A few weeks ago, a Tibaldi Trasparente popped up on eBay and as as I was staring at a case full of pens I rarely used at the time, I made the decision to try to obtain, little by little, costly pens that I'd been drooling over for quite some time. In other words, I decided that a small collection of pens I adored and wanted to use would be more rewarding to me than a larger collection of pens I'd bought mainly because they were blue and fit my collection theme. Thus began the process that saw me sell a few pens in order to buy the Trasparente. The transaction took some time, however, and it looked at one point as though it was going to fall through, so I decided that if the Trasparente fell through, I would buy the Lucens instead. Over time, though, that horrible, evil voice in the back of my head told me to sell off even more pens and buy both, which is what I did. So, without further ado, a review of these two similar, yet very different, pens. By the way, following TNS, I usually assign scores in my reviews, but I'll refrain with these pens.

OMAS Lucens Blue

I'll review this one first, as it ended up being the first one I received. The pen arrived to my campus department address, and little did I realize that I'd have to lug a large and heavy box back to my apartment. I haven't taken pictures, but the presentation of this pen is nothing short of spectacular: a nice outer box that contains a beautiful wooden box, in which is nestled the pen itself, along with a very nice commemorative booklet. OMAS went all out on this edition, as it's an LE intended to celebrate the company's 75th anniversary.

Appearance, design, and finish:
The fit and finish on this pen are worthy of the occasion it's meant to commemorate. The pen itself is not very large: only about 3/4 of an inch longer than a Pelikan M405 and having about the same girth. The pen is also extremely light, even for a celluloid pen. As dupontfan mentioned in his review of the black Lucens, this pen feels delicate, which is not to say that it's fragile; rather, it demands to be cared for and used with a certain degree of reverence (keeping in mind that we're only talking about a pen, of course). As with every other OMAS I've owned, the piston on this pen is a bit stiff, but nothing troublesome. In terms of its design, I have to say that while I appreciate and enjoy the faceted appearance of the Paragon, I particularly like that this is pen is rounded, in the same way that I appreciate the three cap bands as opposed to the Greek key pattern. Now, to the main attraction: the celluloid. As far as the cap is concerned, there's nothing much to say, as the material is OMAS's well known and oft-seen Blue Royale celluloid, though this particular exemplar is a little less purple than the Paragon I sold earlier. The highlight here is not the cap, however, but the body of the pen, which is reminiscent of the beautiful semi-translucent vintage pens that we see pop up every once in a while. Sadly, I was so impatient to fill the pen that I neglected to take a picture of it empty, so you'll have to settle for a picture borrowed from John M:





As you can see, there's a slight yellowish tint to the clear celluloid, which is spotted here and there with stains of a deep blue. The design of the pen allows one to see both the piston mechanism and ink level, even if the pen is not properly speaking a demonstrator.
In terms of feel, this pen feels and handles unlike any pen I've tried. There's a warmth to the celluloid that even my other celluloid pens can't match, and the pen feels like a vintage pen. As already mentioned, the pen is very light, but its medium size (for my hand at least) makes it extremely comfortable for long writing sessions.

A final note on the appearance of the pen: the Lucens Blue comes with gold trim, which I actively dislike. I therefore asked John to replace the two-tone nib with a HT nib in view of getting the gold trim replated eventually, so for now, the pen doesn't match very well. Doesn't bother me one bit, though :-)



Nib design and performance:
What can I say? There are certain advantages to ordering from people like John or Richard, and a nib one can count on is one of them. The nib itself is a very elegant, very simple, vintage-y nib, which I like immensely: OMAS on top, EXTRA on the bottom, with a 750 in a diamond in between. My only gripe with the design: the nib grade is on the side of the nib and is placed a little too close to the "EXTRA" on the top of the nib, but again, not a big deal.
Now, how does it write? I asked John to set the nib up for 8/10 flow and immediate start-up with little to no pressure, and that's exactly what he gave me. The nib itself is a M, but it writes more of a M/F line, and gives a little more feedback than I'm used to from OMAS nibs. All in all, it's a lovely writing experience: dead reliable in terms of start up and flow (hurray for ebonite feeds), smooth yet tactile, pleasurable to write with.

Filling mechanism:
The pen fills via piston, and this pen rectifies one of the few problems I have with the traditional Paragon: an inability to see the amount of ink remaining. Only quibble, and already mentioned: a slightly stiff piston.

It's hard to capture either in words or in pictures the beauty that is this pen. I had think twice, and even thrice, and then think some more, about spending as much on a pen as I did, but I have no regrets whatsoever: this pen instantly became one of my very favorites, if not my favorite. As did the next pen I'll be reviewing here, a Tibaldi Trasparente.


Tibaldi Trasparente

My Tibaldi Impero has always been my favorite pen, so I've always had a high opinion of the second incarnation of Tibaldi. When I saw the Trasparente for the first time, more than a year ago, I knew that I wanted one, but was quickly dissuaded by the cost and scarcity of the pen. Still, when this one became available, I jumped at the opportunity. The pen arrived a little more than a week ago. The packaging itself is fairly non-descript, and there are pictures floating around FPN if you'd like to see it.

Appearance, design, and finish:
Where the Lucens is light and delicate, the Trasparente is a little bigger, a touch heavier, and feels overall very different from the OMAS. Like the Lucens, the Tibaldi features a yellowish plain celluloid, spotted here and there with colored stains. Where the Lucens's stains are dark blue, however, the colors on the Trasparente are blue, but veer toward a greysih green in places. The cap is dark blue with bluish flecks that recall Diamine Prussian Blue to my eye. As with the Impero, the Trasparente feels very solid and well-made: the cap closes securely, while the action on the piston is quite smooth. The section is pleasantly curved and the pen feels very good in the hand. Similarly to the Lucens, the Trasparente has gold trim and three cap bands; like the Lucens, I'm also going to have it replated at some point. Here's a comparison pic featuring the Trasparente, the Lucens, along with an Impero and a Pelikan M405:



Like the Lucens, the Trasparente is a work horse, but in a different way: it's not significantly larger than the Lucens, but feels larger in my hand, perhaps because it's slightly heavier. Where the Lucens feels like the perfect journaling pen, the Trasparente feels like "write 10 pages of lecture notes" pen.
Only quibble, though I'm starting to find it a charming quirk: the bottom half of the barrel, where the piston mechanism is housed, is covered in what looks to be a brownish, yellowish glue, which you can see in this picture:



I've seen this in other Trasparentes, so I don't think it's particular to my pen.

Nib design and performance:
The 2G Tibaldis use the typical Bock nib and feed unit. The downside is that there isn't much to say, the upside is that you can use just about any other Bock nib in the pen. The pen arrived with a gold M nib that was misaligned and dry. I promptly took it out and replaced it with a rhodium-plated Tibaldi nib that Greg Minuskin retipped and reground to a M/F stub. The nib itself is somewhat similar to the OMAS nib: a nicely-scripted Tibaldi on top, with Extra underneath, and 750 enclosed in a diamond underneath that. The stub itself is a delight: wet and smooth, and with just the right amount of variation for my handwriting.





Filling mechanism:
A smooth piston. Like the Lucens, the Trasparente allows one to check the amount of ink left.



Conclusion: I reviewed these pens together not only because I received them around the same time, but because they share much in common, and particularly a reference to vintage Italian pens of old. Though they share this in common, these pens are nevertheless quite different. The Trasparente arrived second, and I think it's suffered a bit in my estimation because of that. That's not to say that it's not a magnificent pen, because it is. But the OMAS is something else entirely, and any pen, I feel, would suffer in comparison. On the whole, I find myself picking up the Lucens more often than not.
Do I regret buying these pens? Not at all. These were two of my grails, and I feel the satisfaction I thought I would in having finally obtained them. This review wasn't intended to convince anyone to buy these pens, as they're quite scarce and very costly. I just wanted to share my love of Italian pens (and as a Frenchman, that hurts to say

PS: I apologize for the poor pics, but I'm stuck with using a cellphone.

Thanks for the reviews and photos.I especially like that Tibaldi.

Jim

Thanks for the long awaited and longed-for review of these two splendid beauties. Being an owner of a Lucens in black, and having seen and held the blue Lucens in the store, I felt that your review exactly spoke my thoughts when I beheld this beauty. I am now thinking of getting a blue Lucens, too (but alas, my bank account puts the kibosh on this endeavor for the time being). Well, the stiff piston is an Omas sickness that befalls all but few of my old-stock pens (mainly from the 90s). Nonetheless, may the piston be rigid, it thankfully never fails to operate and suck in huge portions of ink.

With respect to the Tibaldi, I must say that it resembles the Iride in shape and size very closely. That is a good thing as I think the Iride is a handful and feels wonderful in my hands. I had hoped they would have installed the same piston in the Iride that the Trasparent sports (instead of this cumbersome pump mechanism). The Trasparente's colors are, of course, way different from the Iride's, much more iridescent and more intricate than the Iride's warm brown tones. I love the yellowish-greenish tint of the translucent part, interspersed with blue parts. It is a rare pen, and as such it is much coveted by collectors. One day I need to see one in the flesh.

Enjoy these great pens! In my view, they combine utmost usability with ultimate beauty. May they live long and be held and beheld for many a decade.

So, what's the next pen you want to purchase? The Paragon in saffron blue?

I purchased Extra Lucens Blue in 2002 and after few months The Trasparente Tibaldi.

Two marvelous fountain pens. Two beautiful celluloids.

I prefer Trasparente because it's better finished than Extra Lucens and it's perfectly balanced in my hand.

Wolfgang - I'm being pulled in a couple of different directions, but I'm trying to resist in order to be able to buy a Saffron Blue should one become available. But the Montegrappa Extra keeps calling to me, for some reason, even though I don't particularly like metal sections. I'm also in the market for an Etruria, but there's no rush. And part of me is already thinking about replacing the Blue Royale Paragon I had to sell of in order to buy the Lucens. So many pens...
Also, you're right about the Trasparente/Iride comparison: when I've seen them side by side in photos, they look nearly identical. Having never tried the Iride's filling mechanism, I can't comment on it, but I do like a good piston-filler, as the Trasparente's is.

sailoraff - I agree with you that the Trasparente is perfectly balanced and very well-made, but I don't know that I would say it's better finished than the Lucens. Still, every Tibaldi I've tried simply screamed quality.

Best,
David

I explain my preference: On Tibaldi, the three rings on cap are made of 18kt gold; no oxydation for the clip, instead the greek cap ring and the clip on Omas pen often need to be "cleaned".

Bye!!!

That's definitely true, especially with the HT trim. Every HT OMAS I've ever owned lost its trim within a few weeks, sometimes days, which is unfortunate, to say the least. Best,
David

Thanks for a personable and enjoyable review. Alas! It happens, when you think you've reached a stop on the pen-buying thing, another comes out and here you are desiring to buy it! The exta lucens is a pen, together with the Arco, that I've been checking for a long time. That Tibaldi also looks very desirable. I'm glad you're enjoying both!

It would be tough for me to choose between my Transparente and my Lucens. I like the celluloid of the Lucens a bit better- the clear parts are clearer. And I think it's more refined in its proportions and detailing. But I like the size of the Transparente. I like a beefy pen. And when the light catches it, the blue really glows. I prefer the Omas nib. Mine's a broad, beautifully smooth, wet, and gives some nice character to the line. But then I could always swap my Nagahara stub Tibaldi nib into the Transparente....

I can definitely say that I prefer the Lucens Omas to the Extra Lucens. While I love faceted pens, and the black/gold celluloid on my Extra is pretty cool, and it's got a killer Mottishaw fine italic, the Lucens just appears more refined. I like the triple thin cap bands, and the more simple, vintage looking bib engraving. And unlike the Extra, it's proven very resistant to staining. But that may be a function of the inks I use in the Extra...

-Doug