kv ratnam and sons Ratnamson Supreme in Green Ripple.

[hari317]

Ratnamson  pens are made by a now 93 year old company called KV Ratnam and Sons at Rajahmundry (Rajamahendravaram) Andhra Pradesh, India. This is one of the oldest surviving pen companies in India and was founded on the principles of Swadeshi (Country-made) which was a means to try to end the dependence on British goods of that era when India was still a part of the British empire and the struggle to gain freedom was ongoing. 

 

The company offers a few models differing in sizes. The Supreme is their flagship offering in the current times. 

 

The pen comes in a simple box. 

 

The pen is accompanied with a copy of the letter sent by Mahatma Gandhi to them appreciating their pen. 

 

This is not my first Supreme. I have been buying them off and on over the years. This particular one arrived from them a few days back. 

 

The pen has remained essentially unchanged. Earlier under Dr KV Ramanamurthy, they used to offer hand made 14Ct gold nib options but after his passing away, this art has been lost. Currently only the steel nibbed versions are offered. 

 

 

 

 

The change that I can see is in the steel nib itself. The nib fitted to my pen appears to be made by the Indian firm Kanpur Writers of Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. It’s a fine nib. Pleasantly smooth with a good feel on paper. 
 

 

Other classic touches include the stamped Ratnamson branding on the clip and the swaged twin cap bands indicating a steel nibbed supreme. 

 

The section shape of the Supreme is very similar to the shape found on the Parker Jack knife safeties and non streamlined Duofolds. This is an extremely comfortable section for me and I really love using the supreme for this reason.  
 

Another unique touch to the Supreme is this machined recess surrounding the nib. If any ink escapes the nib, it will accumulate here and not spread over the section

Preventing the user’s fingers from getting soiled. I haven’t seen them offer this on their other models. Lots of care has gone into the supreme. 

 

The pen opened. 

 

It’s a traditional eyedropper. The simplest fountain pen possible with the least amount of parts. 

 

The proportions of the supreme are ample, supporting a robust  construction. 

 

The dimensions: 

Capped: ~155 mm

Barrel+Section: 110 mm

Nib: 21 mm

Cap Dia 17.5 mm

Barrel Dia: 16 mm

Section Dia 13-13.5mm

The cap takes a royal 5-1/2 turns to cap and uncap. 

Here are some previous reviews of the supreme at the following links 

Link 1

Link 2

 

The Supreme is personally a great value at the current price of 5000/- INR shipped within India. While there is no website, the pen makers can be contacted over WhatsApp on the first number printed on the pamphlet. 
 

It’s always a great pleasure to receive a new Supreme and this time I decided to review this pen again. 
 

Cheers

Hari .  

[Abhik]

 As usual Hari your pen reviews are so detailed with lovely photos! Excellent! I loved this new offering from Ratnamson. Unfortunate that hand made gold nibs are no longer offered. 
Loved this review Hari! Enjoy 

[hari317]

On 8/9/2025 at 7:19 PM, Abhik said:

 As usual Hari your pen reviews are so detailed with lovely photos! Excellent! I loved this new offering from Ratnamson. Unfortunate that hand made gold nibs are no longer offered. 
Loved this review Hari! Enjoy 

Thanks Abhik. It's indeed unfortunate that they no longer make the handmade gold nibs. 

here is a video showing Dr KV Ramanamurthy making a gold nib:

 

[bugsydog55]

I've watched that video several times.  Seems amazing what a person can do with so little in such humble circumstances.  I have a few Ratnamson pens but they are older models I've "rescued" on Ebay from sellers that didn't know what they were or what they were made of or even where they were created.  A little TLC, some cleaning and nib work and carefully getting the threading reworked and these were all good to go.  They definitely do not look like your pen.  Do the heavy walls help with "burping" issues since they would help with the heat from your hand?  I was just wondering if that could be a factor in the design in some large eyedropper pens.  Several I have in that size also have heavier barrel walls than one would expect.  Just speculating.

[hari317]

9 minutes ago, bugsydog55 said:

I've watched that video several times.  Seems amazing what a person can do with so little in such humble circumstances.  I have a few Ratnamson pens but they are older models I've "rescued" on Ebay from sellers that didn't know what they were or what they were made of or even where they were created.  A little TLC, some cleaning and nib work and carefully getting the threading reworked and these were all good to go.  They definitely do not look like your pen.  Do the heavy walls help with "burping" issues since they would help with the heat from your hand?  I was just wondering if that could be a factor in the design in some large eyedropper pens.  Several I have in that size also have heavier barrel walls than one would expect.  Just speculating.

Did you find any with their handmade gold nibs? 
 

the thicker barrel walls certainly help in preventing hand heat from entering but eventually there will be an equilibrium. Pls see my article on this topic. Link

[bugsydog55]

Never found anything marked as being gold but some of the small nibs are quite soft.  Could be.  I never gave it much thought.  Some of these have no markings so I may need to go back through my cases and do some exploring.  The heavier barrel walls always seemed to help me with air exchange issues.  They didn't solve all the issues but they did spread that heat a bit and that helped a lot for shorter writing sessions.  I checked out the article and was glad to see I already do all of that.  It is great advice for those folks that have no idea what to do with an eyedropper pen.  There is a huge intimidation factor with these pens and I think people just don't understand them.  I can't get enough of them.

[hari317]

17 hours ago, bugsydog55 said:

There is a huge intimidation factor with these pens and I think people just don't understand them.  I can't get enough of them.

I agree. Same here.

[GlenV]

I have watched that video sooo many times (the longer one that shows all the lathe work).  I love his methods and turning the threads on the lathe is cool rather than tap/die but more turns to cap. I am so amazed by his ability to tip gold nibs with iridium using a blowpipe for a torch, after care to add spring to the gold with hammering and tempering.  It looks on the video that he soldered a small bit of gold to the iridium and then affixed to the nib tip, hand slit and shaped. Sorry to hear he has passed.  Treasures of craftsmanship. 

[hari317]

12 hours ago, GlenV said:

I have watched that video sooo many times (the longer one that shows all the lathe work).  I love his methods and turning the threads on the lathe is cool rather than tap/die but more turns to cap. I am so amazed by his ability to tip gold nibs with iridium using a blowpipe for a torch, after care to add spring to the gold with hammering and tempering.  It looks on the video that he soldered a small bit of gold to the iridium and then affixed to the nib tip, hand slit and shaped. Sorry to hear he has passed.  Treasures of craftsmanship. 

Thanks for reminding me of that wonderful video. here it is for the other members to see:

 

The blow torch method of tip attachment is time honored. pls see plate 3

 

https://fountainpendesign.wordpress.com/fountain-pen-nib/nib-manufacturing-slitting-tipping-quality/nib-manufacture-1879/

 

[hari317]

Another Ratnamson Supreme landed at my door from the manufacturer. As they say, when it rains, it pours. This is the olive ripple. 

 

 

 

The nib is different on this one. 

 

 

Three Ratnamson Supreme colours. 

 

 

All three were purchased post the passing away of Dr KV Ramanamurthy. You can see all three are subtly different from each other. Handmade. 

 

Cheers 

Hari 

[bugsydog55]

The small differences give them their individual character and it's what makes them unique.  It is one of the reasons that I have several pens of the same model through a penmakers lineup.  It may not seem possible to most people, but I think they are all different in their own, subtle, ways.  Once again, thanks for the photos.

[hari317]

19 hours ago, bugsydog55 said:

The small differences give them their individual character and it's what makes them unique.  It is one of the reasons that I have several pens of the same model through a penmakers lineup.  It may not seem possible to most people, but I think they are all different in their own, subtle, ways.  Once again, thanks for the photos.

Thanks and you’re welcome. 🙏🏼

[Triplesss]

Arguably the OG ebonite jumbo pens from India.