OMAS Arco Bronze Paragon HT

[helian]

Helian, will you be posting a review of your new pen?

 

Paraphrasing Solon, count no pen perfect until its owner has died. Assuming, however, that it is as durable and reliable over the years as my benchmarks (Parker 51, Pelikan M800, Lamy 2000), it is a perfect pen. Its balance in the crook of the writing hand with the nib lightly touching the paper, ready to be tossed deftly around but disciplined by the mass of the silver section, helps my handwriting. The piston is smooth, nothing like the plasticky Paragon piston that felt cheap and fragile c. 1994. This gargantuan barrel holds plenty of ink, but you'll have to keep track of it mentally--the celluloid is not transparent enough to serve as an ink-view.

 

Arco Bronze takes making stuff (as opposed to turning stuff into things) to a new standard. The Arco pattern is miraculous, both complex and elegant, like a sea shell or other jewel found in nature. Pausing to think, the writer can stare into the trippy heart or "knot" of the pattern, a chaotic mandala. (They are all, I believe, carved so that one view of the "knot" is on top in the writing position.) Think Jovian cloud patterns, abalone seen through cognac, copper pigment stirred into amber taffy.... but trapped in a quiet Doric form that looks carved from andalusite from a distance, when the light plays on the facets in motion. Aesthetically it is indeed a paragon.

 

If wear and smudges freak you out, this is the wrong pen, unless you enjoy polishing things. Celluloid scratches easily, and the silver section shows fingerprints, tarnish, and haze. It didn't post securely at first but seems to be breaking in, like my Lamy 2000.

 

In short: hot.

[helian]

those silky eye glass cloths. I forget the official name of the cloth, you all know what I mean.

 

Microfiber.... available for free from many opticians and camera stores, and handy for many, many things.

[Tsujigiri]

What is that black pen in the second picture, 3rd from the left? I'd say Lamy 2000, but the finish looks too smooth for that. Or is it just the way the picture was taken?

[helian]

What is that black pen in the second picture, 3rd from the left? I'd say Lamy 2000, but the finish looks too smooth for that. Or is it just the way the picture was taken?

 

The 2000 finish takes on a beautiful glowing patina (actually a buffing and oiling effect) after years of handling. That shine is three years of law school. I recently got a MultiPen for credit card signing and will snap a picture for comparison. This is a nice feature of the 2000 design that isn't apparent in the pen store case.

[Tsujigiri]

Ah, I see, that's an interesting feature of the pen, then. *starts frantically stroking Lamy 2000*

[rfenter]

Helian, will you be posting a review of your new pen?

 

Paraphrasing Solon, count no pen perfect until its owner has died. Assuming, however, that it is as durable and reliable over the years as my benchmarks (Parker 51, Pelikan M800, Lamy 2000), it is a perfect pen. Its balance in the crook of the writing hand with the nib lightly touching the paper, ready to be tossed deftly around but disciplined by the mass of the silver section, helps my handwriting. The piston is smooth, nothing like the plasticky Paragon piston that felt cheap and fragile c. 1994. This gargantuan barrel holds plenty of ink, but you'll have to keep track of it mentally--the celluloid is not transparent enough to serve as an ink-view.

 

Arco Bronze takes making stuff (as opposed to turning stuff into things) to a new standard. The Arco pattern is miraculous, both complex and elegant, like a sea shell or other jewel found in nature. Pausing to think, the writer can stare into the trippy heart or "knot" of the pattern, a chaotic mandala. (They are all, I believe, carved so that one view of the "knot" is on top in the writing position.) Think Jovian cloud patterns, abalone seen through cognac, copper pigment stirred into amber taffy.... but trapped in a quiet Doric form that looks carved from andalusite from a distance, when the light plays on the facets in motion. Aesthetically it is indeed a paragon.

 

If wear and smudges freak you out, this is the wrong pen, unless you enjoy polishing things. Celluloid scratches easily, and the silver section shows fingerprints, tarnish, and haze. It didn't post securely at first but seems to be breaking in, like my Lamy 2000.

 

In short: hot.

 

Should the Paragon be to pens what your writing is to descriptions then, by Jove, cut that knot, Gordo, and left fly the sails for the Straits of Gibralter! "Congac, all around, boys," laughed the captain, "just as soon as those Andalusian columns are ours!"

[georges zaslavsky]

I own one in black vegetal resin and with the silver front end grip. I have no tarnish, nor blemish on the silver elements. The nibs is excellent but a little bit too small in size for my liking.

[upscalebohemian]

I own the same pen (and fall in love with it again and again -- it's my all-time favorite), and I simply use a jeweler's cloth on it twice a year.

 

I stocked up on some Fabulustre cloths on eBay for a good price (do a search there for JEWELER'S ROUGE POLISHING CLOTH or even JEWELER'S ROUGE).

 

Twice a year works fine for me, and I prefer this to a liquid or cream since I have concerns about what that will do to the celluloid over time.

 

Have you learned the trick with lining up the pattern when screwing on the cap yet? You turn the cap in the wrong direction until it makes a clicking sound, then turn it in the right direction as you normally would to screw the cap on and the pattern will be lined up perfectly.

 

If admirers of this pen have only seen it in pictures they should really seek one out that they can see and handle. Not only is it stunningly beautiful but the weight of the pen is fantastic. It's my favorite pen to write with, as well as being the most beautiful.

Edited March 28, 2009 by upscalebohemian

[bugmd]

That is a lovely pen. My identical one, minus the tarnish, came to me last week. I have the one with the gold trim but when I saw the HT version I knew that I had to have it. I managed to acquire a "previously loved" one for an obscenely low price fron the sales board. The size, weight and balance are wonderful. Congratulations on a great one.

[upscalebohemian]

I have the one with the gold trim but when I saw the HT version I knew that I had to have it.

 

I totally agree on this point. The High Tech (silver) trim and section really suit the bronze Arco celluloid. To my eyes the gold looks a bit gaudy in comparison.

 

I am going to buy another of the same pen just to put away against future loss or damage. And all this talk about tarnish on the silver spurred me to get out the polishing cloth. It took all of a minute or so to clean, and AGAIN, I'm stunned at how beautiful this pen is in every detail even after owning it for over two years by now.

 

Oh, and one other nice thing about the pen is that I haven't used it in months, and yet when I went to use it it wrote perfectly. This is in sharp contrast to my Parker Premier in the Laque de Chine finish that dries out and is more hassle than it's worth, though I love the finish on it, and it was my first fountain pen bought in the early 1990s, so I'm hanging onto it still for sentimental reasons (though the rollerball version is the one I use all the time, not the fountain pen -- just never liked the way it wrote and dried out).

Edited March 29, 2009 by upscalebohemian