DECCAN AURELIUS/AUTHOR - new model from Deccan Pens, Hyderabad

Deccan Pen Stores, Hyderabad, has come out with a new FP model… Mr Zubair who mans the Secunderabad branch of DPS called me a few days back…I was planning to visit the Secunderabad branch anyway to see if I could get a nice mechanical pencil, and also to look at some inks and Camlin SD had come up for discussion once again on FPN and I didn’t have one with me…so, Zubair informs me that Deccan Pens has made a new model and that he has got one piece reserved for me and when could I make it…since I was anyway planning to go there, I decided to visit that day itself…and this is the FP he showed me…

I liked the pen instantly…nice design, sleek lines, and a not-too-glossy black…Zubair said the design is inspired by a British model, but did not exactly remember which...of late Deccan has been experimenting with materials other than their almost staple ebonite and this pen is the second such recent instance (the first can be seen here)…this FP is made of acrylic and is an aerometric filler…I am not a great fan of aerometric fillers, which kind of put me in a hesitant mood…but I found a way of consoling myself telling myself that the ‘most talked about’ FP, P51, is also an aerometric filler…

There were some small changes which added to the allure of this pen… the calligraphic Deccan ‘D’, which is usually seen near the cap lip, is on the cap jewel in this model and the medium point nib looks customised with 'Deccan' engraved on it...first time for a steel nib I thought for Deccan Pens...I ran photos of this pen through Hari and he clarified that Deccan had these customised steel nibs and would on request fix them on FPs…Zubair also informed that the clip is US gold plated and won’t fade and that the material used for the body of the pen is German...

I filled the pen with Sheaffer Skrip black ink…it writes well, and there is a sweet spot when it is angled slightly right and I enjoyed that smooth flow…but it wouldn’t start up immediately after being closed for a couple of hours and I had to cajole it to re-start…could this be a flow-related problem? Normally, Deccan ED fillers don’t have this problem (I have opened Advocates after a couple of weeks and they purred on like Rolls Royces…ha ha ha)…maybe that aerometric filler…

The problem with new Deccan models is that only few pieces are made at a time and DPS is not in a position to cater to FP lovers who would want to get hold of new models…maybe in a far-fetched sense, one can call them Deccan LE Pens…anyway, that is for FP enthusiasts to fight it out with DPS…

Zubair told me that they are considering two names for this FP – Deccan Aurelius (in honour of Marcus Aurelius?) and Deccan Author…and haven’t yet decided…I would prefer them to have some pieces of all models at all times so that the entire range is available for selection…

Here are some pictures…actually, a lot of pictures…


Capped


Uncapped


Posted...


The clip...


Writing sample...


Cap jewel


The translucency at the cap lip


The nib...


The feeder...


Size comparison with Deccan Advocate