Omas Bologna Black Cotton Fiber FP

[greencobra]

I purchased an Omas Bologna in black cotton fiber with palladium fittings after admiring it in a shop display case a few weeks ago. I’d gone back to look a few times and handle it, but only recently got to actually dip the pen and try it for the better part of an hour. I pretty much knew it was coming home with me the second it touched the paper.

 

This is a big, stout pen. The cotton fiber resin makes it lighter than it looks and the large circumference gives it a lot of control. Fact is, I look for large pens and this is hefty around the middle.

 

The body is a flat black color, very discreet looking. It has a different kind of texture than I’m use to seeing. Maybe the word is porous. It feels right in the hand no matter how long it’s held. It feels “soft” if you can picture that. I have had two sessions with it where I’ve written for an hour or more and my hand felt no sign of fatigue. I have found a good fit between a pen and my hand. And I think the balance is very good and I use it un-posted. The palladium fittings make this pen an eye pleaser. I feel it loses something when done with the gold. The pocket clip has the little roller on the end to ease pocketing and removal. It makes for a fun decorative fixture even if the pen sees no pocket time. The ring on the cap has a serpentine design with the Words OMAS and Italy struck so light I need my glasses on to see it. On the barrel end cap, there’s a man/woman outline of what I take to be the Bologna logo from the box. This sounds tacky but it’s really not and doesn’t take away from the aesthetics of the pen.

 

The Bologna is a cartridge/converter fed pen. I prefer cartridges at the moment but when I get more familiar with fountain pens and inks, I’ll switch to the converter. The Omas takes the international short cartridge, which now makes it generic, with more choices of inks from different manufacturers than from just the one pen company. A bonus if one chooses to just use the cartridges. The cartridge seats firmly but I’m not too wild about it being short. A trick I saw somewhere suggests keeping an additional cartridge piggybacked on top of the other inside the barrel. I have not used the converter but it takes a bit of gentle pressure to seat and remove and it has stamped on it, in the logo font, Omas. A nice touch, I’ve seen a few converters with no brand name on them. I think the Omas converter is also the best constructed converter I’ve seen to date. But proof is in using and I’ll report back when I try it.

 

The nib is 14 Kt gold with a rhodium mask, a Med, and is scaled well to match the size of the pen. It puts down an easy line with just a trace of tooth. This pen is an excellent writer. It’s a fine medium by my definition. It glides effortlessly across the page. I think the pen puts down a moderately wet line but doesn’t soak the page. At this time I’m using the Paradise Pens brand ink cartridge in black and it seems to be a perfect combo for now. The nib seems to have some flex to it. Or maybe I mean it’s not as stiff as the Japanese nibs. Although I heard a flex nib can be ordered from Omas as a special order, I doubt it came standard on this pen, being far from the top of the Omas line. Maybe it’s me and not being use to this pen and we’ll both settle down with more use.

 

The box is a slip top, lined with faux leather and there’s a suede lined pen sleeve included. The Bologna comes with more documentation than my last new vehicle. Nothing is left to chance here, six languages and line drawings get the owner up and running in minutes. With a nifty full color catalog too!

 

To sum up, I obviously like this pen a lot. I did a lot of research while considering it, reading customer remarks and the like. The cotton fiber and size turn a lot of people off on this one, but it made a strong favorable case in my selection process. Mostly, people were impressed with the Omas nib quality and writing experience and I have to agree with them. For the money, this is, in my opinion, a fine fountain pen and defiantly a keeper.

Edited September 24, 2006 by greencobra

[JimCouch]

Nice review. I really like the Omas cotton resin - like you mentioned it has a 'soft' feel to it (even in the polished pens) it also has a nice 'warm' feel to it, very similar to celluloid pens.

 

Jim

[Maja]

Thanks for the review, greencobra!

I am going to have to see if I can find a a local B&M (Brick and Mortar) store that carries the Bologna Cotton line, to see for myself how the pen feels while writing with it; I am intrigued by yours and Jim's description of the warmth and softness of the material.

I found a few photos of the pen model online, but there aren't any closeups that show the texture of the material. It sounds like a lovely pen, though!

[Caboose]

Maja,

You may have already looked here, but this is the best closup I could find that might help with the texture.

 

file doesn't seem to open..... here's the URL:

 

http://www.worldlux.com/products/omas/_pen...m/fullsize3.jpg

 

Dean

Edited September 21, 2006 by Caboose

[Maja]

Maja,

You may have already looked here, but this is the best closup I could find that might help with the texture.

 

file doesn't seem to open..... here's the URL:

 

http://www.worldlux.com/products/omas/_pen...m/fullsize3.jpg

 

Dean

Thanks, Dean! World Lux always have such nice closeups of their pens for sale....

 

I got lazy and went to Google and did an "Image" search using "omas bolgna" in the search field but nothing on World Lux's website showed up. I can clearly see the matte surface of the pen now.

[John Cullen]

hi greencobra. If I remember correctly, you mentioned in an earlier post that you really liked the Namiki Bamboo nib. If my memory is correct, could you compare the bamboo medium to the omas medium. thanks, j

[greencobra]

Yes, I have the Namiki Bamboo and was planning to do my next review soon and that would have been the one.

 

Now, keep in mind I'm very much a novice with FP's please, and I'll do my best.

 

The Namiki nib, and it's marked Namiki, not Pilot, is stiffer than the OMAS. So much so I could tell the difference right away. Mine is a Med but puts down a fairly dry line with more tooth than the OMAS and if I didn't know any better, I'd think this was a MF. Being just introduced to FP's, I don't have the experience yet between Japanese and European nibs to know how each size, XF, F, MF, M, and so on should be compared to each other. Simply, I can tell you it writes as well as the OMAS but puts down a thinner, dryer line. Even being as toothy as it is, it writes very well for me. I'm expecting that to ease some as I write more with it. I'm struggling with this comparison but I hope it helped.

 

As of now, both the Bamboo and OMAS share daily rotation from my small collection, I like them both that well.

 

And I have a new Sailor that's not been iked yet in MF. (the first FP I ordered but just got yesterday) I am very interested in what size line that puts down and I will post my thoughts on that as well.

[L&R]

The nib is 18 Kt gold with a rhodium mask, a Med, and is scaled well to match the size of the pen.  It puts down an easy line with just a trace of tooth.  This pen is an excellent writer.  It’s a fine medium by my definition.  It glides effortlessly across the page.  I think the pen puts down a moderately wet line but doesn’t soak the page.  At this time I’m using the Paradise Pens brand ink cartridge in black and it seems to be a perfect combo for now.  The nib seems to have some flex to it.  Or maybe I mean it’s not as stiff as the Japanese nibs.  Although I heard a flex nib can be ordered from Omas as a special order, I doubt it came standard on this pen, being far from the top of the Omas line.  Maybe it’s me and not being use to this pen and we’ll both settle down with more use.

Nice review. I own an Omas Bologna with the palladium trim myself and I really love it: what I immediately liked about it was its matte finish. Are you sure your nib is 18 kt, though? Mine is 14 kt, and that is how the pen is advertised. The moderate nib flexibility you noted should be due to the fact the nib is 14 kt; Omas 18 kt nibs (like the one in my Omas Ogiva) are definitely stiffer.

[greencobra]

Yes, 14 kt, not 18. My error, thanks. I'll correct the review.