal. Size of pen - it is just a few mm bigger than Lamy Safari. The size comparison pics are there on ASApens.in website. Outstanding feature: I think in its initial experiment with ED, ASA has come out successful. The pen has a long section - so that serves many purposes - Gives a good grip, but more importantly prevents ink burping. Usually the normal / usual ED pens would (1) throw out lot of ink when jerked, and also (2) burp out ink as soon as the ink reaches a certain level. In case of Athlete - possibly because of its longer section and a matching ebonite feed, both the issues of ink jerking out and burping out seems to be solved. I have been able to write on both these pens till the end of barrel. And it requires lot of jerking the pen for very small ink to come out. I hope in future ASA comes out with a transparent resin version of the same pen - which would be delightful to use
  22. soum

    Asa Daily

    ASA Pens has launched ASA Daily and it looks like a really good buy! It's available in interesting ebonite colors - forest green (a lighter, brighter, green), yellow tiger. The size too looks just right for an EDC. With the Schmidt unit, it would be a reliable writer. Some pics from the ASA Pens website, while I wait for my own ASA Daily to arrive by mail:
  23. mehandiratta

    Pen Review - Wality 71 Jt

    The review is simultaneously posted on my blog which is the detailed review with handwritten sample. LINK Wality 71 JT – Close up Wality or Airmail are one of the most sought after Indian fountain pen manufacturers. Both brands are manufactured by AIRMAIL PEN COMPANY based out of Mumbai, India. And they have a good lineup of fountain pen and most of them are Eyedroppers and few of them are Piston fillers. My previous review of the two other Wality Pens I have reviewed are as follows: Wality 52 PD Wality 69 A Wality 70 AM Wality Pens are generally not easily available in northern part of India, I actually can to an extent of saying that they are not even available in that part. Reason could be poor marketing or poor sales. Surprisingly Wality pens are manufactured in Mumbai and even in Mumbai you will find them only certain parts not everywhere. This particular pen i.e. WALITY 71 JT was bought from ASA Pens. Amazing, passionate pen man Mr. Subramaniam behind the store. He actually has enabled lot of people in around the world. Best part is even if i have certain issues with pens he offers to replace or service them which is his forte. Though this only happened once with ASA Spear. Wality 71 JT gave me lot of troubles which will be covered in detail review below and how it became one of the best writers i have today. And surely it is #inexpensive. Wality 71 JT DESIGN & BUILT : 4.5 / 5 Oooooh that look ….. Beauty. This pen is gorgeous. One gorgeous demonstrator pen. Lovely. What not. One look at it and I am sure you will love to grab this pen. Wality 71 JT – Beauty Shot Wality 71 JT (Jumbo Transparent) is a reasonably large pen when capped. The barrel is transparent and is amazingly polished inside and out. Its crystal clear, and rest of the pen i.e. cap and section are made of solid swirl acrylic and it comes in various colors like Blue Swirl, Green Swirl, Purple Swirl and many more. Wality 71 JT – Uncapped The trims are chrome silver finish. Cap top is like a conical dome as you can see from the picture above and the silver colored clip is trademark Wality sturdy stiff clip. There is a big silver center band in the cap with circular ring pattern all over and engraving at the bottom “Mfg. by Airmail Pen Co.” The thing that i don’t like is that the silver center band easily rotates in this model and is not fixed and that is the reason why I have deducted half point out of built. Wality 71 JT – Cap The cap has a breather hole which like many of the Indian pens it has which can be clear from image above and below. Wality 71 JT – Breather Hole. There is a inner lining of the same acrylic material also provided which is slightly visible from the image below. The cap opens in 3 turns. Wality 71 JT – Cap Inner View The grip section of the pen is small in size and people who hold the pen a bit higher might encounter the the threads but the good thing is that these threads are not the sharp threads and in actual they provide more grip to otherwise slippery hands. Wality 71 JT – Small Length Section The pen (without the cap) is thickest at the center of the barrel and it tapers down towards both the ends. Also the bottom of the pen which is solid crystal also has the same conical domed shape similar to cap top. Wality 71 JT – Thickest at Centre The quality of the acrylic used in this pen is far better than the other wality pens like Wality 52 PD, Wality 69 A etc which all give you a certain pungent odor, which is not the case here. Built quality is top notch only issue being the loose center band which keeps rotating and thats the reason for deduction half of the point. Below are the few images showing comparison of Wality 71 JT with other pens. Wality 71 JT vs ASA I-Can vs Jinhao 159 vs Pilot 78G – Capped Wality 71 JT vs ASA I-Can vs Jinhao 159 vs Pilot 78G – Capped Side view Wality 71 JT vs ASA I-Can vs Jinhao 159 vs Pilot 78G – Cap Posted Wality 71 JT vs ASA I-Can vs Jinhao 159 vs Pilot 78G – Cap Posted Side View Overall its an amazing beautiful looking pen which had one issue in looks department , that this pen came with Gold Color Monotone fine Wality nib which was replaced to Ambitious Chrome nib. Wality 71 JT – At Top BALANCE: 4.5 / 5 The pen is Large Pen. The pen is 152 mm when capped and 135 mm when uncapped including the nib. The pen as a whole is thickest at the lip of the cap which is 14 mm and the barrel is thickest at center which is 12mm. The pen is very well balanced when writing uncapped and unposted. The length is perfect and feels really good and balanced and lightweight in your hands. Wality 71 JT – Writing Unposted However when you post the cap at the back the pen really becomes long and uncomfortable even though the cap postes quite securely at back. Wality 71 JT – Writing Posted Therefore, I beleive there is no requirement of posting. NIB & INK FILLING MECHANISM: 3 / 5 This is what i was not at all happy with. The whole charm of the pen died in a moment when i inked it and started writing with it. First of all the nib was scratchy and then second thing was that it burped. it was a leaky pen. Nib it came with was stock gold colored monotone fine nib which first of all did not go well with chrome trims. I did lot of tinkering with the pen. Pushing the nib deep and heat setting the nib and changing the nib to dual tone wality nib even putting iron balls inside the barrel to prevent burping, but it did not work there was always a air gap in section which was leading to burping and none of the Wality feeds was proper match to it. Then in last attempt I changed the nib to monotone chrome finish Ambitious #6 Nib and voila … it did wonders to my pen. I was extremely happy. Wality 71JT with Ambitious Nib replacement The nib set deep inside the section and is a big #6 size nib which looks small as it is set deep inside section. Now it writes medium and wet, just the way i like…Smooth. Love it. I bet you will also love it. Wality 71JT with Ambitious Nib – Top View Wality 71JT with Ambitious Nib – Side View Wality 71JT with Ambitious Nib – Bottom View Wality 71 JT – Nib porn The feed is made of ebonite and this resulted in proper setting of nib by heat setting. Images below shows clearly the ebonite feed heat set with ambitious nib and also the ebonite feed bottom view ink channel. Wality 71JT with Ambitious Nib – Section View after Heat Setting. Wality 71 JT – bottom Feed view – Ink Channel Ink Filling mechanism is through eyedropper and it takes approx 3.5 to 4 ml and being demonstrator love the ink sloshing in the pen barrel. Wality 71JT – Taken Apart Wality 71 JT – Ink Fill Wality 71 JT – Threaded Section Barrel Top View So all in all I am quite happy now with Ambitious Nib and love it. I keep picking this pen again and again as my edc pen. I have finished two barrels of ink completely without any burping now. For more details and images and Handrwritting sample and ink drying times please check my blog : LINK
  24. I feel a certain pleasure and pride in introducing and reviewing Click Pure Crystal. For quite some time I have been searching for affordable "made in India" fountain pens, I could recommend to anyone. I guess I have found one more such pen. I have been using this pen for three days and without a glitch. As you can notice, the pen is fully transparent. The gold-colored clip and cap ring give the pen a classy appeal. Perhaps its me, but the design of the clip is coolest thing about this pen. The clip reminds me of Egypt, Pharaohs and Pyramids. The golden aura of the pen matches with the dual tone nib. Inner rings of the piston look like whirlpools and threads give me a feel of sporadic clouds in an otherwise clear sky. It is a pen I wouldn't be ashamed of carrying. The pen weighs around 14 grams. Which is fairly light. The body is made of transparent resin. The great thing is that there wasn't any of that obnoxious odor of resin, unless the pen was smelled from very close quarters. I feel that the pen can be fully disassembled, though I couldn't dare to try it. I don't want a blot on this beauty. Close inspection of section also reveals that the pen boasts of a threaded nib unit. Nib is a dual tone one marked with sagacious words,'Iridium Point Germany'. Section ends with a gold ring and immediately the nib starts. The finish of the pen is really good for its price. What startled me is the fact that apparently a good amount of brainstorming has gone in designing this pen. Take for example the fact that the pen comes out in merely two turns. Or the fact that the cap posts very securely. Or the good news that they have made the section substantially thicker than Pilot 78G or the Chelpark Sona or Click Majestic Crystal. Thicker section ensures a comfortable grip and the fact that the pen allows secure posting further permits the pen to be used by hands of every size. The pen writes an Indian fine. It lays down a smooth and wet line. There is a little drag but my experience suggests that it will go away. The thicker section and smooth transition from body to the section with light weight makes this pen a delight to hold and write with. The piston filler mechanism means that the pen can hold a decent amount of ink that will last far more pages than a cartridge. I was happy to see a plastic finned feed rather than an Ebonite feed. It means that the feed will offer good buffer and there won't be problems of burping and leaking. I used this pen with Click Majestic Crystal which has an ebonite feed. At the end of the day where the Majestic's cap was smeared with ink, the Pure Crystal's cap was as clean as glass. Moreover, I didn't see any cap hole. No drying! That's good! Overall for a pen that costs less than say 5$ it is a really good value for money. It is in same league with Camlin Elegante and Chelpark Sona and better than many other costlier mass-produced fountain pens. If you want a fine piece of Indian Fountain Penmanship with very little strain on your pocket then gooooooooooo for it!!! You can find this review and more such reviews on my blog. Good day!!
  25. mehandiratta

    Click Majestic Pen Review

    Unique Pens recently came out with new fountain pen which is a quite subtle design. I quickly grabbed the pen as soon as Mr. Subramanian of ASA Pens shared the image of the same with me. Below is my review of the pen which i have been using for past 2 weeks. Click Piston Filler Design & Built: I purely bought this pen for its looks and after my first demonstrator which was Galactic, i wanted to explore the territory of demonstrator pens. This pen is a small sized sleek piston filler pen. It comes in 5 translucent colors, Clear, Blue, Red, Green, & Brown. Out of all those Clear looks the best because it shows you the actual color of the ink sloshing inside the pen. It also comes in solid colors by the name of Tulip. The pen is made of ABS plastic which is quite okay. it is an elegantly designed little pen which will be suitable for people with small and regular size hands. The pen is prone to smudges if you have oily hands. Click Majestic - Uncapped The cap has metal gold plated crown shaped cap which is quite firmly placed on top of cap. Top of Cap There is center band with 2 grooves also running around again in golden color. There is also inner lining of plastic inside the cap, probably to keep ink from drying out. Click Majestic - Cap with Gold plated clip The pen opens in 2-3 turns and top of grip section also has gold plated metal ring which ads to the beauty of pen. The only let down i see the gold paint over the engraving done at the barrel which doesn't appeal to me. Barrel and Piston Filling Mechanism Also in above image you might see one more gold plated band which separates the barrel section from the piston filling mechanism. I must tell you that i love the piston filling mechanism better than eyedropper. This pen can be easily cleaned as it can be easily dismantled into individual parts. The build quality of pen is just okay as the ABS plastic used looks flimsy even though it might take lot of falls and has certain bit of flexibility also. It gives you a feel that if you try to manhandle the pen it will come apart. So i did not messed around with the pen. Uncapped Pen Close up of cap opening and Nib Would request you to please go further on webpage CLICK MAJESTIC for detailed review including handwritten review and samples.





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