Click Pure Crystal Fountain Pen: Beauty with Substance

           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!!!

Good day!!

Fountain Pen Review Part III:Doctor Deluxe, a reliable under 3 $ fountain pen.

There are some dresses you would like to wear to a party, others to a friends marriage, but will you wear those dresses in your apartment. I guess not! In your home, you would perhaps seek something comfortable, something that you could wear for a longer time and still feel at ease. It may not perhaps look too savvy but it should be comfortable, easily washable, and quite durable to withstand routine wear and tear.

This pen serves the same function as your jockeys and T-shirts. It doesn’t look awesome. It has its manufacturing and design cons. It’s an eyedropper which may start to burp if you let the ink levels fall too low. But, and its a capital BUT, this pen is so comfortable to write with that you could use it for hours and hours without fatigue. It is, for me, one of those rare fountain pens which can be used for daily writing purposes. Mind it, it is that sort of pen which you would always want to keep inked. A pen, which you would like to keep in your pen stand and use it once you are tired of showing off your Pelikans and Montblancs.  A pen which is so competitively priced that it can be used for experimenting, changing nibs, fiddling with the slit, if you are into that sort of thing, though I think you would never need to do so.

Part 1: The Built & Looks :- This pens boasts of a clear demonstrator acrylic barrel. A silver-colored clip is attached to the cap marble, cap marble can be screwed in the cap and in this way supports the clip. Cap also uses a cap ring at the bottom. Cap is built of plastic. As the photographs show, there are some serious aesthetic issues with the quality and built of the cap and the clip. The color of the cap is not too fancy and the nib which says ‘DOCTOR’ is also not exactly eye catching. But, hey , we don’t expect a lot from an under 3 dollar pen. I got the pen with the smell of the raisin or acrylic. The barrel is clear, so when I put some red or other attractive colored ink in it, it looks nice. But when you see it without ink, you would find that the barrel is not as ‘clear’ as you would expect. However, the pen is strong and sturdy. It won’t crack upon falling. It is built to withstand normal use and accidents. Thus considering it’s price, I am inclined to give it 2.5/5 for its built and looks.

Part 2: The Balance:- The pen is light weight. Its a large pen and for normal male hands and large female hands it should provide good grip width. I have large hands and I personally found balance and the grip amazingly good. I was amazed because I have often paid a lot and found this balance lacking. It is a fairly large size pen and fitted perfectly in my large hands. The pen was a pleasure to write with, whether the cap was posted or unposted. I felt as if I could fill page after page with this pen. Very good weight , balance and ergonomics. For the price I paid, I should give it 5 out of 5 in this respect.

Part 3: The nib and the feed:-The nib and the feed are the soul of the pen. Imagine a pen where every thing is par excellence but having no nib or feed. The pen uses a Doctor brand gold-plated iridium tipped nib.  The feed material is apparently ebonite. Its a typical non finned, two channelled old style feed. The pen is, as already said, an eyedropper. The well laid channels on the feed ensure plenty of ink supply and the carefully designed nib gives a very smooth fine writing experience. Since, the pen is an eyedropper, its ink capacity is somewhere like 2-3 ml. I am not sure about that, but one thing that I am sure of is that the capacity is at least 4 times a standard international cartridge. When ink reaches 1/3rd mark, the chances of burping increase. Though the design of the nib and the feed is simple, but it is efficient and job oriented. They have been designed to write for long hours. The barrel acts as a large reservoir, the feed ensures consistent supply and the nib smoothly puts the ink on the paper with a style. For its price, I would give the nib and the feed a 4 out of 5.

 

Part 4: The writing:- This pen delivers where it is most important to do so. Where writing is concerned, the pen hits a home run. It writes a fine line. Nib is very smooth and the there is no skipping, rail-roading, difficult starts etc. Rather, I found the writing is pleasurable and non tiring. Nib is stiff but one can definitely see some line variations. The nib is a joy to write with. It kind of made my hand writing look good. Its a note taking pen, one can carry to his college. I felt as it I could write faster with this pen, than with many other fountain pens in my collection. Writing experience was akin to that of a good ball pen minus the pressure. Loved it. Since the balance and the weight are optimal, the pen delivers a superb writing experience. For its price, the writing experience deserve a 9 out of 10. I have allotted 10 marks to the this part because I consider writing experience to be at least twice as important as any other aspect of a fountain pen. That’s what pens are made for, aren’t they?

I got it from ASApens with a combo set. They have another pen on their site with the same name. I am not very sure if its the same pen. Though the nib and the feed of the pen I got and the pen they have on their site looks same. I was informed that the pen I got was even cheaper. However since the nib and the feed are the same, most of what I have said about the writing experience of this pen should hold good for that pen too.

Conclusion. A reliable pen made for daily use. One of those under 3 $ pens you would want in your collection. A smooth and fine writer and comfortable grip and balance. (Score 20.5 / 25).Great value for money. I recommend it..