Jump to content

Omas Ogiva Albas: Two Italic Nibs Compared

dms525

By dms525
in Fountain Pen Reviews

 Share

Recommended Posts

dms525 Antique

dms525

Posted
Posted

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

À propos of previous discussions regarding OMAS Italic nibs, note that both of these nibs are 18Kt gold without tipping material. The nibs are round nibs with the tipping cut off, then ground to very smooth cursive italics. They write very smoothly, with just a bit of feedback, even with a dry ink like Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black.

 

The green pen was purchased from a European pen shop. The shop custom ordered the pen from the OMAS factory for me. I assume the italic nib was ground for my special order. A B nib was used. The Orange pen was ordered from a U.S. vendor who had stocked Ogiva Albas with "medium italic" nibs. These were obviously ground from M round nibs. The difference between the two nibs is small but discernible. The one ground from the B nib is perhaps 0.15 mm wider than the nib ground from the M nib. Otherwise, they are the same in smooth writing and degree of thick/thin line differentiation. They would be regarded as stubs rather than cursive italics by some, I am sure.

 

In any case, I am happy with both of these pens.

 

David

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 21
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • dms525

    6

  • StrawberryJam

    5

  • TinyTim

    1

  • graystranger

    1

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Bill Wood Vintage

Bill Wood

Posted
Posted

Great stuff David. I'd love that in a medium stub - although your orange comes close. Thanks for the great photos. Nicely done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dms525 Antique

dms525

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Great stuff David. I'd love that in a medium stub - although your orange comes close. Thanks for the great photos. Nicely done.

 

Thanks, Bill!

 

David

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RVC Near Mint

RVC

Posted
Posted

David,

 

Your writing is beautiful. Perhaps many others on this forum can write as well, but not me. In fact developing that kind of art in writing is one of the main reasons I have become interested in Fountain pens.

 

Thanks.

 

Rick

Link to comment
Share on other sites
nicholasyeo Collectors Item

nicholasyeo

Posted
Posted

That is a lovely nib! I think it is slightly soft... I tried the stub and it was rather soft!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
whichwatch Collectors Item

whichwatch

Posted
Posted (edited)

Nice review. I came *this* close to picking up all three Albas at the LA pen show but ultimately passed. Now I'm thinking that might have been a mistake!

 

Sure wish I could write like you!

Edited by whichwatch
Link to comment
Share on other sites
dms525 Antique

dms525

Posted
  • Author
Posted

That is a lovely nib! I think it is slightly soft... I tried the stub and it was rather soft!

 

Yes. These nibs are slightly soft. A feather touch is needed to get maximum line differentiation.

 

David

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dms525 Antique

dms525

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Nice review. I came *this* close to picking up all three Albas at the LA pen show but ultimately passed. Now I'm thinking that might have been a mistake!

 

Sure wish I could write like you!

 

Thanks for the compliments! :)

 

I am exercising restraint in not getting a purple Ogiva Alba. These pens appear to have been very popular and are almost gone from many vendors. My restraint is weak though, and it is not at all clear whether "exercise" strengthens it or exhausts it. :wacko:

 

David

Link to comment
Share on other sites
StrawberryJam Extremely Rare

StrawberryJam

Posted
Posted

 

I am exercising restraint in not getting a purple Ogiva Alba. These pens appear to have been very popular and are almost gone from many vendors. My restraint is weak though, and it is not at all clear whether "exercise" strengthens it or exhausts it. :wacko:

 

Thank you for sharing this review! I have an M-italic teal and a purple italic (size to be determined) is on its way to me. Currently holding off on the orange but I might cave pretty soon...

Current Wishlist:

Visconti, Visconti, and...more Visconti! (And some ST Duponts too). (Ok fine, getting on the Omas and Montblanc trains now too. Toot toot.) (And maybe on the Montegrappa one too, but only for the Miyas.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
StrawberryJam Extremely Rare

StrawberryJam

Posted
Posted

 

Thank you for sharing this review! I have an M-italic teal and a purple italic (size to be determined) is on its way to me. Currently holding off on the orange but I might cave pretty soon...

 

Purple one arrived today! Per my post in the Italy subforum, my purple italic is marked "B", but my teal one is an M-italic. Hmmmmmm....

Current Wishlist:

Visconti, Visconti, and...more Visconti! (And some ST Duponts too). (Ok fine, getting on the Omas and Montblanc trains now too. Toot toot.) (And maybe on the Montegrappa one too, but only for the Miyas.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
graystranger Extremely Rare

graystranger

Posted
Posted

dms525,

 

Great photos, thanks for sharing this with us. I bought a green Alba with the factory M Stub, I agree, super smooth and very wet. My experience is exactly the same as yours. I love how it feels in my hand and I just love to write with it. Not for cheap paper, my nib is not for writing small, but my handwriting with it is very nice, especially with well shading ink. I love Lexington Gray. It is so wet that El Lawrence looks like black unless you are in very bright light.

Eschew Sesquipedalian Obfuscation

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dms525 Antique

dms525

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Beautiful pens and handwriting!

 

Out of curiosity why do they do away with the tipping material? All of my italic fountain pens (excluding Leonardt nib pens) have an iridium tip.

 

Thank you.

 

Why OMAS cuts off the iridium completely is a mystery to me too.

 

David

Link to comment
Share on other sites
rwilsonedn Antique

rwilsonedn

Posted
Posted

 

Thank you.

 

Why OMAS cuts off the iridium completely is a mystery to me too.

 

David

 

I wonder. Do they cut the tipping off of finished nibs, or do they form the point on nibs that have not been tipped in the first place? That would seem to make more sense from a manufacturing standpoint.

ron

Link to comment
Share on other sites
StrawberryJam Extremely Rare

StrawberryJam

Posted
Posted (edited)

David -

 

A question for you - are the feeds on your pens the same?

 

I just looked at mine, and they have two different feeds:

http://i.imgur.com/aurUae4.jpg

 

Teal on top (M-italic); purple on bottom (B-italic)

 

http://i.imgur.com/wTfRBXm.jpg

Purple on left (B-italic from Marco @ Novelli); Teal on right.

 

Also, my Teal "M" seems to write broader than my Purple "B", although I don't know if that is because of the fact the teal is just so much wetter than the purple due to the feeds? The teal also seems to be much "softer" in the nib than the purple, but it looks like the purple has tipping on it while the teal does not.

Edited by StrawberryJam

Current Wishlist:

Visconti, Visconti, and...more Visconti! (And some ST Duponts too). (Ok fine, getting on the Omas and Montblanc trains now too. Toot toot.) (And maybe on the Montegrappa one too, but only for the Miyas.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dms525 Antique

dms525

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Both of my Ogiva Albas have a feed like the one on your Teal Ogiva. In fact, I have 13 OMAS pens - Paragons, Milords, 360's and Ogivas. All have the same type of feed. None are from before the 1990's, FWIW.

 

I would ask Marco for an explanation of the feed on your purple Ogiva Alba. I have found him to be super responsive to emails. And please share what you learn.

 

David

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43972
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      35609
    3. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      31488
    4. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    5. Bo Bo Olson
      Bo Bo Olson
      27747

  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Misfit
      On my second trip to Japan in seven months, while the going is good

      By Misfit · Posted

      Oh to have that translucent pink Prera! @migo984 has the Oeste series named after birds. There is a pink one, so I’m assuming Este is the same pen as Oeste.    Excellent haul. I have some Uniball One P pens. Do you like to use them? I like them enough, but don’t use them too much yet.    Do you or your wife use Travelers Notebooks? Seeing you were at Kyoto, I thought of them as there is a store there. 
    • A Smug Dill
      On my second trip to Japan in seven months, while the going is good

      By A Smug Dill · Posted

      It's not nearly so thick that I feel it comprises my fine-grained control, the way I feel about the Cross Peerless 125 or some of the high-end TACCIA Urushi pens with cigar-shaped bodies and 18K gold nibs. Why would you expect me or anyone else to make explicit mention of it, if it isn't a travesty or such a disappointment that an owner of the pen would want to bring it to the attention of his/her peers so that they could “learn from his/her mistake” without paying the price?
    • szlovak
      On my second trip to Japan in seven months, while the going is good

      By szlovak · Posted

      Why nobody says that the section of Tuzu besides triangular shape is quite thick. Honestly it’s the thickest one among my many pens, other thick I own is Noodler’s Ahab. Because of that fat section I feel more control and my handwriting has improved. I can’t say it’s comfortable or uncomfortable, but needs a moment to accommodate. It’s funny because my school years are long over. Besides this pen had horrible F nib. Tines were perfectly aligned but it was so scratchy on left stroke that collecte
    • stylographile
      Bits and bobs to bring with me to in-person meets

      By stylographile · Posted

      Awesome! I'm in the process of preparing my bag for our pen meet this weekend and I literally have none of the items you mention!! I'll see if I can find one or two!
    • inkstainedruth
      My notes and advice on fountain pen cleaning

      By inkstainedruth · Posted

      @asota -- Yeah, I think I have a few rolls in my fridge that are probably 20-30 years old at this point (don't remember now if they are B&W or color film) and don't even really know where to get the film processed, once the drive through kiosks went away....  I just did a quick Google search and (in theory) there was a place the next town over from me -- but got a 404 error message when I tried to click on the link....  Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth 

  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More

  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...