I'm considering investing $650 for a Christmas present to myself: a new Omas Arte Italian Paragon, the one with the vermeil section, gold trim.

I would be interested to hear from existing owners of this big pen. How good a pen is it? Smooth writer? Efficient piston filler? Any oddities? Reliability? How does it compare to a MB or Pelikan?

Thanks!

I'd like to know too, as I'm a pathetic, drooling wanna-be owner of this pen, which i think is a total knock-out! Not only do they have it in black, they now have it in arco brown too!!!

I just can't stretch my budget any tighter

Petra

Do you have a pic? I thought, the current Arco is a different, round shaped model.

I believe the nib is great - but that metal section; currently this nuisance is fashionable

I don't own one of these things, and in all probability I won't own one until several millennia after the sun goes cold. I've handled a couple, and when I compare the new model to the old, I find the new one wanting. A lot. It is oversized. It is heavy. It is fat. It is poorly balanced. The Paragon has a slippery metal section (but the Milord, a second-class version because of its less ostentatious size, does not). It is visually unappealing. (The clip is just plain silly.) It does not write as well as the older Arte Italiana pens. And it is obscenely expensive. In sum, it is in every respect a symbol not of Omas the pen company but of Omas the arm of LVMH and panderer to the status conscious.

Sorry if this is brutal, but you asked for opinions, and you gotta believe I have one on this!

Usually I try to refrain from playing "pile-on" but calling that clip silly is being rather kind, Richard! Close-ups of the cap band at nibs.com reveal how poorly crafted it is in comparison to the the previous version. "Laser-engraved, just like your bowling ball!"

Poor Omas!

Dan

I've not used this pen, but my advice (from experience with the Rotring Initial) is not to buy any pen with a metal section without trying it for a fair time. It's amazing how much metal can vary in grippiness with the finish, and how a pen that seems perfect when used briefly can become a scream prooking irritation when used at length.

It is very pretty though! (Have you thought of picking up a Doric off ebay? They're the inspiration for all of these faceted Italian pen, and the Paragon especially looks very similar.)

I recently purchased one of these -- the version with the silver trim -- and find it to be a fine writer, well-balanced (without the cap posted -- with the cap posted, the pen is simply gigantic and more than a bit top-heavy), with the familiar Omas nib and feed and an all-metal-construction piston filling system that is much smoother than the old Paragon (which was notoriously sticky). Also, it holds a ton of ink. Yes, it's a big "statement" pen, and yes, it's expensive, but I think it improved upon the biggest shortcoming of the old Paragon (that sticky piston) while retaining many of its virtues (first among them, the great nib and feed).

If you don't like the size and heft of the big one (and the metal section does make the pen rather heavy, which I know from Richard's website is not his taste in pens), the "Milord" size is probably a better choice -- it's closer to the size of the old regular-size version of the Paragon. It's also cheaper.

One additional comment on the metal section: it's always covered with fingerprints. If you're a neat-freak, be prepared to wipe it down all the time.

Thanks for that tip!

At nibs.com they compare both models side by side ... the new Paragon has "48 grams, rather than 19 grams" of weight what I like a lot on my 1995 celluloid Paragon is its fantastic light weight.

Does this mean that the classic Paragon is no longer being made? That would be a pity.

Yes, they killed it . Now the new monster is called Paragon.

Mottishaw looks to have the old style in stock.

All Omas pens (with the possible exception of the Ogiva) are obscenely expensive, so what's new? <_<

And I'm puzzled by your comments about size and weight - some people actually prefer big, heavy pens. The heft fills the hand and gives stability to the writer, and the metal section may not be slippery to everyone. It depends how you hold the pen, to a great extent. One other thing that surprised me was your comment about the pen not being as good a writer as the old Paragon - can anyone else confirm that?

In regard to the writing characteristics, Richard may be referring to the fact that when LVMH bought Omas in 2000, the nib manufacture was outsourced to Bock, Germany.

Previously, Omas manufactured their own nibs, and while there were QC issues then, apparently the new mass-manufactured nibs have a rather different character and a few issues of their own.

Also, Omas nibs do run wide and wet, the original ones did, and so do the new ones. The F nibs on my early (1993, 1994) Omas Celluloids are quite huge.

Hopefully others with more modern Omas experiences will post more.

Aren't fountain pens getting silly, as mechanical watches have gone for the most part? At least we can look to some real advances (co-axial movements, new metals) in watches. There is a reason that the classics, e.g. Parker 51, were as they were manufactured. What advance does this pen, for such an enormous amount of money, offer over others half its price? This is what I view as a 'jewelry' pen. Nothing wrong with that if it's your taste. Just seems a way to poop off money.

Well, according to nibs.com Omas medium nibs are narrower than Pelikan mediums, which in turn are narrower than MB mediums. I don't think Omas nibs are particularly wide - they are certainly narrower than Delta ones.

I didn't know about the outsourcing to Bock, but Bock nibs have a great reputation, so that shouldn't be an issue.

High end pens are expensive, that's true, but a lot of the price is to do with the brand. Pelikans are not very expensive (limited editions apart), but some brands like Omas remain resolutely unaffordable. A lot of this is due to marketing BS, rather than real value, and I suspect it's the same for mechanical watches. I recently bought an excellent German mechanical watch of 35 jewels, with a completely unknown brand name, for $200. A Swiss watch of the same spec, with a well known name, would have cost at least 10 times as much!

Prices on the secondary market for Omas are surprisingly low. If I was going to pay full retail, I'd buy it from a nibmeister so I'd at least have some confidence that any QC issues would be resolved before it came to me. There is little more annoying than paying a lot of money for a pen that is not in perfect working order.

My Omas F is very broad, broader than most of my medium nibs. My Omas F is about as fat as my Pelikan Go!, which I view as a quite fat medium.

Well, since you brought it up...

The ease and freedom with which a pen can be used are inversely proportional to the pen's weight. The following exemplar was written with a pen weighing about 8 grams:



Yes, this is the product of considerable practice as an adult; but the norm 100 years ago was that children were trained to do a simplified version of this in elementary school. By the time I was in elementary school, Palmer was the standard. We were taught using pens that weighed about 10 grams including a metal cap.

A heavy pen may be cool for flourishing occasionally and for dashing off a short note or a signature, but anyone who writes all day long every day will tell you that a heavy pen will ineluctably cause fatigue and a concomitant deterioratio of legibility. If heavy pens were better for general writing, don't you think the pens of the Golden Age would be heavier? My Parker "51", with a sterling cap, weighs 21 grams. Without the cap, which is the way I use it, it weighs 11 grams. My brand-new Bexley Simplicity Jade SE weighs 21 grams with cap and 12 without. These pens are a pleasure to write with.

For those who like the feel of a big pen, I'll point out here that a pen need not be heavy just because it's big; the Bexley Prometheus weighs 29 grams with its cap.

A Sailor 1911 for £60 isn't expensive. But £150 for an M600, or £300 for an M1000?

I have a Paragon grey high tech, all resin, and although it is true that the piston is a bit reluctant (I wouldnt call it sticky, but this is all subjective, and I dont have an stickyometer with me), the pen has the right size, it is amazingly light in the hand, the resin is very warm and nice and the nib is smooth, big, beautiful and lives a wet line any time with no hesitation. It is a joy writing with it. From the picture above, I'd say the old one is a better deal all around.

There is no way I'd pay list prices for any pen, including a Pelikan ( a brand I dislike, incidentally). Check Pelikan prices at Pengallery - that is what I would pay.

Hi,

There was an article in Stylophiles on-line magazine. Link below.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mary



http://www.stylophilesonline.com/11-05/11par.htm

About a year ago I was lusting after a Paragon, and when I saw that the old classic design was being phased out in favor of the new and (in my opinion) bulky design, I snatched up an old one from Classic Fountain Pens with a custom broad stub nib. The OMAS broad is about equivalent (maybe a hair wider) than my Pelikan's medium nib. I tend to write small and hate nibs that are too broad for standard letter writing, and the OMAS broad (customized to a stub) is a pleasure to use as a daily writer in my fountain pen rotation. Yes, it was expensive, but hopefully I will pass this one along to my grandkids one day (a long ways off, considering I don't have children yet).

As for the "new" Paragon, I think it looks terrible. I dislike pens with metal sections as I think they add unnecessary weight, plus I just plain don't like the look of it. The redesigned clip and the absence of the classic Greek-style gold bands take away from the timeless look of the previous version. If I were buying one today and couldn't find a decent used example I would probably opt for the Milford size, just to avoid the metal section.

-Mike

I'm getting rather tired of this bitching and moaning about metal sections etc.

I'm going to buy a new Paragon oversize - just to spite you all! I think the new Paragon is an imposing and powerful pen. Other pens like the Visconti Van Gogh have metal sections and I don't read as much bitching with these.

I don't like the Visconti Van Gogh either, or the Montegrappa 1930, because of the metal section. Slippery things, and they feel cold and they don't conduct the tactile feedback I like from writing. Blech!

Definitely the old Paragon for me. That is, if I were inclined to own an Omas at all.

I agree with that. The new paragon is a POWER pen. No question about it. Superman could own one

I recently tried the new version of the "junior" Paragon, the Omas Milord. It was a piston fill.

On another post, I recently wrote:

"I had originally tried the Omas Arte d'Italia Milord (new model) medium, the Omas 360 fine, and the Aurora Optima fine.

Loved the way the Milord wrote, really smooth, liked the feel of the Aurora the least (but preferred the shorter size). Bought the Milord.

Wrote with the Milord at work, found it really, really wet...you need a blotter to function with it. I have another wet pen (Bexley Grande Submariner with the 1.8 mm stub nib) and the Milord was WAY wetter. Then, I found that the Milord ran out of ink in one day. No surprise, as it was leaving a 3-dimensional line of ink wherever I wrote."

I didn't feel the Milord was worth the $400 discounted price. There was nothing special about it to excite me...the nib wrote smoothly (very) but wasn't especially beautiful to behold. The resin body was just black and plastic-y looking. The grip lacked the Omas band design, it was just a simple gold band. But in the end what I didn't like was the sloppy wet flow that depleted the pen within a day's writing.

In my impression the new paragon is THE pen for Arnie the Governator

Meanwhile, you started this thread asking for opinions, and you got them. So what's the problem?

By all means, if the pen appeals to you, then go and buy it, and enjoy!

Nobody here is going to think less of you for doing so--some of my best friends have also gotten one.

I ordered the Paragon today from Novelli of Rome, as neither Oscar Braun nor Pengallery stock Omas pens.

The proof of the pudding will be in the eating, as they say.

Hi, I am considered a newbie here. I read almost all threads on OMAS fountain pens for I find their pens quite unique. Not sure about why people complained about metal sections. I am writing with a Yard-O-led pocket fountain pen and it is all metal (sterling silver) and I do not find it cold and love the joy of polishing sterling silver. I also have an St Dupont Orpheo and is plastic and the feel in between the two is just about the same in terms of warmness. I guess the most important thing is the balance in your hand. The metal section in OMAS near the nib is perhaps where the weight and balance should be. I do tend to concur with some comments about the bulkiness of the new OMAS. I personally do not like too big a pen. If you take off the cap and write without posting, there is really not much different between the new and the old in terms of making a statement. The old OMAS is even more obvious with the Greek design. I recently bought two OMAS, one is the new Bologna dark blue and the other is the old Milford Arte Italiana piston filled. The old Milford is to be discontinued and will be a classic. The price right now is so low it is irresitable. I have not gotten them yet but when the come, perhaps I will write a review. With the price of one new OMAS I can own too and one is a classic, I think I made a right decision.

2cents

I have both the old and the new Paragon. The nibs on both are fantastic, although not the same. The old has the advantage of being a more attractive looking pen, but that advantage is offset by its lightness and a piston filling mechanism that is very difficult to use due to its stiffness. The new has the advantage of a smooth-turning piston filling mechanism and greater overall weight, but it is not as attractive looking a pen. Bring back the cap bands with the Greek keys!

The more posts that I read on FPN, the more I realize that so much of pen enjoyment is subjective. You really can't make "objective" comments other than quality control issues.

I own several pre 2005 celluloid paragons and a 2005 Bronze Arco Milord. They are all great pens and I'm not sure that the newer model is different nibwise than the pre 2005. The new Milord is certainly different from the old Paragons in looks. It is a fatter pen but the bronze celluloid is beautiful and it is a great writer as well. I'm not partial to metal sections on any pen and I can't handle very large pens including the Pelikan 1000. Sorry for the pun but different strokes for different folks. I do think that Omas should not have discontinued the old Paragons and should have just introduced the new model in addition to the old.

I'm not sure i agree here.Omas pens might have a higher retail but most of the time one can buy online or even new on marketplace sites for a fraction of the retail.I have never paid more than $250 for any of my new Omas pens.One just needs to dig a little and be patient.
As far as marketing,that goes without saying.If one wants to sell,advertising is essential.Wouldn't you do the same?I think most would.Otherwise,why be in business?
Another thing to consider is resell value.Omas pens almost always have a great resell value.Same with IWC,Rolex,Mercedes-Benz,BMW,etc,etc.
Name can mean everything. Limited editions aside,most middle and low end pens have negligible resell capabilities.

Just my humble views.

As for the Omas post-2005 pens:I have one,that being the Arco milord brown and it is wonderful!!!

Jim

I own the new Arte Italiana Paragon, it is one of the best writers I have ever had.

I think Jim hit the nail on the head: Shopping for price and style is key. I would no sooner spend more than $250 for most Omas varieties than I would spend more than $175 for a Pelikan M600 or similar. And those prices in a new pen can be found. I have resigned myself to the fact that, as far as QC, some tweaks may be required regardless of price. I am as frustrated by the "luxury" brand marketing as most on the board, but I have to say the Omas Arco Brown milord or the Montblanc Kafka are calling my name - I may be breaking that $250 mark before long. Never say never, I guess.

Hi, I couldn't agree with Jim more. $250 is the max I would spend on any fountain pen, albeit limited edition. It is also the brand name. I chose OMAS over Sailor because of resale value. I have heard good things about Sailor NIbs, but, hey, it is just like an ORIS to a Seiko mechanical watch, which one would you choose?

2cents

I write my drafts long hand, and some days--good days--I write about ten letter-sized pages. I tried using heavier pens, and after two or three pages, my hand gets crumpled, and my handwriting begins to unravel. Lighter pens, on the other hand, make the writing much easier and consistent. I also found that some feedback helps a great deal.

Dont be sorry for chooing Omas over Sailor.Omas nibs are in my eyes far far superiour to the Sailor nibs.As I said before Sailor nibs are super smooth but has a spongy feeling and dont conect me to the paper,they simply bore me.Omas nib on the other hand is just as smooth as Sailor BUT it conect me to the paper in a way I never felt by any other maker (yet).