The Dhaulagiri (pronounced Dowel’-la-giri) is named after the 7th highest mountain on earth. I chose this name because, in Hinduism, Dhaulagiri means a dazzling, beautiful mountain. So I think the name is fitting for a pen with such a unique feature: the dazzling and beautiful acrylic cap band.

Although any material and color combination is possible, I have a specific color scheme I like to use for the Dhaulagiri. First, select the material for the barrel, using material that consists of a mixture of two or three colors. A blank with three colors is best. Most blanks like this have a main base color with one or two secondary colors.

Next, from that barrel material, select one of the secondary colors and use it for the cap. Then last, pull out a second color to use for the acrylic cap band and section. Pearl colors work best for the acrylic band because they more closely mimic a metal band.

I think the color scheme works pretty well, but as I said at the beginning, and see from some of the samples, you can use any material in any combination. Some clients have come up with their own combinations. Check out the blueberry mesh and yellow jacket pens.

Creating custom color combinations:
After a while, I realized the availability of off-the-shelf material with just the right combination of colors was limited. So I decided to reach out to a custom pen blank maker and ask if he could make sets of blanks that followed the same color scheme.

A few weeks later, a set of purple and orange alumilite blanks arrived. The colors worked together perfectly, so I ordered several more sets. And since the purple and orange blanks worked so well, I ordered more, anticipating I might get a few requests for that color combination. But when the new order arrived, the new set of purple and orange blanks didn’t match the old ones. Not even close! Eventually, the supplier admitted that he couldn’t replicate the colors. So for the time being, I had to drop the idea of custom colors.

New material source: I found a new source for custom blanks. This supplier keeps a record of his color mixes so they can be replicated again later. So if you have a color combination in mind, let me know.

The Dhaulagiri is a full-size pen. The overall length is about 6″ (152mm), with the maximum barrel diameter coming in at about 9/16″ (14.25mm). The main cap diameter is 5/8″ (16mm), with the acrylic accent band around .70″ (18mm). The cap has a slight taper along the length, reducing down to about .60″ (15.25mm) at the top of the clip. The height of the cap’s acrylic accent band is about .25″ (6.5mm).

I think the unique style of this pen stands on it’s own, so it requires few upgrades or options. One unique upgrade for the Dhaulagiri is the style of capping threads. The standard pen used the normal 3-start threads. But you can order it with coarse single-start threads. The advantage of the multi-start threads is that they require fewer turns to cap the pen (usually 1 to 1 1/2), while the single-start threads would require more in the same length of threads. But if you like the look of the coarse threads, you can order the pen with shorter-length threads.

Inking systems: The standard inking system for the Dhaulagiri is a C/C (cartridge/converter), but you can also order it as a button or piston filler. The Dhaulagiri comes standard with a #6 Jowo steel nib. Currently, finishes available for #6 steel nibs are only polish steel or all-gold steel. But sometimes other finishes are available, so inquire about current finishes. Tip sizes usually available are x-fine, fine, medium, broad, and 1.1 & 1.5 italics. 14k & 18k gold nibs are also available as a special order.