Kim Acr Jumbo Handmade Ebonite Fountain Pen Reviews

I like big pens and I cannot prevarication.

I have made no secret of the fact that I enjoy a good oversized pen. Virtually of my favorites fall into the "large" pen category. Just, as though in an attempt to prove in that location can be too much of a good matter, the folks at Gama Pens created the Supreme. Gama is the in-firm brand of Gem & Co., a pen retail in India that has been around since the 1920s.  The Gama Supreme is, as the proper name might suggest, an admittedly mammoth pen made of a lovely olive ripple ebonite with black ebonite finials.

The basic shape of the Supreme is vaguely reminiscent of some of the early Parker Duofolds, I think. The prune is a streamlined pattern with golden plating. The cap itself is banded with a band of gold-plated metal besides, which is a feature yous don't see on a lot of ebonite pens made these days…particularly those from India.

In reality, though, the pattern of this pen hardly matters, as the single most middle-catching thing about the pen is its absolutely insane size.

(From L to R: Classic Pens LB5, Visconti Homo Sapiens Bronze Age Maxi, Montblanc 149, Pelikan M1000, Pelikan M800, Gama Supreme, Pilot Metropolitan, TWSBI Eco, Lamy AL-Star, Jinhao x450, Esterbrook J).

With a department bore of betwixt 14-16mm, this is not a pen for the faint of middle of modest of finger. The ebonite department is nicely contoured, all the same. This is a pen that might exist an splendid choice for those suffering from arthritis or problems holding smaller pens due to loss of finger strength. The grip of the section is so girthy, you lot could almost grasp the pen in your fist and have it be the right diameter. Despite the pen's larger size, the lighter ebonite cloth still makes it relatively lightweight.

This pen can only be filled via the eyedropper method, and there are currently no options for other filling systems. The pen's large size means, of course, a large chapters of ink. My start fill of the pen came up somewhere between four and five milliliters of ink.

The Gama Supreme is a handmade production, so there volition exist slight variations from pen to pen in terms of size. Information technology is also a relatively inexpensive product. Overall, the build quality is solid, if rather unrefined. The pen feels solidly put together, and robust in the hand. Yet, the joins between parts are not well-matched, and the pen's surface however shows a lot of marks of the original tooling processes. The entire pen could accept used with a fair flake more sanding and polishing. The overall quality of the ebonite is also a chip lackluster, containing pits and inclusions that mar the finish somewhat.

My Gama Supreme as well has an odd ink(?) stain on the barrel of the pen (the blue stain under the final 'a' in the engraved name) that I was unable to remove from the pen.

The Gama Supreme comes with what the AsaPens.in website calls a #10 nib*. I suspect they are using a different numbering system than the more traditional European organisation (#five, #half dozen, etc). The neb is similar in size to a #half dozen, just perhaps a touch larger. The gold-plated steel neb is stamped with the words "iridium point," and is not marked with any designation of bill guess. If I had to identify a gauge on the nib, I'd phone call information technology a slightly narrow medium.

I have, in the past, complained near the overall quality of the nibs I discover in nearly of the inexpensive Indian pens I take purchased thus far. I was actually hoping to feel differently virtually the nib on this item pen. Unfortunately, the lack of attending to particular that detracts from the pen's fit and end besides reared its caput with the nib. Afterwards the slit is cut on a nib, the nib manufacturer unremarkably has to practice a chip of piece of work to bring the tines together toward the tip of the nib to assistance with capillary action. It appears as though that step was completely ignored on this bill; when I got the pen, the tines were in alignment and were decently polished, but the neb slit was entirely parallel from tip to breather pigsty instead of tapering toward the tip as it should. As a upshot, the pen but would not write. I couldn't get the ink to menstruum at all.

I was able to exercise a bit of adjustment work to bring the tines back together and re-aligned the neb every bit a effect of that work, and then the pen wrote fine. Since then, I haven't had any problems with it, and it's been a practiced (and consistent) writer. Information technology merely took me about 2 minutes of work to get the bill writing; with such a small investment of time, you'd recall that this is the sort of work that either the manufacturer or the retailer would desire to do earlier sending out the pen if for no other reason than that it makes a good get-go impression.

As I oftentimes say to my pens (yep, I talk to my pens…don't pretend like you lot don't likewise), "You take one chore. To write. If you can't practise at to the lowest degree that much, I've got no use for you." Fortunately, it's writing at present, and writing well. Merely if y'all're non equally comfortable with adjusting nibs equally I am, you might finish upwards disappointed by the out-of-the-box writing experience. (Which is a funny phrase, because this pen doesn't come up in a box.)

The main saving grace for the Gama Supreme, despite its problems, is its cost. The pen retails on the asapens.in website for only $42. For a large, handmade, ebonite pens with a massive ink capacity, that'southward actually quite a good price. If you get one that writes well out of the box, all the better.

In the cease, the Gama Supreme isn't a pen that I can recommend without reservation for all users. It's going to be too big for most people to use comfortably. For those who await perfection in the fit and finish of their pen, this won't be a good pick either. And, of grade, the inconsistency of the nib is unfortunate. That existence said, I can still recommend the pen with reservations. I've never really come across annihilation quite like it, and never at this price point. Information technology'southward a fun pen to play around with (and information technology gets a lot of attending and pen shows when you plunk it downward on the table.) And at such an affordable price point, information technology'due south a dandy option for a pen where you could feel comfortable refining your pen aligning skills. If you can get it writing, you lot'll finish upwardly with a rather dainty pen.

Note: At the time of this writing, Asapens.in was out of the Gama Supreme. You may nevertheless exist able to notice it from other retailers, or you can reach out to Asapens.in and ask them about when they might expect to get additional stock of the pen.

* Reader/view Hans reached out to me afterward this review was published with some additional data nigh the pecker on this pen that I institute quite interesting. Hans wrote:

Indian № 10 nibs are about 35 mm long and are curved for 6.35 mm (0.25 in) diameter feeds. Visually they are essentially #6 nibs In that location are also about forty mm long № 12 nibs curved for these feeds. The big № 12 nibs visually are essentially #8 nibs. The very uncomplicated ebonite feed of the Supreme is 51 mm (two in) long and has a very deep and wide ink aqueduct that dwarfs the tiny channels used in modern polymer feeds. It provides ample ink flow and enough length to also piece of work with № 12 nib setups, that have the feed 5 mm further out than in your setup.

I recognized the nib in your pen every bit a gold-plated № 10 made by Ambitious Republic of india based in New Delhi, see http://ambitiousindia.com. They cost about USD three and come in several variants. These nibs are fabricated from thicker canvas metallic than the OEM neb Gama provided to me or JoWo nibs. Their curvature and thickness make them for example impossible to mount in JoWo #half-dozen bill housings. I accept seen most 15 to 20 Aggressive nibs. From what I saw through my loupe the nib slits were normally tapered and the tipping halves were besides normally aligned.

From what I read, I think your Aggressive nib + feed setup was forced into the grip section diameter of your Supreme without heat setting the setup before acceleration. When the feed pushes against the underside of a neb it will generally result in the kind of disappointing (non) writing experience you described, regardless of the quality of the bill.

Fabric: Ebonite
Beak: Gold-plated Steel (Medium-ish)
Appointments: Gold-colored
Filling System: Eyedropper
Length (Capped): 160.0mm
Length (Uncapped): 149.0mm
Length (Posted): 180.0mm
Section Bore: 15.4mm
Barrel Max Diameter: 17.5mm
Cap Max Diameter: 19.0mm
Weight, Uncapped (with ink and/or converter): 30g
Weight, Capped (with ink and/or converter):43g

Note: The pen for this review was purchased with my ain funds. The ink used in this review was provided complimentary of charge by the Goulet Pen Company.

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Source: http://penhabit.com/2017/05/20/gama-supreme-fountain-pen-review/