Here are mine capped and uncapped. Please show us yours.




Omas Autunno RB and FP
Omas Cristoforo Colombo II FP (old Paragon in briarwood)
Omas Paragon Snakewood FP (transitional style)
Omas (new) HT Arco Paragon FP
Omas Spina di Pesce FP and RB (arco celluloid 30 piece experimental LE in old style Bologna design)
Omas Galileo Galilei FP and BP
Omas 360 Wilde FP

Aurora Optima blue and green auraloide FPs and BPs
Stipula 22 FP (old style)
Tibaldi Iride FP and MP
Visconti Novelli Augusta FP

Some of them withstood modifications by John Mottishaw. The Colombo and the Galileo FPs had their clips replaced with roller-type clips. The Spina di Pesce FP had its 18k one tone boring yellow gold nib - the same as on the Autunno - swapped for a wonderful Bologna nib - the one with the engraving of the porticoes - which matches better this old style Bologna pen design. I will not mention regrinds. Also I added a piece of string around the Spina di Pesce RB clip so I could tell it apart from the FP when clipped inside my pocket.

Great pens! Now that I have seen that you had the clip on the Galileo replaced, I am considering the same thing. I want to have a HT roller clip. Looks so much fancier than the original clip!

Love those wilds!

Beautiful collection!

Lining up those three wild celluloids together like that is dangerous ... thought I had fallen into another dimension there for a second!

What a gorgeous collection, Rob! It puts mine to shame, that's for sure. Mine consists of an Omas that's still at the factory, a Stipula 22 that's identical to yours, and an Aurora Style that's yet to arrive (maybe today).

Thanks for your comments. I prefer the roller-type clips as well (John sells them for $20), but don't forget to ask John to mail you back the old style clip as well, just in case you change your mind :-) The wild or Galileo pattern is my favorite one, quite dramatic without being flashy or tacky. The wild will be the first thing catching your eye when entering a room with such a pen on a desk. Conway Stewart came up with this terrific pattern (cracked ice they called it) in the 30s if I'm not mistaken. Too bad they don't use it again in their modern pens (well I don't consider the painted metal ones authentic cracked ice). Omas has taken it to another level.

Show us pictures of your pens.

RedRob, just today I had decided that, months of choosing notwithstanding, I just really did not need a new pen. (More a type of paralysis caused by indecision between a replacement Optima in Auroloide and an 88, which, alas, does not come in that finish.) But then you have to go and post such purty pictures! Your pens are beautiful; you have a fantastic collection.

You also have a beautiful table. The wood under the cases in your original post is very nice.

My italian pens are:
Ancora Perla M
Artena Ferrari 1, B
Aurora Idea F
Aurora 88 F
Aurora Magellano M
Montegrappa White Unknown F
Montegrappa Siusi F
Omas Extra 620 M
Omas Nazareno Gabrielli F
Stipula Vedo 5, F
Stipula 22 Titanium B
Stipula Novecento Cromo Italic 1.1
Stipula La 91 0,9
Stipula L.E. Melozzo degli Ambrogi
Visconti Opera Club M

As soon as possible I will post some pics of all of them.

Ok, let's show my beauties

OMAS:

Let's start with a still not complete serie of vest pokets: from left are some Extras, Extra Lucens and Lucens


A mint new old stok Omas Lucens in the box


A 556/s in gray celluloid




AURORA:
Safeties:


An OS Superna with FIAT logo on the cap, in the box


A couple of Supernas Mid size and OS in burgundy:


An OS Novum


COLUMBUS:

A OS button filler:


WILLIAMSON:

A safety:


ANCORAs

Beautiful collections!!!

Wow! That's pretty impressive, isn't? Congratulations for this amazing collection. How long did you take to put it toghether?

I'm just impressed by the mixed quality / background of the pics: did you take them by yourself? Sorry for asking, I'm just curious.

Thanks for sharing.

Ciao,

Wow, that OS Novum is really mouthwatering.

Thanks!
Well, these pens have been collected thruogh the last 15 years.... and also the pics (all by me) reflect the improvement in digital skills and cameras!

Thanks for posting these amazing photos Roberto. I have seen some of them before on Pentrace but it is always fantastic to see your gorgeous collection.

Nikolaos

some really nice collections
I just own a 1997 Omas 360 magnum, a 2002 Omas 360 Colonial anda 2005 Arte Italiana Paragon

I have a Galileo and have always wanted a roller clip on it. Who is this "John" that can replace it?
Thanks, greg

Hi, Greg. That would be John Mottishaw: Nibs.com

No affiliation, just a very satisfied customer. Best,
David

Thanks cellulophile. I'll give John Mottishaw a holler.
Thanks, greg

I was going to take a picture then realized there were two I couldn't find. Grrr. One's been "in hiding" for some time; the other I was using just a day or two ago.

Wow, Roberto that's truly a stunning collection. My first thought was, "that must have taken A LOT of time and care to put such a collection together." ... then I scrolled down where you say it took 15 years! All I can say is congratulations!

The OS Novum gets my vote, too: absolutely love the gold veining running through the celluloid -- I wish there was more celluloid like that out there. Kind of reminds me of the Mont Blanc Alexander the Great (not celluloid of course, but it does have that gold veining), but the Novum carries off the effect much more beautifully.

Back to subject....


Show us your Italians!


Come on, get the camera out.

Aurora Mare, which I've had for five years. It's never been inked, but I'll fix that real soon.

Nettuno Barracuda, possibly my first genuine Sumgai since I got this on clearance from Bittner for $139 and the retail was $695.

Stipula Da Vinci Infinity, purchased from Weaver right before he shut his site off (hopefully only temporarily).

Stipula Saturno, purchased from Susanna at pens.it.

Visconti Swisher Van Gogh, purchased off the Marketplace.

The sole ballpoint, a Visconti Wall Street.

Missing are an Aurora Ipsilon in teal and a "still hiding" Omas 360 Mezzo in purple.

More and bigger pictures in my fountain pens' collection site (see signature).

Ancora Perla Blue-Grey Lim Ed ST M


Artena Ferrari Red B


Aurora 88 First Serie Black CT F


Aurora Idea Silver Cap Black ST F


Aurora Magellano Black Matte GT M


Montegrappa Siusi Green Black GT F


Montegrappa White GT F


Omas Extra 620 Blue GT M


Omas Nazareno Gabrielli GT F


Stipula 22 Titanium Black GT B


Stipula La 91 Black CT Italic 0.9


Stipula Melozzo degli Ambrogi aka "da Forlì" Limited Edtition 14/120 ST M


Stipula Novecento Cromo Black Ebonite Limited Edition 58/88 ST Italic 1.1


Stipula Vedo Turquoise Blue CT F


Visconti Opera Club Summertime Yellow CT M


Vintage Columbus Extra21


Vintage Radius Superior

Thanks!

That color is really amazing. I also have the lady size Novum in the same color and I had (and then sold it to an american collector) an OS Ancora button filler, in the original box, with the exact same celluloid.

88, Midi, Talentum and Maxi

We have nice italian pens, but your photos are better than mine. Hope to find time to shot better artistic pics. By now I preferred to shot the pens for archivial purpose and web show.

Hi Netnemo. Beautiful pens. Can you tell me what is different about the Cromo LE? I have the non-LE version (didn't even know there was a LE) but can't see any difference other than the xx/88 engraving.

This one:

Regards, greg

Hi Greg,
Thank you for the compliments.
I cut and paste the "Giardino Italiano" description:
Being a model of Novecento family, this beautiful pen recalls the 1920's elegance and clean shape. Each pen is turned from solid bars of black ebonite and hand polished to an incomparable luster, with final bands in olive green stripped ebonite. Sterling silver clip and rings.

I put in evidence what I think makes the real difference.

Regards,

I received a note that pointed out that my Nettuno is actually a Nautilus. I knew that, I just typed it wrong. The Barracuda is a funky little square pen.

Old and new:

Finally this saturday I found time to shoot all my italians at once.

I divide them in two groups:
- moderns




By aKal


- Omas 360 Vision Amber Clear. The biggest of them all. Well this is not mine. I'm keeping it for a short time. It's a long story, to make it short, let's say it was a wrong delivery... Never inked
- Delta DolceVita Medium. Fat and flashy, perfect writer. Just too flashy to bring it to work...
- Visconti Van Gogh Maxi. Big and sturdy, too young to have been in rotation...
- Omas Milord. The perfect worker, good size, color and nib. Just a pity for the ACS system...


- Vintage:

By aKal



- A88P
- A88K
- A88 Silver Cap
- A88K with 88P BP (pure frankepen, if someone has a spare 88K cap then is welcomed!)
- Auretta red
- Auretta green
- Forever (50's no model name)
- Royal (1948)

Out of the group are my two 20s "gold filled" babies, the Columbus and the Magus, for which I had already published pics.

Ciao a tutti!

Hi All

Ok, finally I manage to take a couple of quick pictures of my Italians. I apologize in advance for the photo quality, I’ll promise to improve. A couple of OMAS are missing from the picture. One 360 on pearl-gray celluloid was stolen from my luggage in Mexico City airport, when you travel OUT from Mexico (international fly) please take all your expensive-small things with you (cameras, perfumes, gold, fountain pens etc). The second one is on its way to MA, I will share BETTER picts in the future.


Ok, from left.

1.- OMAS Milord Arco (new style) F nib
2.- OMAS Ogiva Guilloche, M nib.
3.- Aurora Nobile, F nib.
4.- Aurora Talentum, M nib.
5.- Aurora 88 (modern), OM (factory) nib
6.- Aurora Primavera Italic M (custom) nib
7.- Aurora Optima, M nib, I trade this one with a very nice fellow from the FPN
8.- Stupula Etruria d’Inverno 90/399, 1.1 nib
9.- Stipula Etruria Alter Ego, 1.3 nib
10.- Stupula 991-like 001/391, B nib
11.- Stipula Saturno, OBB nib (factory)
12.- Stipula Cromo-like, #1727, B nib


Click to view attachment


On the second pict

1.- Visconti Copernicus, M nib, also found here in the FPN
2.- Tibaldi Modello 60, B nib
3.- Tibaldi Iride, 0622, B nib


Click to view attachment

About the 991 and the Cromo like pens, well, its a strange story, I think Stipula likes to make more pens or maybe they make some non LE editions....well I’ll post some extra photos and some comments about those in the future.

Ok Very best and take out the camera!

Ricardo

Some of my italians, hey I only own italian pens !
First pic: Omas Arco Bronze: the holy grail pen for me
& Omas 30 anos de paz y democracia: this one is the smoothest writer, heavy pen entirely made of solid silver
Second pic: ELMA by Montegrappa-Elmo (vintage from 1935) with a touch of flex in the nib: a wonderful writer
I have a vintage Omas in the pipe line, will show it next week !

I adore this set, but it was on consignment and would not fit my collection. These were from one single collector with all matching numbers. Eventually I ended up break up the set and sold them. Well, I did "own" them for a short period of time.

Aurora Verdi set:
















Kevin

I have posted my Italians before in the Pen Photography section. Here is the link!

I see where you got your nick from.

Not a very artsy photo, but here's my current set (less two I didn't gather up) [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/muhe-e/2243108319/]with bigger picture here[/img]:



Aurora Ipsilon in Teal
Aurora Ipsilon in Black/Silver
Aurora Mare LE
Marlen Nature Series in Evergreen
Nettuno 1911 LE
Nettuno Nautilus LE
Omas 360 Mezzo in Violet (in hiding)
Omas Milord HT in Grey
Stipula 22 in Dove Grey (titanium nib)
Stipula Davinci Infinity
Stipula Novecento Blue Ebonite BP
Stipula Novecento Blue Ebonite LE
Stipula Saturno
Visconti Millenium Arc in Blue LE
Visconti Van Gogh Maxi in Ocean Blue (not in photo)
Visconti Van Gogh Maxi Swisher (Laguna Verde) LE
Visconti Van Gogh Mini Bittner (Yellow) RB LE
Visconti Van Gogh Midi in Sandal (upper left)
Visconti Wall Street Blue BP (upper right)
Visconti Traveling Ink Pot in pink

Just took delivery this morning of a Stipula Silvestre Lega LE and had to take some photos quick!! I'll post my other Italians next week.

Apologies for the French pen at the bottom - a Man 100 for size comparison - it's the only pen I have with me today.

Okay, here are just the Omas pens...at least as of today.

Bill

Some of my Italians...

Nice pens, girlieg! How do you like the lapis Voyager Anniversary?

Here's my small collection. I don't own many anymore, but I try to make 'em count.


OMAS Vecchietti, Tibaldi Impero, Aurora Optima


Tibaldi Trasparente, Delta Moresi, OMAS Vecchietti, OMAS Paragon, OMAS Lucens

Apologies for the poor phone photos. Best,
David

Good eye! I had a feeling that you would be the one who would catch it. I love the Lapis Blue Anniversary Voyager. It was going to be my test pen for Baystate Blue (still trying to stun omasfan).

I admire your collection for its focus. By the way, I nearly went for the Omas Extra Lucens Blue from John Mottishaw. Jonathan Goss and I traded a few emails about it, and I was going to bite the bullet. However, I figured at that price, I could get 2 of my Grails: the Omas Bronze Arco and Saffron Blue. Every time I kick myself for not getting the Extra Lucens Blue, all I have to do is pick up either Omas in my hand and I feel better. But still... It would have been nice to have that one.

No, I totally understand your desire to fill the cheapest of your pens with this meritorious ink. Better, bathe the Voyager in a slowly heated baystate blue bath (BBB) and pickle it in good old fashion until it reaches a more consistent color.
Honestly, the two Voyagers are probably my two favorite pens that Visconti ever produced. I have not seen many pen makers take up these rarely seen celluloid colors, the lapis and the coral red. I also love the old clip design and everything else about the Voyager. Joon has a two Voyagers left, I gather, one of which is a RB with lots of corrosion around the grip section, the other one is a fountain pen with a broken-off clip. Despite the shortcoming on the latter, they were not willing to sell it to me for a really reasonable price, so I did not pick it up. I think the FP was blue lapis. David, if you want it, you might call them and then get a good deal on it. However, you will have to send that thing to Italy in order to get it repaired. I don't know if it is worth the effort and if they will even do it for free or charge you a ransom that makes the acquisition of this pen an infelicitous deision in the first place.

Kate, did I mention that you have a BIIIIIIG and BEAUTIFUL collection of Italian pens? That by itself is stunning. I don't want to know how many pens you own altogether. I'd probably faint and swoon...

David, excellent celluloids. I've recently come to decide that it is better to have only a few pens which I truly like. One eliminates the torturing process of chosing that happens every time one needs to pick the next pens for rotation.

Didn't you say you bought your saffron from Novelli? Now it says Vecchietti! Or was Novelli able to procure the Vecchietti pen for you? That is indeed interesting as one should assume that Vecchietti distribute their 80 some anniversary pens exclusively.

Hi, Wolfgang. I got the pen from Marco, but it was produced for Vecchietti's 80th anniversary. How Marco got a hold of one, I know not and did not ask . Plausible deniability and all that. I had sent him an email about the pen, expecting him to tell me that I should contact Vecchietti directly, which I'd already done. To my surprise, he wrote back to tell me that he'd ordered one for me. Yet another reason to love Novelli.
Best,
David

Selfishly (I think I got John's last piece), I'm glad you decided to go for the two Paragons rather than the Lucens. It's become one of my favorites, in terms of both form and performance. Wolfgang will chide me for the heresy, but I think I've come to like OMAS's rounded pens more than I do the Paragon, though I also love the latter. Still, the Arco and Saffron are really, really nice "compensation," as you point out.
And if you ever decide you simply must rid yourself of the Voyager, I suppose I could be persuaded to do you a favor and take it off your hands .

Thanks! Coming from you that's a huge compliment because I covet your collection. As far as how many pens I have altogether, much too many at this point. I won't say the actual number, but I need to thin the herd, so to speak, and I don't know where to begin... I wish mine was as focused as David's. I'm trying to simplify, and I like the notion of having only a few so I know which ones to use regularly in rotation. The problem is, I feel disloyal selling any of my pens. My last purchase by the way was a Graf von Faber-Castell -- so not Italian, but wonderful nonetheless. I bought it after reading a review you wrote up back in 2005 or 2006, I think. I'm now officially on a pen-buying moratorium. We'll see how long it'll last.

After seeing your own collection, and seeing how nicely you keep your pens and enjoy each one, I would simply give it to you if I ever dare to think of selling it. I promise...

Man, you guys put me in the dust. You all have some jaw dropping, kick butt Italian collections. When I ever get a big boy camera or learn how to photograph with what I have, I'd like to share mine too. I'll just have to make extra JELL-O I guess.