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I like celluloid, Omas, vintage (and of course modern too)... For a long time I resisted getting a vintage Omas Cracked Ice. The combination of the rare pattern and vintage Omas makes it quite expensive to acquire a senior sized or even a mid sized Omas Cracked Ice. I also have a vintage Conway Stewart Cracked Ice, which is considered one of the most attractive Conway Stewart patterns (along with Herringbone, Tiger Eye etc). So I convinced myself that I didn't need an Omas Cracked Ice. That is until the right moment came. Recently I was able to acquire a vintage Omas Cracked Ice in the lady/ring-top size. As I understand, the Omas is made of celluloid (cellulose nitrate) and Conway Stewart of cellulose acetate. Here I made some photographic comparisons. Some background notes: The Omas Cracked Ice pattern is known for discolouration. Most of the pens in this pattern are found in various discolouration on the barrel. Zero discolouration is extremely rare, as this celluloid (and indeed any "trasparente" patterns) is very sensitive to acidic ink. So my Omas is no exception, though I consider the discolouration here modest. I have seen better and some worse. 1. Both pens capped. Omas ring-top, 10cm long. Conway Stewart No. 24, 13.2cm long. 2. Nib side pattern comparison. 3. Feed side pattern comparison. 4. Omas nib side discolouration. 5. Omas feed side discolouration comparison. 6. Conway Stewart Cracked Ice cap and barrel, in cellulose acetate, no discolouration. 7. The "dark sides" of Omas Cracked Ice: Similar to the Arco pattern, the Omas Cracked Ice also has two "dark sides". This is what I love about this Omas version, that you can see that the Cracked Ice is revealed through cross-cutting the pearl like flakes in the celluloid, much like leaves in a pond! These "dark sides" are more intriquing than those of Arco in this aspect. I hope you find the above informative! I've always enjoyed handling a vintage 🙂.

I told family I would like a fountain pen for my birthday and was given this lovely item, my father's Conway Stewart Executive 60 with the Cracked Ice design. What a beauty. But it needs servicing and parts, missing some of the original innards - the pressure bar, the feed, the ink sac. Is it possible to obtain compatible parts and get the pen working again?

Mohi pens are hand made by Abhey Pen Agencies, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India. They make ebonite and acrylic pens but use nibs from some other manufacturer whose name was not divulged to me. I bought one Mohi Acrylic Tanishq in cracked ice colour. Design Tanishq is an acrylic hand-made fountain pen with chrome trim in cracked ice resin. It is a small sized pen. It has a cylindrical shape with straight cut ends and a the tear drop clip. The cap has a 2mm chrome cap ring and clip has a crisp Mohi inscribed on it. It is an eye-dropper filler and the translucent acrylic resin is very attractive with swirls of mother of pearl luminescence. The pen cap opens in 2 1/2 turns, which is a very welcome feature. The straight stepped section is of a very correct thickness and length making good for tireless writing. The stainless steel nib is small for the size of pen and looks disproportionate, taking some thing away from a beautiful pen. 4/5 Dimensions Weight: 18 gms Length: 126 mm (5.2”) Length of uncapped pen: 113 mm (4.5”) Posted length: 149 mm (5.9”) Diameter of section: 12 mm (0.5”) Barrel diameter: 14 mm (0.6”) It is a small sized pen with nice dimensions, weight and balance when posted. The nib is disproportionately small effecting the overall beauty of an attractive pen. 3/5 Nib & Performance The nib is marked “Mohi” Tipped fine. It is a firm steel nib with a 5mm feed. The nib is wet but scratchy. Yet a quick grind and smoothing on #12000 micro mesh resulted in a buttery smooth performance. The pen is now a smooth, wet writer, much to my liking. 3/5 Filling system The pen is an eye dropper filler and holds about 3 ml of ink due to small size of barrel. The section threads are long and the pen did not leak. Eye dropper fillers are not my choice of filling systems because as the level of ink falls, they tend to burp, Tanishq being no exception. There is also an inconstant ink flow. The full pen was nice and wet but kind of dried up little as the ink level fell below half. It did not end here, as the level headed towards 1/3 the nib became wetter and then burped. 3/5 Value for Money The pen is priced at INRs 300/- plus postage (US$ 4.5 approximately plus postage). The pen looks beautiful and after smoothening, writes very well. At this price, despite its draw backs, it is a must buy pen for the facts that it is hand turned and made out of beautiful acrylic resin. 5/5 End Note No Indian fountain pen collection would be complete with out this pen as there are very few hand made fountain pen available. Most of the manufacturers have closed shop due to “ball pen” onslaught. Some brave hearts Like Abhey Pens are still turning out these beauties and must be helped along in their venture. Total Score: 18/25

Here are some pics of my $1.50 Esterbrook (circa 1938) White Cracked Ice pen and pencil set. Pretty hard to find...cool 8668 Palladium nib too. ...Enjoy the images! They being offered so that another collector on FPN has an opportunity to add them to their colleciton (BIN at the usual site). http://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/w473/eir4043/IMG_7342_zpsrmtmlo4d.jpghttp://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/w473/eir4043/IMG_7343_zpsi7eidt9c.jpghttp://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/w473/eir4043/IMG_7346_zpsemu6mqsy.jpg