Omas - Who Is Really In Charge

[OneRiotOneRanger]

I recently came across a new Italian pen maker, Scribo. When I mix it in the pot with other information read about OMAS, I admit to being confused. I'll share all that I have found:

 

♦ In 2000, OMAS was acquired by the LVMH group. In 2007, the Xinyu Hengdeli Group of Hong Kong purchased an equity stake in OMAS. On Nov. 16, 2015, the Chinese Holding Group O-Luxe and Louis Vuitton (LVMH) declared bankruptcy for OMAS. Liquidation was reported as of January 2016.

♦ On July 30, 2016, the following post appeared, signed by ManuPens: “We finally reached an agreement and purchased all of Omas stocks and basic materials that will allow us to remake the superb celluloid pens manufactured by Omas since 1925.” In another post, of April 17, 2017, it is reported that Manu (Emmanuel Caltagirone, also a co-principal of M2b pens and the revived Wahl-Eversharp) “purchased the old Omas inventory and has been selling it on eBay, and is also the source for newly made Armando Simoni pens made from old Omas rod stock.”

♦ In June 2018, Ancora’s CEO reported its acquisition of Omas and of the Armando Simoni pen club and that “Omas is set to resume production of classic pens.”

♦ SCRIBO (short for Scrittura Bolognese) is a young pen manufacturing company based in Bologna, Italy. The brand may have only started in 2016, but they have old antecedents. Do you recall the demise of OMAS a year after celebrating their 90th anniversary? The day that OMAS shuttered their doors, Luca Baglione, the former head of sales and marketing for the company, sought to keep the spirit of writing alive. Along with other former OMAS employees, he founded SCRIBO on the principles of crafting a luxury piston-filling fountain pen with an ebonite feeder and gold nib of sublime quality. In 2017, SCRIBO invested themselves heavily into their main focus, buying the original tooling and rights to produce the once-cherished OMAS 18kt gold and 14kt gold flexible nib. Starting the company from scratch meant that Luca would have to build a new reputation and a stable base of finances in order to develop new collections of writing instruments. SCRIBO spent the last year or so keeping busy producing private label pens for other brands. The "Feel" collection is their first original pen design under the SCRIBO brand. It firmly adheres to the company's objective, providing OMAS fans with plenty of reasons to be excited about this pen.

 

If anyone can sort this out, I would imagine others might also be interested.

 

Paul

 

[zaddick]

What are you looking to sort? The OMAS brand was sold to Ancora. The OMAS celluloid was sold to ASC, now known as THe Pen Family or some such. Scribo was a bunch of folks from OMAS who started a new company. It is my recollection they also bought some manufacturing machines from the sale of OMAS like for making nibs.

 

I think there were several threads trying to sort this out. Leonardo Officina also gets into the mix as they were the reputed maker of ASC pens. The founder is rated to one of the founders of now defunct Delta pen company.

[OneRiotOneRanger]

I was hoping - against hope, apparently - to get a clarification, rather than reading a post which restates my facts, by someone interested in seeing his name in print. It is one of the reasons I stay to myself. Speculation by those who do not know doesn't interest me.

 

Are both Manu, who has other fish to fry, and Ancora both producing Omas and ASC pens (which is what I read them saying)? And why haven't I seen any? It's a matter of time before Scribo, it seems, with its completely undistinguished, yet high-priced offerings, starts calling itself the real Omas. Is there such a thing as a NEW (post 2016) Omas pen?

 

Clarification, please, rather than obfuscation. Thank you.

 

 

 

 

[Bill P]

I have NOT seen any NEW OMAS Models....only NOS Omas old models...

 

Can you provide a link(s) to NEW Omas models that you have come across?

[OneRiotOneRanger]

I, too, have not seen anything new from any of the companies that represent themselves as Omas manufacturers. I think that lots of folks want the association, but, as was said in a political ad of some years back, there's no there there!!

[Newton Pens]

I don't think anybody is claiming to be the new Omas, but trying to give themselves a leg up by talking about how they were associated with the old Omas. Marketing.

[OneRiotOneRanger]

Shawn -

 

I hadn't thought about it that way; you make a good point.

 

That said, some of the claims (e.g., Ancora) either have translation difficulties, or drank too much wine with lunch!

 

Paul

[Newton Pens]

yeah translations are never very accurate. but boasting about connections, and then translating that, can be even weirder.

[katerchen]

So the TL;DR for me is : This whole ordeal is shady AF. Especially the ASC angle.

[zaddick]

I was hoping - against hope, apparently - to get a clarification, rather than reading a post which restates my facts, by someone interested in seeing his name in print. It is one of the reasons I stay to myself. Speculation by those who do not know doesn't interest me.

 

Are both Manu, who has other fish to fry, and Ancora both producing Omas and ASC pens (which is what I read them saying)? And why haven't I seen any? It's a matter of time before Scribo, it seems, with its completely undistinguished, yet high-priced offerings, starts calling itself the real Omas. Is there such a thing as a NEW (post 2016) Omas pen?

 

Clarification, please, rather than obfuscation. Thank you.

 

 

 

 

For one who talks clarification your question was wholly unclear to me. Maybe I'm just not as clever as you?

 

Your comment was also insulting to someone trying to help identify what you wanted to know.

[Seney724]

This whole ordeal is shady. Especially the ASC angle.

+1

[OneRiotOneRanger]

To Zaddick -

I was trying neither to be clever nor insulting. I don't understand what the hell is going on there (and the latest post about the whole ASC thing reflects my feelings, as well). Everybody seems to be saying "Look at us, we're the new Omas!" - yet there is no new Omas. Scribo is actually making pens priced like Omas, but they're ugly! No art, no style. Apparently (I'm concluding, I hope correctly) there is no new Omas, just groupies. If your initial response had said something like I'm confused, too, I wouldn't have chosen the words I did. Apparently Omas is now about posturing, not attractive pens, and I'm wasting time pondering. Again, no offense meant - I'm a bottom-line kind of guy, and there appears no bottom there. Sorry for any bad feelings.

Paul

Probably too much time spent on what Shawn Newton called marketing

[Newton Pens]

But IS anybody actually SAYING hey look us, new Omas? Or are they just saying, hey look at us, we used to work at, or have the material from, or have connections to, the old Omas?

[zaddick]

 

To Zaddick -

I was trying neither to be clever nor insulting. I don't understand what the hell is going on there (and the latest post about the whole ASC thing reflects my feelings, as well). Everybody seems to be saying "Look at us, we're the new Omas!" - yet there is no new Omas. Scribo is actually making pens priced like Omas, but they're ugly! No art, no style. Apparently (I'm concluding, I hope correctly) there is no new Omas, just groupies. If your initial response had said something like I'm confused, too, I wouldn't have chosen the words I did. Apparently Omas is now about posturing, not attractive pens, and I'm wasting time pondering. Again, no offense meant - I'm a bottom-line kind of guy, and there appears no bottom there. Sorry for any bad feelings.

Paul

Probably too much time spent on what Shawn Newton called marketing

 

 

I appreciate the response.

 

I guess I don't see anyone saying they are OMAS except Ancora who bought the brand, but I can't really them producing anything.

 

All other claims in my opinion are an attempt to capture and use some of the positive memories associated with OMAS pens. Marketing is likely a strong reason, as Shawn mentioned, but perhaps (and this is my speculation) someone like Scribo really wants to embody the positive aspects of the former OMAS - like "this time we can do it right!"

 

That is, of course, not bottom line information. Unfortunately I have no insight beyond second had information shared on boards like this an in conversations with pen friends who are a little closer to the action.

[Seney724]

But IS anybody actually SAYING hey look us, new Omas? Or are they just saying, hey look at us, we used to work at, or have the material from, or have connections to, the old Omas?

I have long been convinced that ASC is doing everything they can to "blur the line" and make folks believe they are Omas. That may sound ridiculous to the kind of folks here who surely know the difference but I think to those who are less invested in the world of fountain pens it can be very confusing.

 

For starters, just consider the name "Armando Simoni Club." For many years this name was a very special & exclusive component of the yearly line-up of new pens produced by Omas. Quite frankly, when ASC arrived on the scene and applied the Club's name to the Omas celluloid rods I was really surprised they were allowed to get away with it.

 

Since then, IMO there have been countless, shameless attempts by ASC to confuse the uninitiated (and even casual) fountain pen purchaser. There have been too many examples of deceit coming from ASC to allow even the most generous spirited person the opportunity to explain them as innocent mistakes. They're not...........

 

As to the fundamental question posed in this thread. There is no Omas any longer. However, Omas pens remain plentiful and if one wants one they are best advised to purchase the real thing. You'll pay less money and get far better quality.

[OneRiotOneRanger]

I agree with everything said - thank you all! - in the last three posts. Ancora's CEO does talk about plans, at this point a figment of someone's imagination. If I wanted to associate myself with Omas' success (and somehow disassociate myself from its failure), I'd want to offer a product reminiscent; Scribo's product does NOT do that.

 

One would hope that a new iteration would exhibit some imagination. For instance, Dante del Vecchio's stuff at Pineider is as imaginative (and different!) as his stuff at Visconti. New materials, old/new patterns; these guys are in business to succeed, not play on anyone's sympathy.

[sansenri]

I am not really be surprised of any of these things happening.

When a company goes bust it does not die completely. Companies are made of people, some of them have ideas, some have skills, some have rights, some have assets, etc.

What we really want to know, and I think the OP's question should be correctly interpreted in this way (whether he is actually asking this or not), is where do all these bits and pieces go and how they fit into today's reality and also, since we are the customers (both of Omas pens, and potentially of any other valued product that may derive), who can we trust.

Admittedly I'm not trusting ASC much, I have not bought any of their post-Omas pens, despite I am attracted by the celluloids.

Essentially what seems to lack in ASC, and seems to be present in Scribo (at least as far as I can perceive) is an intrinsic love for the product.

I cannot perceive this in ASC, in the same way I could not perceive it in Martemodena, after Delta died, but I can see it in Leonardo Officina's work.

To be honest I have not yet bought a Scribo pen, but that is for another reason, I really cannot bear that steep step down barrel to section, when they get that right I'm really interested.

 

 

[mongrelnomad]

I was hoping - against hope, apparently - to get a clarification, rather than reading a post which restates my facts, by someone interested in seeing his name in print. It is one of the reasons I stay to myself. Speculation by those who do not know doesn't interest me.

 

Are both Manu, who has other fish to fry, and Ancora both producing Omas and ASC pens (which is what I read them saying)? And why haven't I seen any? It's a matter of time before Scribo, it seems, with its completely undistinguished, yet high-priced offerings, starts calling itself the real Omas. Is there such a thing as a NEW (post 2016) Omas pen?

 

Clarification, please, rather than obfuscation. Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

What’s your problem man? Keep talking like that to long time members deigning to answer your borderline nonsensical questions and you’ll be banned before dinner tomorrow.

[Carrau]

What’s your problem man? Keep talking like that to long time members deigning to answer your borderline nonsensical questions and you’ll be banned before dinner tomorrow.

 

He left the building after antagonizing members on another similar thread about Delta that he started. This one pales in comparison to that thread in terms of narcissism on display.

[mongrelnomad]

He left the building after antagonizing members on another similar thread about Delta that he started. This one pales in comparison to that thread in terms of narcissism on display.

I just read the Delta thread and I cant even...

 

Wow.