Omas 1453 The Conquest Of Istanbul

[ftnpenlover]

1453 The Conquest of Istanbul

 

I was lucky enough to get one of the first Istanbul pens from Omas. One of my favorite brands to write with everyday and also collect, moreso than Montblanc.

 

This is not a full review, as I acquired this pen for my collection and at this time rather have it on display in my Curio instead of writing with it.

 

What I can say from touching and feeling it is that it is very much in line with Omas Quality. It is very well balanced, but is on the heavy side.

 

I think the beauty of the pictures say more than words! Enjoy

 

Nib:

18 Kt Gold

 

Body & Cap:

Sterling Silver w/ Gold & Black Enamel

 

Weight:

Due to the metal in this pen, it has some weight to it, but it still feels balanced in my hand.

 

Filling System:

Piston Fill

 

Price:

$3,995 (retail)

 

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[pkoko]

Work of art

 

This is too nice of a pen to write with IMHO. This is probably the best looking LE pen that I have seen in a while.

[ftnpenlover]

Thanks. It really is too nice to write with...I thougt about writing with it in the future, but probably never will. I don't want to chance anything happening to it

[abosco56]

It is really a beauty... : :clap1:

 

Since I've started reading your posts about OMAS, I am close to try one out.

 

What would you recommend for a start ? I really like XF, fine lines not too wet for everyday writing...and I like classic look... Not too expensive, just one, for a low budget fountain pen lover...

 

 

 

Pictures :clap1: :clap1: :clap1:

[Brian]

This is a fine example of pen as art and pen as scepter...isn't it fun to contemplate this kind of purchase before jumping in with both feet! Congratulations and hope you one day decide to ink it and take it for a spin.

[akrishna59]

a unique pen indeed. the section is long enough so that the 'step' will not hurt your fingers while holding it.

 

a worthwhile purchase, by all means and an object of art to be cherished. i would have inked it and used it with great care if i had it, but i can understand your feelings.

 

rgds.

 

krishna.

[ftnpenlover]

I really like the way it resembles a canon. Normally I do not this type of pen, but it was just too nice to pass up!

[watch_art]

You have it posted in one of the pictures. Does it feel at all secure while holding it like this? Or does it seem like it would fall off with just one quick flourish? Does it snap on?

[Nonsensical]

I was reading along happily, scrolled down to at the pretty pictures, scrolled back up and saw the price . WHOA. Nice pen!

[IWantThat]

Gorgeous!

[Flounder]

Each to his own! Quite horrid. Also, someone at Omas needs to open a history book - it was Constantinople that was conquered.

[Dark_Severus]

This pen is an amazing work of art. As a devotee of OMAS I have to commend them on the design and finish. True, if I owned this pen, I would probably never ink it.

 

Each to his own! Quite horrid. Also, someone at Omas needs to open a history book - it was Constantinople that was conquered.

 

 

Istanbul is the Turkish name for Constantinople. Its the same city. If you want to go by historic names then Istanbul was known as Byzantium even before it got the Constantinople tag.

[Flounder]

Nope - it is a matter of historical record that Constantinople was conquered, in 1453, and many hundreds of years later was renamed Istanbul. To then name this pen "1453 the Conquest of Istanbul" is erroneous.

[Dark_Severus]

Nope - it is a matter of historical record that Constantinople was conquered, in 1453, and many hundreds of years later was renamed Istanbul. To then name this pen "1453 the Conquest of Istanbul" is erroneous.

 

Here is the quote from our favourite source Wikipedia in the article on Constantinople -

"Since at least the tenth century, the city was commonly referred to as Istanbul which derives from the Greek Istimbolin, meaning "in the city" or "to the city". After the Ottoman conquest of 1453, the official name of Constantinople was retained in official documents and coinage. Not until the creation of the Republic of Turkey did the Turkish government formally object to the name, and ask that others use the more common name for the city."

 

So while the official name was Constantinople, Istanbul was the more common name, used by most people, and so IMHO no error has been committed on the part of OMAS. In any case what does it matter? This pen is a thing of beauty.

[georges zaslavsky]

Omas Masterpiece are always amazingly finished and beautiful congrats on th pen

Edited June 13, 2011 by georges zaslavsky

[ftnpenlover]

Sorry everyone, I was away. The picture I have this posted, it really does not seem like it is designed to be posted. It fits tight, but I would be afraid to write with it if it was inked as I would worry that the top would fall off and damage.

[noCartridges]

Thanks to ftnpenlover for sharing.

 

Thanks to Dark_Severus for providing some common sense. I cannot speak in reference to Flounder as I do not personally know this individual, BUT as an ethnic Turk born & educated in the United States I can tell you that American history teachers seek to minimize any mention of the Turks in history. Both of my high school European History teachers AND my European History professor in college referred to current-day Istanbul and current-day Izmir by their Greek names. The college professor even skipped so much of the interaction between the Turks and Europeans that, during a lecture when she mentioned the Battle of Lepanto as marking the end of Turkish domination of the Mediterranean, a student asked "Who are the Turks?" I have many other humorous examples, but I'll stop here since this is not a history forum.

 

As for the pen, there is an impressive amount of detailing and it has a kind of rugged, serious 'look' that befits commemoration of a seminal battle in history. However, I cannot warm up to such an expensive piece that has a plain black body. Right now, I am in Istanbul and read an article on this pen a few days ago while having tea at the patisserie of the Pera Palas Hotel (yeah, that hotel where the Orient Express passengers stayed). Apparently, there are several editions, the number of copies of each signifying either the date (29), the month (5), or the year (1453) of the conquest. The magazine's name was "Luxury in Istanbul" but the article is not online.

 

An aside: A few years ago, I bought a Visconti "Turkish Republic" limited edition (1923 copies) FP made at the request of the distributor to help launch the brand into the market. Based on the Rembrandt, it is more basic (and much cheaper) than this, but the coloring of the body & cap make its appearance a little more interesting. I'll post pictures once I return home.

[jiraltan]

Istanbul may have been referred to as "Istanbul" by the Ottomans, but pretty much every printed reference used by Europeans and North Americans continued to call it "Constantinople" until the Turkish Republic was founded. I'm not sure how long "Qustantiniya" survived in Arabic, the most widely spoken language in the Middle East and in the Ottoman Empire.

 

Lots of places in the Middle East (like Syria or Palestine) still use their Greek name in European languages rather than local names like "Surya" or "Filistin," either officially or informally. I think this has more to do with the fact that many of these names (including Smyrna/Izmir, Antioch/Antakya etc.) appear in and are familiar from the Bible, rather than with anti-Turkish sentiment. Ephesus is still, as far as I know referrred to as "Ephesus" even in English language tourist brochures from the Turkish government. I have never seen a tourist brochure that said "Come Visit Efes."

 

A Sinan architect pen might be cool.

[noCartridges]

There is an inconsistent application of standards, which your usage of the term "Ottoman" exposes. By the same standard (which was never explicitly discussed during your education or mine) imperial/historical England would have been called the Tudor Empire, Hanover Empire, or Windsor Empire at various times. Referencing inconsistent sources does not change reality. Has anyone heard of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Empire? It is the historically correct name of the current British dynasty--Windsor is a fake name.

[Flounder]

Why I have a problem with the OMAS 1453 Conquest of Istanbul. (not with ftnpenlover or his review)

 

 

As the pen being reviewed costs 4,000 dollars, I thought I'd double check the merits of Wikipedia's "common sense" that noCartridges applauds. I don't use Wikipedia, so here's DarkSeverus's post:

 

 

Here is the quote from our favourite source Wikipedia in the article on Constantinople -

 

"Since at least the tenth century, the city was commonly referred to as Istanbul which derives from the Greek Istimbolin, meaning "in the city" or "to the city". After the Ottoman conquest of 1453, the official name of Constantinople was retained in official documents and coinage. Not until the creation of the Republic of Turkey did the Turkish government formally object to the name, and ask that others use the more common name for the city."

 

So while the official name was Constantinople, Istanbul was the more common name, used by most people, and so IMHO no error has been committed on the part of OMAS.

 

 

Let's ask those 10th century Istanbulians! Thanks to Amazon we've access to a fair few. De Administrando Imperio, Constantine Porphyrogenitus' handy guide to empire running and foreign affairs, "was written and compiled, as we know from internal evidence, between the years 948 and 953" (Moravcsik & Jenkins, 1967).

 

 

Directly addressing his son, who would inherit the empire, the text is to the point and discreetly unofficial. "There is no doubt that De Administrando Imperio was a secret and confidential document. It tells too much about the principles of imperial foreign policy and diplomacy... to be safe for publication...in the Armenian chapters there are several traces of information got through secret service channels, which the government must have been most reluctant to divulge" (Ibid).

 

 

The publisher, Dumbarton Oak Texts, thoughtfully puts the original Greek next to every translation. We get a name check on the capital almost immediately, concerning Russian sea trade. "The 'monoxyla' which come down from outer Russia to Constantinople are from Novgorod, where Sviatoslav, son of Igor, price or Russia, had his seat, and others from the city of Smolensk and from Teliutza and Chernigov and from Vyshegrad".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The index shows specific use of the name Constantinople throughout the text.

 

 

 

 

 

There is nothing in the index for "Stamboul" "Instambul" "Istanbul" or any other derivitive I can find. The original greek can be downloaded here as a pdf file.

 

 

 

 

Fast forward to Anna Comnena's 12th century Alexiad, the bio of her father. I've yet to find a source in the original Greek, but both Sewter's and Dawes' translations specifically mention the name Constantinople in every instance, not Istanbul or any derivitive I can find. For example, Anna recounts foreknowledge of an eclipse, used to the army's advantage against barbarians.

 

"... the Emperor, with his habitual quick-wittedness, turned to the Scythians and said, "I appoint God as judge; and if a sign appears in the heavens this day, you will know for a surety that I have good reason for suspecting, and therefore not receiving, your embassy because your leaders are not sincere in their overtures for peace. If, however, no sign appears, I shall stand convicted of having been wrong in my surmise."Before two hours had passed, the light of the sun failed, and the whole of its disc was darkened by the moon's passing over it. At that sight the Scythians were terrified, and the Emperor handed them over to Leo Nicerites... and ordered him to take a sufficient guard and conduct them to the Queen of Cities. And Leo started very willingly on the road to Constantinople." (Dawes, 1928)

 

The Dawes translation of the Alexiad is available to read on-line here.

 

Anna's specific references to 'Constantinople' in the index of Sewter's translation:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Istanbul/Istibolin/Stambul/whatever? To cut a long and fascinating story short - nothing in the 9th Century Chronicle of Theophanes, nothing in the 10th Century Administrando, nothing in the 10th Century Correspondence of Leo, Metropolitan of Synada and Syncellus, nothing in Michael Psellus' 12th Century Fourteen Byzantine Rulers, nothing in the 12th Century Alexiad. Nothing in any primary source I've yet read. The city was renamed long after the 1453 conquest.

 

 

Vulgar Artlessness

 

 

A recent thread in the Writing Instruments subforum pondered "Could The Twsbi Roc Be Offensive?". As with others, I'd imagine it couldn't cause much political offense. It celebrated the birth of a society, not the death of one. Revisiting this thread, I do think this is a pretty offensive pen on a couple of levels. Rather than celebrate the founding of a Turkish capital, the achievements of a new culture, empire, and so on, it simply celebrates the city's military conquest, a rather hollow event for a artistic design to draw upon.

 

 

The thuggish visual metaphor used is just as culturally barren. Topkapi palace, or the grand bazaar, or who knows what else might have lent the pen some sense of the newly Turkish, Istanbul. Instead, this pen is styled to invoke the image of the huge, European made cannon used to smash in Constantinople's Theodesian walls, leaving her citizens to an appalling, grizzly end.

 

 

I'd say that qualifies for a fairly crass aesthetic.

 

 

 

As I said, each to his own; to me, this pen is analogous to a 4,000 dollar lighter in the shape of a gun.

Edited September 22, 2011 by Flounder