Quality And Prices Of Inks Available In India

September 21, 2016

I recently bought a bottle of Chelpark Emerald Green and have been dissapointed to the pont of throwing it away. I filled it in my Lamy Al Star and could notice a tissue paper like substance coming out from it. I am never buying from that brand again. I have had great experiences with Bril.

September 24, 2016

I recently bought a bottle of Chelpark Emerald Green and have been dissapointed to the pont of throwing it away. I filled it in my Lamy Al Star and could notice a tissue paper like substance coming out from it. I am never buying from that brand again. I have had great experiences with Bril.

From where you bought this ink. I think Chelpark ceased their production. Is it a new bottle or an old one?

March 24, 2017

Last week i tried to order some inks from Sulekha. They have a factory outlet near Jadavpur bus stand. I directly called the outlet and ask them whether they ship their inks through courier and also asked about the availability of inks. They told me that inks are available but only on glass bottle. Even 500ml option also on glass bottle. So they don't ship it through courier. So now i left with only one option buy it directly from their outlet. The telephone number is 03340085584.

May 7, 2017

Where can I get sulekha inks in Kolkata?

August 22, 2017

Like most others raised in India, I was required to use fountain pens exclusively until we reached Class 8 at school (approx age 13-14). Hero 329 or 323 were the instruments of choice, given the leak-proof nature, something of a unique feature for FPs back then. Most students continued to use fountain pens for class work well into their college years, clearly appreciating the quality of the writing experience when compared to ball points. Ball points and the slew of Pilot V5s came into force only during exams due to leakage risks and to guard against 'washing', given that your answer-scripts were shipped off to other cities for review in all kinds of weather conditions. Students played it safe during these exams staying away from FPs.

As an avid journal keeper, I've never walked away from FPs, but have discovered online communities only recently, in the past few months. Here are my opinions on inks I've used recently.

Pelikan cartridges (blue) - Relatively expensive and flow moderately. Didn't wow or even please me. Blue fades quite badly over time. I was disappointed despite my bias for this brand given the great affordable FPs they make.

Bril Royal Blue (Rs.12, 60ml) - Saturated, bright,deep colour, moderately quick at startup. Default student ink, especially in the South of India. Due to its high saturation, it doesn't fade as much as other inks. Is the most saturated blue in India, but also the least marketed brand. The flow and startup qualities are acceptable, but not as good as Chelpark.

Camlin Permanent Black (Rs.12, 60ml) - Not quite Noodler's bulletproof, but adequate. Good flow rate and fairly dark. Default student ink in places where Bril and Chelpark are not easily available (read north, east, central and west states)

Parker Quink Permanent Black (Rs.50, 30 ml) - Samples of writing from 4 years ago show no signs of fading. Flow is moderate.

Parker Quink Royal Blue (Rs.50, 30ml) - Moderate flow. Writing samples from 4 years ago have faded pretty badly. Terrible quality for the 6.6 times price premium.

Chelpark Turquoise Blue (Rs.15, 60ml) - Smooth flowing. Quick starter. The oceanic light color works only on bright white paper. You'll like it if non-navy shades are your thing.

Chelpark Crimson Violet (Rs.15, 60ml) - Very smooth. Bright violet/crimson, true to its name. Quick starter. The ink however did permanently dissolve the gold coloring on a Pelikano nib to reveal the steel body. I was quite surprised by this to be honest. I've read elsewhere that red tints have a corrosive nature to them and this may explain the effect. If this ink didn't flow so well and wasn't this bright, I'd have hated it for discoloring my nib.

Overall Impressions
Chelpark
By far the smoothest flowing ink that I've owned. From a historical perspective Chelpark was the first company to run TV ads and invest in a relationship with Parker that allowed them to include Cleen-X, a variant/instance of the Parker Solv-X formula. Their tag line was "Rediscover the pleasure of writing with ink" and it was well received. The first, and probably only company to try to create a brand and better products.

Bril
Super-saturated, bright and blue, but also less consistent quality compared to Chelpark. Has super super affinty from people who just swear by it. I'm not as big a fan, and I felt that this ink had a less than distilled liquid quality to it as it flowed off the nib.

Camel or Camlin
Camel is a workhorse ink with the widest distribution in the country. Probably the least charming packaging or marketing. Lacks the enthusiasm and quality of Chelpark or the super saturation blueness and value solidity of Bril.

Parker Quink
Parker Quink (made by Luxor) costs nearly 7 times the price and is by far the poorest of the lot. Steer clear of this brand in India, even if you're buying it for novelty reasons. You're better off buying Chelpark/Camlin/Bril and you'd be impressed.

Its a pity that theres no company like Noodler's in India, committed to enabling the art of writing with and experiencing the pleasure of ink. India has such a rich history of inks and FPs and a mindblowing market to boot, but no one seems to want to make the investment.

On a completely different note, even if I were to considering buying foreign made inks in India (which are approximately 33 times the price (Private Reserve costs Rs.495 for a 60ml bottle), I'm not sure I could ever be convinced of their value unless I was going to use it for art purposes. There has to be a HUGE opportunity for someone like Bril or Chelpark to extend product line in India, keeping prices near where they are.