Omas: The Italia Brothers

[whichwatch]

Omas issued a pen known as the “Italia ‘90” to honor the World Football Championship played in Italy in 1990. Most of us have seen this pen in green, and some have seen the more limited blue. Not too many have seen these brothers side by side. Since I recently assembled my set, or more correctly my pair, I thought I’d share a few pictures and a bit of information.

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B0616A0C7-92D4-497B-949E-0C94ECB75471%7D/origpict/DSCN7244.JPG

 

5000 pieces were issued in a green resin that was intended to represent the grass of the soccer field. The other differences from “regular” Omas Paragons are a special cap band,

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7BB67C5DB4-6193-4369-835F-FE211AC042FA%7D/origpict/DSCN7242.JPG

 

a specially engraved nib, and of course the

 

 

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B8EEFEA60-2A43-48F8-B162-D61F68566D9A%7D/origpict/DSCN7247.JPG

 

 

nomenclature “Omas Italia ‘90” on the body of the pen.

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B625BBDDB-8B8E-4197-B533-B7A293AB9936%7D/origpict/DSCN7240.JPG

 

Packaging was fairly Spartan – just a graphic on the box and enclosed booklet.

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7BD07C3FA7-3DCE-4D77-95DE-6BCC26336146%7D/origpict/DSCN7239.JPG

 

Many people are not aware of the second Italia, of which “only” 1000 pieces were produced but were not sold. Rather, most were given to organizers of the event and their guests, but some were used as prizes in a contest. These were known as the Itaia 90 Azzurra and took their name from the Italian football team Gli Azzurri, or “Blues” after the team colors. According to Wikipedia, “Azure blue (azzurro, in Italian) comes from the "Azzurro Savoia" (Savoy Blue), the colour traditionally linked to the royal dynasty which unified Italy in 1861, and maintained in the official standard of the Italian President” Wikipedia also says “Gli Azzurri is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup behind Brazil (5), having won 4 titles (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006).”

 

So with that bit of information behind us, here is my Italia ’90 team

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B569B5130-586D-4176-BFC7-B35CA64283A1%7D/origpict/DSCN7249.JPG

 

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7BED9A5809-A505-4A46-9019-F7BF229377D3%7D/origpict/DSCN7245.JPG

 

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B1C3D16B0-3F12-47C7-B4D7-F6395B545AA9%7D/origpict/Italia.png

 

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed seeing these!

[RMN]

I am not a soccer/football fan, but I especially like the Azzurro you have got there.

 

I don't like the green, but that is mainly due to a partial colour blindness that shows this kind of green to me as a greyish pen.

 

Thanks for showing.

 

D.ick

[ever onward]

Thank you--that was fun to read. I have the green '90 and LOVE it. I bought it used via ebay, but the pen's condition is fantastic. The original nib was a Medium, but I had it ground to a Fine by Richard B. at the 2012 Baltimore Pen Show. I was just thinking the other day that I should ink my Italia '90....I guess this thread will tip me over that edge.

 

best wishes,

eo

[jar]

Two birds in hand are always better than a bush in the field.

[georges zaslavsky]

congrats on these two pens

[nicholasyeo]

Lovely etchings! Omas' faceted designs are timeless and elegant!

[Sazerac]

I have three of the green ones, but one had serious material shrinkage and became unusable. Two of the nibs are really semiflex. The other one is much stiffer but still more expressive than current porduction OMAS nibs, which I also like. I assume one finds similar 'soft' nibs on the blue ones.

 

Thanks for bringing these pens up. My Italia '90 is always inked.

[gmberg]

Why is the green version green if the team's color is blue? Green is only one of three colors in the Italian flag. Is there some other significance in Italy to green?

[praxim]

See post 1 paragraph 2, the paragraph between the first two photographs.

[Joban]

Great looking pens, thanks for sharing.

[mehandiratta]

oh man that blue one is lovely... amazing