Omas Fountain Pens, Paragon's Old Vs New

[Precise]

My Omas 360 Mezzo F, is my sweetest-writing pen. I've written about why my Italian nibs are so smooth:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/298062-where-the-metal-meets-the-paper/

[vipkat82]

Omas makes some of the coolest pens on the market

[eloquentogre]

My two favorite pens at the moment are Omas pens. My #1 favorite is a Midnight Blue (I think - it's dark dark blue, almost black) 360 Magnum I bought thinking it was a regular 360. From the early 2000's, it has a pre-Bock Omas made nib. Right behind it is my 2013 smoke grey/gold 360. Both are amazing pens - smoothest nibs I have on any pen, both are fines which actually write like fines... the nibs both have the same feel, so Omas has done a great job tuning Bock nibs. The only flaw of the design is that the cap on the 360 magnum comes off a little too easily, making it safer carried in a sheath in pocket than clipped to my shirt collar as I am prone to do out of habit.

 

Omas makes wonderful, light pens with great nibs. I'm so sad the company has gone a bit insane with the modern paragon design - that'd be pretty much the perfect pen for my hand if they didn't marr it with that idiotic metal section. Cotton resin and celluloid, the materials they excel at, feel so good in hand, the metal section just boggles my mind. Aesthetics over function. In a tool. No. Just no. Pens are meant to be used, not just looked at, Omas!

[Bill]

...

Thats a lovely looking Arco Milord- one reason I was torn about the Arco Paragon is that the section isn't in Arco- though it does give a nice contrast.

 

I have both (photos are somewhere on FPN) and they would be among the last kept if I downsized the collection. The modern Milord is a large pen in its own right, handles and writes well, with a piston as smooth as the Paragon. While I use both, I find that the Arco section on the Milord is more comfortable to use.

 

There, I helped you with your decision ;-)

[chainwhip]

That Bronze Arco is stunning - thx for your pics and writeup

[intrepidcva11]

My two favorite pens at the moment are Omas pens. My #1 favorite is a Midnight Blue (I think - it's dark dark blue, almost black) 360 Magnum I bought thinking it was a regular 360. From the early 2000's, it has a pre-Bock Omas made nib. Right behind it is my 2013 smoke grey/gold 360. Both are amazing pens - smoothest nibs I have on any pen, both are fines which actually write like fines... the nibs both have the same feel, so Omas has done a great job tuning Bock nibs. The only flaw of the design is that the cap on the 360 magnum comes off a little too easily, making it safer carried in a sheath in pocket than clipped to my shirt collar as I am prone to do out of habit.

 

Omas makes wonderful, light pens with great nibs. I'm so sad the company has gone a bit insane with the modern paragon design - that'd be pretty much the perfect pen for my hand if they didn't marr it with that idiotic metal section. Cotton resin and celluloid, the materials they excel at, feel so good in hand, the metal section just boggles my mind. Aesthetics over function. In a tool. No. Just no. Pens are meant to be used, not just looked at, Omas!

 

I'm rather inclined to believe that it is not aesthetics that resulted in sterling silver sections but commerce; the new owners of Omas believed that it would sell more pens at relatively little additional cost.

 

p.s. since you mentioned sheathes, does anyone know where I can buy one of those slender white sheaths that Omas supplied on later pens? I have two Galileos and two of the original black resin Paragons, one of each is brand-new in original packaging. My daily user is the other Galileo and atgually I gave my wife my old user Paragon that she has fallen in love with.

Edited November 8, 2015 by intrepidcva11

[Precise]

The only flaw of the design is that the cap on the 360 magnum comes off a little too easily, making it safer carried in a sheath in pocket than clipped to my shirt collar as I am prone to do out of habit.

 

 

My 360 Mezzo has an inner clip (clip, not cap) with three tangs to grab the section. It's held in place by a single screw at the inside end of the cap. You can remove the inner clip and bend the tangs inward, so they will grip better.

 

Alan

Edited December 3, 2015 by Precise

[Pen_Noob]

Errm all the Omas pens I have / had are writing with a pretty thin line and not so wet, would say on the dry side.

I am talking about following:

- Milord black old style EF nib

- Paragon Arco brown old style F nib

- Gentleman with Extra Lucens superflex F nib

- Extra 556 vintage with superflex EF nib

- CS with Extra Lucens superflex F nib

 

Definitely not impressed until now with Omas. Not so comfortable for writing since gripping section is very very short and I grab the pen by the threads, also writing experience is so and so for me. Best italian pens for me are Stipula (yes, have 2 of them, awesome writers, very comfortable to hold), Visconti (only have a Voyager Demonstrator LE), Aurora (Optima Auroloide) and Delta. As you can see for me Omas is last.