GAMA Supreme Jumbo - A duofold-y ebonite fountain pen from Gem & Co., Chennai

My good friend Hari sent me pictures of this pen some weeks back…I saw the pictures and went ‘wow’… this pen had that kind of impact on me…the thick flat ends design is something that I can’t resist and I go all misty eyed looking at pics of such pens…for me, the Parker Duofold Big Red is the grail pen as far this design is concerned…but that pen is still a far way off for me…

This is the GAMA Supreme Jumbo Ebonite…made by Gem and Company, Chennai…they have a pens store in Parry’s Corner in Chennai…Gem and Co. have been in the business of pen making, selling, and repairing for the past eighty years…impeccable pedigree…and loads of experience and expertise in all these areas….

Gem and Co. makes fountain pens under the brand name Gama…and my friend Hari says, “GAMA is a pen brand in existence from the 1940's in South India.  In the past they had a nice line of Gold nibbed models such as the Gama Kid, Gama Coronation, Gama Manifold and the Gama Royal. In addition to pocket pens, from time to time they also made some hand turned acrylic desk pens in really limited numbers.”

The Gama Supreme Jumbo Ebonite is part of the new line of ebonite pens released by Gem and Co.  The considerably thinner and shorter Gama Junior Ebonite is also part of this new line.  These pens are released through ASA Pens on ebay India and Hari got a bunch of these heavyweights from ASA and graciously gifted me one.  Hari is also an amateur pen repairer and he used that knowledge to make the pen a much better writer by changing the nib. 

To say that I have been waiting for a pen of this shape, size, and performance would be too much…to say the least…but, yes, this is a kind of dream pen…just look at it…the cap jewel is just the right length, one centimeter longer and it would have that tapering look instead of the handsome full flat look…the barrel end in black ebonite ends in a sort of mini peak…not too much…and, maybe it is a coincidence, but if the browns and blacks on the body were any lighter, the harmony between the black ebonite at the pen ends and the black ripples on the body would have dissipated…the black ripples on the barrel and cap kind of flow into the ebonite stoppers…and look at the ripples!!  I haven’t seen such ripples on an ebonite pen in a long long time…it is just so beautiful to look at…!!  The clip looks so nice and balanced and appropriate…no frills…a straightforward no-nonsense clip that knows it is in the right place…no?  For a brief while I felt a ball clip might have looked better…but I think it is my unfulfilled desire (so far) for a Parker Duofold Big Red that made me transpose that feature onto this pen…this pen so reminds me of the Big Red…

Here are some pictures of this handsome pen…