My Gama Padpad Aka Raja

[hari317]

Gama pens are made by Gem and Company in Madras, a pen shop in the business since decades. I have reviewed their pens and posted some visit reports earlier, the interested reader may want to see the previous reviews etc at the following links.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/259557-madras-pen-shops-revisited/

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/254169-the-gama-supreme/

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/255781-the-gama-supreme-part-2/

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/258030-the-asapens-kuyil-made-by-gem-and-co-madras-india/

 

The Gama Raja is a new introduction to their lineup. Specified by ASA pens(an online pen shop based out of Chennai). I placed my order for the pen as soon as I spotted it on their website (I was slightly miffed to see that I had received no prior intimation about the upcoming model and had to discover it per chance on their site). Raja is what they like to call it, I call my pen the "padpad" .

 

Ok. the Padpad is also a dropper filled pen(regular filling). Made of black hard rubber, brushed finish. I liked the way the golden cap rings and the golden clip gelled with the brushed matte ebonite finish of the pen. It reminded me of my Deccan masterpiece GT which is the only other pen that I have seen with cap rings and a brushed finish. As you might know, the bushed finish is applied by hand using an abrasive paper, so by necessity, the shiny golden rings have to be attached to the pen(by swaging) after the final brushing to the pen is done, a laborious process. The mirror polished cap top and barrel bottom are nice touches.

 

http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/GamaPadPad/IMG_9594.jpg

 

http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/GamaPadPad/IMG_9595.jpg

 

Cap top:

 

http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/GamaPadPad/IMG_9596.jpg

 

Open:

 

http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/GamaPadPad/IMG_9597.jpg

 

The padpad came fitted with the standard issue 2 tone EF nib that Gem likes to use. When set up properly, the nib is a delightful true EF writer, however EF is not my size at all usually( unless it is a Pilot), I like M or fatter and one has to make do with what one has on hand, I had only M nibs in GT so I fitted my own nib to the pen and tuned it.

 

For some practical reason, they decided to very deeply set the huge 35mm nib thus somewhat negating (IMHO, YMMV) the advantage afforded by the bigger nib. As shown in the following picture, a standard and cheaper Indian no 8 nib (28mm) could have done the job sufficiently well on the Padpad.

 

http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/GamaPadPad/IMG_9598.jpg

 

I guess the reason they did this was primarily due to the washer clip, where they wanted the washer's edges displayed for cosmetic effect. The washer has too small an ID to allow the nib to pass through it. Hence, a longer exposed length of the nib would have meant a longer length of the cap, so they arrived at this deep set nib design to achieve a nice balance.

 

I have nothing much to comment about the writing aspect as the aftermarket nib in the pen was installed and set up by me, to my preference.

 

The padpad is a good sized pen:

 

capped: 147mm

open: 131mm including the nib

posted: 168mm

Cap diameter, max: 15mm

Barrel diameter, max: 14mm

Section diameter: 12mm, tapers to 11mm and then flares.

 

A comparison of the padpad with some other pens at hand:

 

http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af39/hari3171/GamaPadPad/IMG_9600.jpg

 

L-R: Early 14C nib M800, Padpad, Kuyil, GT Supreme FT.

 

Cheers!

Hari

[Wolverine1]

Thanks, Hari.

[amk]

That's a nice pen. I really must get myself a couple of Gamas; they are currently missing from my Indian pen collection, while I have examples from almost all the other modern makers.

[a_m]

Nice review. The trims look nice.

 

btw, what is "padpad". What does that mean and in what language? Is that like to walk or to study or like the english pad ?

[rwilsonedn]

Great review! It looks like the combination of Gem and ASA Pens is going to require careful watching. They keep coming up with really interesting designs.

ron

[Brian C]

Thanks Hari. Just ordered mine. The ordering process from ASA pens is too easy to use.

[Scribblesoften]

It looks like a nice usable size. The Kuyil was hovering near the top of my "to buy" list but this pen has just beaten it out. Thanks very much for posting this.

[Abhik]

Good looking pen Hari!

[hari317]

That's a nice pen. I really must get myself a couple of Gamas; they are currently missing from my Indian pen collection, while I have examples from almost all the other modern makers.

I think you must buy it off Gem yourself on your next visit to Madras, given the fact that you have explored the Indian pen scene so well.

[hari317]

Nice review. The trims look nice.

 

 

 

 

Thanks, Hari.

thank you.

[hari317]

Great review! It looks like the combination of Gem and ASA Pens is going to require careful watching. They keep coming up with really interesting designs.

ron

I agree, much to the misery of my wallet.

[hari317]

Thanks Hari. Just ordered mine. The ordering process from ASA pens is too easy to use.

that is excellent to hear about the smooth process, do post your thoughts on the pen when you receive it.

Edited March 5, 2014 by hari317

[hari317]

It looks like a nice usable size. The Kuyil was hovering near the top of my "to buy" list but this pen has just beaten it out. Thanks very much for posting this.

thank you.

[hari317]

Good looking pen Hari!

Thank you Abhik, the credit goes to ASA and Gem.

[shrujaya]

Hari...such a gorgeous looking pen!! I want to call it the Gama Ebony!! this pen looks very much like the Deccan brushed Masterpiece that I have...that too has cap bands, except for the ends...and the ends of my Deccan Masterpiece too are polished like this one...I might buy this one once my treasury is replenished!!

 

You have explained the technical reasons for nib fitting beautifully...even I could understand it!!

 

I have the brown-black swirl version of the same model and I like it immensely...I bought it because of the ball clip (no surprises there!!)...and the convenient size...and the nicely made flat top...I used the pen for a long time from the time I bought it and the writing was very very smooth...I hope the Gama Ebony writes smoothly as well...with the nib that you have replaced the original with...

 

Enjoy...

 

Jai

[hari317]

Hari...such a gorgeous looking pen!! I want to call it the Gama Ebony!! this pen looks very much like the Deccan brushed Masterpiece that I have...that too has cap bands, except for the ends...and the ends of my Deccan Masterpiece too are polished like this one...I might buy this one once my treasury is replenished!!

 

You have explained the technical reasons for nib fitting beautifully...even I could understand it!!

 

I have the brown-black swirl version of the same model and I like it immensely...I bought it because of the ball clip (no surprises there!!)...and the convenient size...and the nicely made flat top...I used the pen for a long time from the time I bought it and the writing was very very smooth...I hope the Gama Ebony writes smoothly as well...with the nib that you have replaced the original with...

 

Enjoy...

 

Jai

Thanks for weighing in Jai. Your comments are very valuable.

[Scribblesoften]

I just ordered one for myself. I hope it gets here soon. My Hawk is still tied up in Customs and has been since the 20th.

[hari317]

I just ordered one for myself. I hope it gets here soon. My Hawk is still tied up in Customs and has been since the 20th.

Excellent. do post your thoughts when you have recd the pen.

 

Customs is a big gamble. sometimes they are very fast.

[phipwood]

I have purchsed from http://asapens.in/eshop/ Delivery and customisationto the UK was 10 days.

 

Had e mails answered within hours.

Very good service.

I like the look of matte black pens, have got two so far, this review may make it three.

 

Thanks for the informative review

[hari317]

I have purchsed from http://asapens.in/eshop/ Delivery and customisationto the UK was 10 days.

 

Had e mails answered within hours.

Very good service.

I like the look of matte black pens, have got two so far, this review may make it three.

 

Thanks for the informative review

good to hear good things about ASA.