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OMAS as you already know is a 90 year old Italian manufacturer of fine writing instruments and related luxury goods. Founded in 1925, it does carry the name of its founder, Armando Simoni. OMAS as it is, stands for Officina Meccanica Armando Simoni, which means workshop for machinery And initially from 1919 - 1925 this workshop had been producing parts and safety mechanisms for pens.. OMAS had launched its first fountain pen in 1927 and had also copied Duofolds for a while. The turning point for the company came in 1932 with the Omas Extra, a faceted celluloid pen. Today, OMAS is no longer a 100% Italian company as it was earlier, after international acquisitions, first with the French LVMH stake in 2000 and then a 90% controlling equity investment of the Hong Kong based luxury conglomerate Xinyu Hengdeli Group in 2007. Below is a link to this review on my blog with more eye-candy . So here it goes: Omas Art Vision Review As for the Arte Italiana Collection, the twelve faceted or dodecagonal pens were first launched in 1930s and they never got out of fashion over all these years. In Italy it’s called Faccettata, which is also representative of Greek Doric Columns. The Vision along with Milord and a larger Paragon belong to the same collection. They are still assembled in Omas boutique job shop one after the other, manually. The Vision comes in two distinct designs - Liquid Blue & Liquid Green limited to 331 pieces per colour. However these pieces are not individually numbered like the Ogiva Vintage runs. Liquid Blue comes trimmed with bright rhodium decor while Liquid Green is trimmed with dark ruthenium decor. The colours are inspired from watercolour shades. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rwB2R_oPcX4/Vebk2XYHZdI/AAAAAAAAFXc/1dU-X7ggqak/s1600/1Designs.jpg PRESENTATION The Art Vision comes in a luxurious cardboard box encased within a silvery grey paper box. The heavy box is inlined with grey felt resembling the shades of steel grey. Once you remove the top cover, you can find the pen nesting inside a grey pen sleeve, placed on a custom made bed. The inside of the lid muses with the following motto customary to Omas: Italian Creativity, History, Craftsmanship. The Pleasure of Writing. Once you flip open the velvety separator, you would notice that there are two beds for two of your pens. Underneath rest the manuals and warranty card for this pen in a separate section. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KtUuS-0Y-wg/VeblYyOvHKI/AAAAAAAAFZE/79L3CKGNrVA/s1600/box2.jpg DESIGN - THE SONG OF DARK & EMERALD (6/6) It’s the Game of Thrones playing in my mind or these colours of liquid green and dark ruthenium play a beautiful symphony of light and dark. These pens are made of Omas proprietary Cotton Resin which constitutes of blended cotton seeds and resin polymer derivatives. The cotton resin feels quite substantial and does reflect a luxury in its own terms of rendering hues. The entire pen gleams with emerald tunes, entrapped within hushed darkness of ruthenium giving something that is not very common to this world of art. You can actually visualise the pen as a doric column which separated long ago and fell right into your palms. The clip gleams like an arc quite subservient to an emerald haze. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ragZY5aUAho/Vebk9mVwxeI/AAAAAAAAFXs/iT_R5_AXqHU/s1600/DSC_5849.jpg The piston knob concludes the structure with a raised dome. The cap feels light and unscrews with a single turn, revealing a dark ruthenium plated nib converging with gleaming shades of its metallic section. It reminds me of my gun-metal frames. The section starts with a dodecagonal structure (12 sides) stepping down for commencement of the efficient threads before tapering down to a comfortable grip section, before ending with a raised loop. These are the times when soulful geometry transforms into art. I did not find the grip uncomfortable or slippery and I hold the pen 0.4 - 0.5 cm above the nib. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HtVo0taFm3k/VeblKWrDUyI/AAAAAAAAFYY/SlThMQlpxdc/s1600/DSC_5863.jpg Now in case you are wondering about palladium, rhodium and ruthenium icing, along with some silver cake, here goes a picture. The other one (m625) has a silver section, coated with palladium along with a rhodium coated nib. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8ykeiq8Kqy8/VeblGlyDApI/AAAAAAAAFX8/BeNvKoeSwGk/s1600/DSC_5869.jpg The clip acquires the shape of a convex arc before ending with a tender concavity. It has the OMAS classic roller disc (since the 1930s) which slips and secures the pen in your pocket. The finial has a dome like the piston knob and its polygonal planes define triangular precision finally being betrothed to the famous OMAS O dazzling subtly in dark ruthenium. You can see the distinct outlines of the cap insert. The centre band is engraved with OMAS and ITALY at either ends, interlocked with an architectural pattern known as the Greek key or Meandros. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Fln51t2uEzg/VeblZS_bRtI/AAAAAAAAFZM/UtGH4GfPblE/s1600/cap.jpg FILLING SYSTEM (5/6) The piston filling system has a sturdy but small knob and is embellished with what seems to be a single loop. The knob requires three turns for the piston to move to its end stop which reveals the loop to be a part of the piston connector. The piston is smooth and efficiently draws ink from the bottle. The piston end does go down inside the metallic grip section of the pen while filling ink, which provides the additional ink capacity compared to the similar cartridge/converter model of the Milord models. The barrel along with the grip provides a decent ink capacity of 1.2-1.4 mL http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZcK9uDBWbk8/VeblJ7_r6II/AAAAAAAAFYQ/F5WehzFwoxY/s1600/DSC_5920.jpg NIB - ALL THAT MATTERS (5/6) The nib comes rhodiated or rutheniated in 14k (Extra Flessible ones) or 18k alloys across four stock widths - EF (14k, Extra-Flessible), F (14k, Extra-Flessible), F & M and seven special widths - BB, OM, OMD, OBD, OBBD, Stub & Italic (untipped). This has a 18k semi-flex and comparatively responsive nib with the usual shaded geometries of the Milord/Paragon series. The size M is mentioned on the wings of the nib while the gold content is mentioned towards the tail. The content resides within an elongated hexagon. It’s kind of hard to describe the parallel hatching and geometrical patterns on the nib and you can see it for yourself. It has got some thick inclined hatching around the breather hole with OMAS branding residing in between the symmetry of it, and thinner lines of straight hatch and plains keep recurring as you move towards either of the tines. The nib is a darling to write with. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OYydDE20yew/VeblJjtJEEI/AAAAAAAAFYI/ETlXcPzKJKg/s1600/DSC_5936.jpg The heat set black ebonite feed has thinly spaced fins and two capillaries which ensure a good ink buffer and an extremely wet ink flow. Ebonite attract water (these are hydrophilic) as opposed to hydrophobic plastics which repel water, thereby wetting it more efficiently under the nib. Having said this, I find my plastic pelikan feeds even more efficient in this regard. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-56Cm-GHTpXM/VeblLJIYzYI/AAAAAAAAFYc/7bIhFrpWbYQ/s1600/DSC_5961.jpg PHYSICS OF IT (6/6) – RELATIVELY SPEAKING For me, this pen is very comfortable for writing without posting the cap. The overall uncapped length is around 13.2 cm, with a decent girth of more than 1 cm. Cap has heft and weighs a third of the total weight. The section is dark and metallic with the signature ruthenium coating although I did not find it slippery as such. The section feels quite substantial along with the cotton resin and I happen to grip the pen around 0.4-0.5 cm away from the nib. Its does feel a delight to write with, simply with the responsive nib. It’s a heavy and long pen to post and you may not prefer posting the Vision. Closed Length ~ 14.5 cmPosted Length ~ 17.7 cmNib Leverage ~ 2.4 cmOverall Weight ~ 33 g (without ink, Cap ~ 11 g)Capped and uncapped comparisons with a TWSBI 580 and a Pilot Custom 823 go below for your reference. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PAKrd4EbDuY/VeblSHBosxI/AAAAAAAAFYo/cL8P8mDnd5o/s1600/DSC_5972.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jtl9O4qfY74/VeblSKnTcGI/AAAAAAAAFYs/zCzzTTslBEY/s1600/DSC_5992.jpg ECONOMIC VALUE (3/6) The Visions retail at USD 495 and I am not sure if it’s a good or bad price since I do not usually find Omas pens selling at great discounts. I had a got a good, I will say steep discount from my longtime local distributor/reseller on this one. Since I have a lot of blue demos with rhodium trims, I rather went ahead with this song of dark and emerald. After the steep discount, the pen again could not make sure of value for money, but let’s not judge a piece of Art by monetary values alone! OVERALL (5/6) These 18k nibs are extremely smooth, somewhat flexible with a very wet flow. A little pressure increases the ink flow and results in thicker lines. The horizontal lines are a tad thinner than the verticals. I am not allured by flex, partly because of my bad handwriting, but I can assure these are delightfully soft and springy nibs, the best perhaps for a long long time. Being extremely wet writers out of the box, the Medium nib puts a line which takes around 30 seconds to dry GvFC Moss Green ink on MD Paper. Go for it, if you love this pen, substantial, differentiated & limited (331) with a befitting nib! http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GblHlov2XAc/VeblUPJPe6I/AAAAAAAAFY0/Qp6MI6AlW7I/s1600/DSC_5998.jpg OTHER DEMONSTRATOR REVIEWS Pilot Custom 823 Pelikan m605 Pelikan m625 Pilot Custom Heritage 92 TWSBI 580 REFERENCES Omas Art Vision Manufacturing Process Steps Factory Visit Greek key Thank you for going through the review. You can find some more pen and paraphernalia reviews here.

For a limited time the Online Vision Magic fountain pens are only $29.99 each. Choose from 5 great vibrant colors, each with black trim and a matching black stainless steel nib. https://www.penchalet.com/fine_pens/fountain_pens/online_vision_magic_fountain_pen.html

This one is a Milord Vision in green with a factory stub nib. Its my only Omas with a stub. I was always under the impression that their broad nib was considered a stub but this one is very different. I picked it up secondhand but the nib profile appears to be factory stub along with the engraving on the nib. I cant confirm or deny if someone besides Omas had worked on the nib but it looks and writes like it was ground by a drunken baby. It railroads at the drop of a hat and the grind on the bottom of the nib is super uneven and grainy. I can see the unevenness by eye. I cant believe this nib ever wrote well and whoever worked it must have been late to a lunch date. I did some work to it tonight and heat set the feed. Its ridiculously wet and there was a good gap from feed to nib when I received the pen. It still throws down so much ink that it will not completely dry on paper after a good amount of time though. I cant get a sheet of paper between nib and feed after heat setting so the gap is right but its still crazy wet. The tine spacing looks pretty even so its not like theyre spread out too far or anything. This one is kind of a mess! The rest of the pen looks great but the nib and feed is just ridiculous. The QC seal says the nib was originally in fine so I assume it was sent back for a nib exchange to a stub. God I hope this nib was not ground by Omas. Its just all kinds of screwed up. I worked on it for a while with a 10x loop but Im going to need to continue with a proper microscope to get it right. Im planning to sort it out next week. The problems with this nib/feed are new to me though so it should be interesting. Usually a heat set has sorted the super wet condition in the past but not this one. Its going to be a challenge! My other Omas Vision is super wet as well in medium so maybe this is a factory tune but its just silly wet. None of my other Milords are like this and that includes the wet rosewood/ebony models. Theyre wet but reasonable. Also even the clip tightness is different. I dare you to get a sheet of graphene between the clip and cap on this pen! Going to need to adjust that as well. Totally different than all of my other Omas pens. Im really baffled by all this. This pen was one of the last Omas made as well as my factory tuned Paragon Ludovico Einaudi Signature. The Signature Paragon is perfect. I mean really, its the best pen I have! This Milord though is 180 degrees out. Omas must have been an interesting place to be during the last days. All I can say is that I sincerely hope the nibsmith who built my Signature Paragon has picked up a great job at Montegrappa or the like. That one is an artist whos talents should not be wasted!

INTRODUCTION: The Omas Ogiva Vision Turquoise LE is my fifth Omas pen - a collaboration between local retailer Fook Hing Trading Co and Italian manufacturer Omas SRL. This installation of the Ogiva is exceptionally special because the pen is one in a limited edition of no more than 20 pieces. The new Omas Ogiva Vision Turquoise is only available locally and I consider myself fortunate to be able to own one of these beautiful specimens. The Ogiva Vision demonstrator was also available in another limited edition of Blue (with rose gold trims) and Green (with High Tech rhodium trims). The pens were a revival of the Ogiva Vision seen in the 1990s and early 2000s. The pen comes in an understated hard cardboard box lined with velvet. It is wrapped in plastic and placed into a velvety sheath. Below the pen, there is an information and warranty booklet. http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w143/nicholasyzh/Ogiva8Custom.jpg 1. Appearance & Design (10/10) – The Omas Ogiva Vision was born in the year 1927. It was one of the foremost pens designed by OMAS founder Armando Simoni, a prelude to some remarkable achievements which were to follow. The significance of the Ogiva in Omas’ history is clear - although the Ogiva is now discontinued as part of Omas’ regular production, it is still seen on commemorative editions. Like its name suggests, the Omas Ogiva Vision is a translucent demonstrator pen made with turquoise cotton resin. The turquoise coloured barrel is really attractive, with just the right amount of transparency. It is accented by luxurious rose gold trims and black piston parts, and a matching genuine agate cap rolling wheel. The rolling wheel matches the pen perfectly because it is semi-translucent. The appearance of the Ogiva Vision Turquoise is inspired by its creator’s love for Greek culture and architecture. The trademark Greek key etching is found on the central ring, while the pen's overall design is certainly a timeless statement of elegance. The Ogiva Vision Turquoise is more refined than its relative, The Paragon. The barrel is rounded, unlike The Paragon, which is faceted. This makes the pen very comfortable to hold and write with, no matter what your writing angle. Finally, the details of the pen are etched onto the cap in an understated way. If you weren’t looking closely, you may not notice the words "XX/20", which tell of the exclusive collaboration. 2. Construction & Quality (10/10) – The Omas Ogiva Vision Turquoise is a really well made pen. It is constructed from thick translucide “Cotton Resin”. The Ogiva Vision’s clear turquoise design reveals the innards of an Omas pen, and the innards of an Omas demonstrator offers no less than absolute perfection. Looking at the pen under a loupe, I could tell that the greatest efforts were taken to create the pen. It is free from imperfections and the translucent resin shows off the innards and piston mechanism. Apart from that, there were also no remnants from the factory and manufacturing line. Even the Flessible nib was free from any micro scratches and was polished to a perfect shine. The piston mechanism can be seen at work, something really enjoyable to watch. I have seen piston pens from other brands held together by some kind of epoxy, but here I can tell the Ogiva Vision Turquoise is held together by technical ingenuity. On a whole, I could find no flaw with the construction and quality, and I do believe that the pen will last a lifetime if used carefully. 3. Weight & Dimensions (8/10) – The Omas Ogiva Vision Turquoise is made of cotton resin, and therefore the pen is not very heavy. It is not light to the extent it feels cheap, and if it is filled it has considerable weight. The cap is also rather light so posting it is not a problem. The weight and dimensions of the Ogiva Vision Turquoise makes for long, comfortable writing and the almost standard sized body will suit almost any hand. Here are some technical specifications for those who’d like to know: Weight : 28 grams Length with cap closed : 14.7cm Diameter : 1.5 cm 4. Nib & Performance (10/10) – This is where everything gets exciting. The Omas Ogiva Vision Limited Edition Turquoise Demonstrator comes with a 14 karat gold Extra Flessible nib plated in rose gold. The nib can be regarded as semi-flex, and it gives a very nice soft feel to your writing. The 14k Extra Flessible is (in the words of a friend) unquestionably one of the closest things to a vintage flex (excluding the vintage flex itself). I opted for the Extra Fine version because I know that it gives the greatest line variation, and I really enjoy writing with this nib. If you do push it ever so slightly, you will see that the nib responds to your writing pressure. It is not as soft as a Pilot FA nib but not as hard as a Pilot Falcon either. Such a nib gives great shading when inked with the right inks. (Refer to attached writing scan.) If you write normally, you will get really comfortable writing with little effort, and the wonderful ebonite feed certainly keeps up with the nib in terms of flow. Some specialty nibs are also fitted on pens with a rather small ink capacity, which is a letdown - thankfully, that is not the case here. The generous piston system on the Ogiva Vision will provide hours and more of great writing. I continue to be impressed by the great nibs that Omas pens are fitted with. Omas nibs certainly hold up to the smoothness of Japanese nibs, yet they aren't as stiff. It seems their quality control systems are also very strict because I have yet to find any serious issues or misaligned tines out of the box. Overall, I would highly recommend Omas pens for their nibs. The nib is somewhat semi-flex but I do think it'd make a great daily writer especially in Extra Fine! 5. Filling System & Maintenance (8/10) - Specialty nibs consume a lot of ink just as a performance car consumes fuel. Fortunately, as I briefly mentioned above, the Ogiva Vision has a capacious filling system that will provide hours of continuous writing. The Omas piston system is not as easy to dismantle, and I'm unlikely to want to attempt that myself. However, I do trust that it will operate smoothly for years to come. The double-lipped plunger is unlikely to leak and will not need grease for a long time because it operates very smoothly. 6. Cost & Value (9/10) – Although the Omas Ogiva Vision Turquoise is a limited edition pen, retail price is indeed priced competitively in comparison to similar models. The fact that all models are equipped with an Extra Flessible nib is a big plus. The value of the pen is therefore tremendous, whether for use or for collection. The Extra Flessible nib will provide years of writing pleasure while the exclusivity and rareness of the pen means that you probably will never see a turquoise coloured, rose gold accented Ogiva Vision in the near future. 7.Conclusion (Final score, 9.16666666667/10) - I eagerly anticipated the arrival of the Ogiva Turquoise, and once it arrived my expectations were exceeded. Three things really made this a special pen for me - a. Turquoise demo b. Flexible nib c. 20-piece Limited Edition It is on this positive note that I end my review. I must say Omas truly deserves its listing by Foundazione Altagamma as one of the premium brands encapsulating the principles of Italian design and craftsmanship. I must also commend the good folks at Fook Hing Trading Co for their impeccable taste in creating this stunning demonstrator pen which balances luxury with writing performance. I can only wish them the best in their future collaborations. Background Information: You may be interested in the kinds of pens I like - I've long been an advocate of Japanese pens. I started out with my first pen, a Lamy Vista, many years ago. Eventually I progressed to the Lamy 2000 and a Sailor Professional Gear which I still write with daily today. I like wooden pens and demonstrator pens, and recently I started to appreciate Omas pens for their great nibs and construction quality. I acquired the Arte Italiana Art Deco and 360 in Vintage Turquoise, both of which are wonderful pens I am glad to have in my collection. This is my ninth review on FPN. You may have read my reviews of the Sailor Professional Gear here, Pilot Custom Heritage 92 here, Namiki Origami Crane here, Sailor Chizusugi Cedar Wood Sapporo here, Omas 360 Vintage Turquoise LE here, Pelikan Souveran M800 Tortoiseshell Brown here, Sailor 1911 Profit Hakone Yosegi-Zaiku here, Sailor Precious Wood of the World Sapporo pens here, Stipula Etruria Rainbow Yellow LE here. If you'd like to know more about my pens and collection you can find out more about me here at my profile. This review contains high-resolution photographs which you can view below the post. Till my next review, here are some photographs of this exceptional pen for your viewing pleasure! I’ve also included links to my previous reviews in the above paragraph for your convenience. http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w143/nicholasyzh/Ogiva1Custom.jpg http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w143/nicholasyzh/Ogiva2Custom.jpg http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w143/nicholasyzh/Ogiva3Custom.jpg http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w143/nicholasyzh/Ogiva4Custom.jpg http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w143/nicholasyzh/Ogiva5Custom.jpg http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w143/nicholasyzh/Ogiva6Custom.jpg http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w143/nicholasyzh/Ogiva7Custom.jpg