ASA Nauka : Indian Fountain Pen Review

The ASA Nauka is a wonderful fountain pen from India. This one is a personal favorite; it's a great size... big without being too big, and writes like a champ.
ASA is a fountain pen company in Chennai, and their website is unfortunately a bit crude at the moment. I believe they may be rebuilding it, but they may just be living with it. In any case, if you want to order an ASA Nauka, you can place an order on the site, and it takes a couple of weeks for them to make the pen and ship it to you. Here's the site: asapens.in/esh...
And here's the site for the notebook company... Kaagazi: kaagazi.com/en-us
Some of the music in this video comes from Hooksounds, as usual. Very handy site, if you make videos! www.hooksounds...

[@chrisrap52]

Well done, not a pen that was on my radar but should be. Baby's bottom , common on some broad nibs, relatively easy to fix with some smoothing. Nice ink.

[@thewetpen]

Thanks Chris! This is one of my favorite Indian pens, so far. I recently bought about a dozen cheap, new pens from India that I ordered simply out of curiosity, and they're mostly about what you'd expect for $2 or $3 each... some good, some not to good. Luckily, I ordered a few better pens at the same time... this one, and also a much more expensive Lotus that tempted me.

[@rushilkanani807]

​@@thewetpenwhat ink were you using ? That looked beautiful

[@thewetpen]

@@rushilkanani807 That was Krishna "Sailor Blue" from their Revolution series of inks.

[@sisirkattempudi7155]

I liked how you credited the photo. And I also appreciated your research into the etymology of the word _nauka_.

[@Nick-cp3sr]

Thanks for the brilliant review! This pen looks perfect for me as write better with pens with little to no step down… think I found the Christmas present I’m getting for myself! 😂👍🏼

[@thewetpen]

This one is a real beauty, and I've now heard that some of them don't require so many turns to uncap 🙂

[@sorairo825]

I really enjoy watching your video! And I'm so happy to hear that you're going to make videos about inkvent calendar. I can't wait that !!😊

[@thewetpen]

Glad you're enjoying it! I was really on the fence about making the inkvent videos this year... remember how much time it took last year, during an already busy time of year. Hopefully I'll get started a bit earlier this time and it won't all fall to the last minute.

[@edwardwiper1323]

Really like your videos & different approach.I have the Nauka pen but I purchased it 2yrs ago & at that time they only did it as a eye dropper.The cap also screws off in 2 & 1/2 turns,lovely pen.I also bought a Gama Raja from ASA pens in black ebonite,also a beautiful pen.Was that pleased with the pens & the company I ordered & payed for a Gama Masterpiece 12months ago & to this day dispite numerous emails have no pen & no replies.So buyer be ware.

[@thewetpen]

Ahh, so it my have just been a bit of a fluke that mine took so many turns to remove the cap. That's good to hear, though I probably wouldn't hesitate to order another one anyway. Sorry to hear about your experience with ASA and the Gama Masterpiece... hope that gets sorted out.

[@1OneMinutePlease]

Hello gentleman, From your Experience which would you pick for a great writing feel and reliability - ASA or GAMA ?

[@asapens3052]

I just came across this video via youtube alert. Thank you very much for a wonderful review of ASA Nauka... I have noted your observations and thank you for same.

[@thewetpen]

Ah ha! I'm glad to see that you found the video yourself... I had intended to email you a link after I had returned home after the weekend. Thank you for the wonderful pen; I'll mostly likely be ordering another in a different finish in the near future. Take care, and keep making wonderful pens :-)

[@TouzeenHussain]

This is an amazing pen wrt dimensions and hand feel. I own 3 of them.

[@thewetpen]

Agreed! And it's nice to see that ASA has finally upgraded their website so that ordering is easy, now.

[@cr8cat794]

This is a good review. I like the way the author selected video to support the narration. My beef with the Naukas is their tendency to drool. Perhaps heat setting is a remedy.

[@thewetpen]

This particular pen comes with a JoWo nib unit, and I use it with a converter. If used as an eye-dropper filler, then it might be more prone to burping, but with a JoWo unit, it shouldn't behave any differently than any other pen with a JoWo unit. I believe that some Naukas are eye-dropper only and come with an ebonite feed, which would make them more likely to have problems with burping, but it also makes it more practical to heat set them (plastic units don't gain much from heat setting, imho).

[@philnaunton7181]

A likeable pen, definitely. The one that I received has a cap which is removed after 2½ turns although the cap threads are stiff and more often than not, the barrel back will loosen first. Not a big deal, but if I'm opening to write without paying attention, it takes longer to achieve success than six a half turns. (c; Good review, nice writer...

[@thewetpen]

I've heard from a couple of people now that the 6 or 7 turns that it takes for me is not the norm. Two or so would make this a nearly perfect pen. Sounds like there's some variation in production, but it is an Indian hand-made pen, so that's to be expected. I understand that ASA's new website is up, but I haven't really had a chance to explore it... maybe I'll do that now :-)

[@aristotlejb82]

I ordered this pen back in 2021 and never received the shipment even after waiting for over three months. During that same time I received my orders from Ranga within a few days of placing an order. While this looks like an amazing pen, I'm not sure I would like to go through that experience. More than the delay, it is the lack of customer service which pissed me off. I would reach out and would not get a response for weeks. I would take many different options with Ranga any day. Their customer service is one of the best.

[@eugenborcan]

This is a very interesting pen :). I like the seamless section and body!

[@thewetpen]

That was what attracted me, too :-)

[@raphael52]

Thanks for showing this pen. Very neat pen. I have to get one.

[@Volkmannx]

Ranga, on my wishlist!

[@West2WesternGhats]

BG music is haunting ❤

[@rohitganguly4949]

Really enjoyed the content. Keep it up!

[@user-cc8gh6gu2m]

Nice Review 🙏

[@thewetpen]

Thanks!

[@bharatc.sampat6406]

Brilliant pen. Fantastic products by ASA.

[@MrAndrew1953]

I have a Click bamboo flex which I've had for a longtime. Getting hold of some Indian pens can be problematic sometimes.

[@user-el7of3cz9g]

Does the pen post? Very nice review - thank you

[@thewetpen]

Yes it does!

[@user-el7of3cz9g]

@@thewetpen Very cool - thanks!

[@user-el7of3cz9g]

@@thewetpen Ok thank you! Hey it looks like the price jumped from when you last posted this. What do you think about the pen at $70?

[@thewetpen]

@@user-el7of3cz9g I love the pen... i actually bought another. $70 would seem VERY fair to me for an American made pen, so I think it's fair for elsewhere, too.

[@Lucan1n1]

Asa Nauka or Kanwrite Mammoth, which would you recommend😊

[@thewetpen]

They're both good quality writers, but they're very different pens... and the differences are simply a matter of personal taste. If you want a large pen and large nib, the Kanwrite is a good way to go. The Nauka is a medium sized pen and will not draw so much attention, but it has a more elegant design and I personally would rather write with it (if I were writing for long periods).

[@Lucan1n1]

@@thewetpen 👍

[@wiramonol5266]

Thanks for the video. Can you review that Jaipur V2 as well?

[@thewetpen]

I will certainly review it when I get a chance, but it's going to be a while, unfortunately.

[@subhmaypatra5562]

Waiting for you to review Lamys and Pilots

[@thewetpen]

I have a few Lamys that I like, but they're designs that have been around for decades, so I don't know if there's much I can add to the discussion :-) My Pilot Custom Heritage 912 is one of my favorites... I'll get to it one of these days.

[@subhmaypatra5562]

@@thewetpen It's always good to have a new perspective, especially by you as you give a lot of attention to details and your videography is beautiful. In India, we say we don't hear a repeated story for the story but for the storyteller.

[@CLOUDDDDDDDDDDD]

Does it work with Parker ink?

[@thewetpen]

Yes, it will work with any standard fountain pen ink from any major brand.

[@viv_2489]

I wish they could offer a polished version if not already.. is it possible to replace the jowo nib from this pen easily into Ranga pens? By the way I purchased this pen today for total 3000 Indian rupees ( 2800 + 200 additional rupees for converter)

[@thewetpen]

I wish that they'd sell me these pens at Indian prices! Like so many others, this company charges much higher prices to foreigners. Oh well... I guess I can't blame them. I have 3 Ranga pens that have JoWo nib units that would be interchangeable with this one, and one that has a Bock nib unit that would not, so it depends on the type of nib in your Ranga.

[@viv_2489]

​@@thewetpen Thanks, yes I have ordered my first Ranga with jowo nib unit only ( broad type) .. thanks will give a shot ( may be later if it is easily swappable to avoid risk of damaging anything ).. I'm not sure if it is possible to give free shipping for eg from my experience i purchased micromesh grit from store in USA and it costed me around 15 US dollars shipping from Etsy .. even in ebay i have seen people saying free shipping but charging the same amount for products.. and ofcourse some advantages/ discounts of being an Indian customer :) or may be to promote sales here , demand and supply etc factors..

[@vicentegregorio6476]

None of the sites you listed work. I did not try the music one.

[@thewetpen]

Yes, Kaagazi didn't last long. ASA is still going, but their site isn't worth much... asapens.in/ does still work, but the link to that specific pen isn't working anymore. I just bought two more ASA pens, but had to do it via instant message on Instagram, with payment via PayPal.

[@thespicedune]

Another great review. Yeah that many turns to uncap would annoy me.

[@thewetpen]

Yeah, it sometimes annoys me, too. Of course, there's no reason that there has to be so many turns... this could have been fixed by ASA simply machining out a few of those threads when they made the cap. I'd love to see them refine the design a bit. Or maybe I just got an odd one. Anyway, it's not a deal breaker for me... I still really like the pen :-)

[@thespicedune]

@@thewetpen I like the concept but it is not as bad as the Wancher Kaleido. It's like 7-8 turns.

[@paraschauhan6075]

How is thsi pen againt Lamy safari.

[@thewetpen]

I would take this pen over a Lamy Safari any time. Better nib, more comfortable, better design.

[@ilmari9120]

what brand is the nib? what size you like, is like lamy?

[@thewetpen]

The nib is a JoWo #6, which is probably the most common German nib made, so it's a very standard, high-quality nib. The "medium" tip size is very similar to other European medium nibs, but the shape of the nib is not like a LAMY at all... very different shape and method of attaching to the pen.

[@davidbyers7246]

It’s an odd thing with me, but when I see a pen with a very large body but just fitted with a regular #6 nib, I can’t really call it an oversized pen. It seems a little like cheating somehow, an oversized pen in my opinion should also have a larger nib, e.g. #8 or #9 at least.

[@thewetpen]

I really don't think of this as an oversized pen, actually. To me, if feels like a very average sized pen in the hand, although it is obviously a little larger than most overage pens. I don't have many pens with large nibs in them, so I'm not the best judge, but I haven't really found any advantage to them when it comes to the feel or writing experience... for me it's just aesthetic, and for the lines of this pen, the #6 doesn't bother me... but a #8 would probably look cool. I think a #8 would have been really cool on that Ranga Abhimanyu Grand, too.

[@dhana78650]

How much

[@thewetpen]

The price is different for Indians and Americans. They have prices listed on their website.

[@jamesaritchie1]

Not a pen for me, but looks like a good one.

[@thewetpen]

I love it... it's a great writer, and very comfortable. Love the feel of the ebonite!

[@banksterkid5930]

Bad choice of music. The intro. They play that in drama when someone dies 😂