Experiences With The Crystallization of Omas Celluloids

[Uncial]

My standard Galileo in Wild developed a weird deformation to the base of the barrel at a very early stage of ownership. It looks almost like a dent but was created by shrinkage. That element seems stable now, but the grip started to turn slightly brown about a year and a half ago (maybe two) and in the last few months it is now giving off quite a strong smell and has an oily feeling. Alas, I don't think it has long left.

 

The cotton resins have held up well but are terribly prone to very bad scratching which significantly mars their appearance.

 

The black Gentlemen and Alma Mater and the grey-blue Marconi are all good.

 

The Ogiva Arco Celluloid is holding up well, but there are signs on the net with a bit of searching that all may not bode well for the near future for these types of stacked celluloids.

[sansenri]

as you can see in my specific post on my Galileo, that was the very first sign on my pen, actually already on the pen when I bought it.

At the time I was not wise enough to understand that shrinkage of the celluloid was a sign of celluloid deterioration starting.

From that point, to the pen starting to produce nitric acid in quantity sufficient to affect ink inside it, it took about 5-6 years...

During such time the other signs that appeared were the corrosion of the metal parts, especially the ring close to the bottom finial, but also to some extent on the greek on the cap.

The wild celluloid and probably a number of specific batches of the Galileo are more at risk, to develop the problem sooner.

 

Despite some of the cotton resin Omas do suffer from some resin shrinkage (usually becoming evident in early life of the pen, with gold rings becoming loose, and caps not screwing on properly), they will not decay like celluloid.

 

[jchch1950]

Corrosion of the of the metal parts, deformation of the celluloid and then crumble in pieces. Not only Omas but also Visconti and Stipula.Now i have many very expensive nibs looking for suitable pen bodies.The celluloid of the 30's (USA )or of the 90' s (Japan) are more resilient to the corrosion than that of the Italian pens. 

[como]

A couple of years ago, I saw an Omas Urbano, the same celluloid as the Omas Galileo. I love the Wild celluloid. I always assumed (and still do) that the problem with Wild is linked specifically to Galileo model alone due to the composition of metal trims on that pen interacting with the Wild celluloid. I was quite tempted to buy the Urbano. Then I noticed that the creamy colour on the Urbano was much more yellow in some parts, where the pattern was large (a big patch of creamy coloured celluloid). I hesitated. 

 

To this date, I still cannot quite figure out how much of the crystallisation is due to storage and local climate, and how much is due to faulty celluloid. I tend to believe that storage and climate condition in part act as a catalyst and speeds up the crystallisation process. 

 

Of course celluloids can discolour and shrink, as they often do, with time. It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with crystallisation. There are plenty such examples in vintage pens. I am still wondering if Urbano ever suffers the fate of Galileo, even with favourable climate and careful storage conditions. I recently bought a Leonardo Momento Zero Grande in Wild. Time will tell if it will stay as good as new. Meanwhile I am enjoying writing and playing with it.

[sansenri]

The Urbano was made in such few units that there will not be enough reports about it, possibly none.

I tend to think that the main cause of trouble is faulty celluloid (not sufficiently "cured" when manufactured '). This would explain why some wild celluloid is still perfectly OK, while other wild celluloid has gone bad. I.e. if it is mainly a batch related problem this also explains why you have a higher number of a certain pen going bad (all those pens coming from the same batch).

On the other hand I also believe that climate and storage conditions will influence especially these more modern celluloids, while probably much less vintage celluloid. Probably some manufacturing process "secret", meaning the know-how of how to make a very stable celluloid, has gone lost (or worse has not be applied due to cost/time reasons).

I doubt the problem with the Galileo can be a reaction of the celluloid with other parts of the pen, Other Omas pens are made the same way but the rate of decay reports is smaller with other Omas celluloids (except the Arlecchino... which again makes me think there is a specific issue with THAT celluloid, again per specific batch).

The wild turning greenish yellow in it's veins is a worrying sign. When my Galileo broke up, the white veins had turned that colour and where the pen cracked they looked "liquified" compared to the black parts.

Unfortunately the decay can start without you noticing at first (which regretfully is a risk when buying).

My Visconti looks perfectly sane from outside (i.e. the celluloid has no signs of decay at all) the warning signs are mild corrosion of the metal on the top of the cap, this was first evidence, and now the effect on ink/water with what I assume is nitric acid released...

 

[como]

@sansenri Your explanations are plausible. The possibility of having a bad batch of celluloid seems to be greater than that of a bad batch of metal trims, as one would think that the latter was done not so differently from batch to batch.

[AoKiu]

On 10/19/2021 at 5:14 PM, como said:

A couple of years ago, I saw an Omas Urbano, the same celluloid as the Omas Galileo. I love the Wild celluloid. I always assumed (and still do) that the problem with Wild is linked specifically to Galileo model alone due to the composition of metal trims on that pen interacting with the Wild celluloid. I was quite tempted to buy the Urbano. Then I noticed that the creamy colour on the Urbano was much more yellow in some parts, where the pattern was large (a big patch of creamy coloured celluloid). I hesitated. 

 

To this date, I still cannot quite figure out how much of the crystallisation is due to storage and local climate, and how much is due to faulty celluloid. I tend to believe that storage and climate condition in part act as a catalyst and speeds up the crystallisation process. 

 

Of course celluloids can discolour and shrink, as they often do, with time. It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with crystallisation. There are plenty such examples in vintage pens. I am still wondering if Urbano ever suffers the fate of Galileo, even with favourable climate and careful storage conditions. I recently bought a Leonardo Momento Zero Grande in Wild. Time will tell if it will stay as good as new. Meanwhile I am enjoying writing and playing with it.

Both, my Urbano and the Galileo died already! I curse the day I bought my first celluloid nitrate pen (OMAS Saft Green Paragon) - was the first to decay! 

[Uncial]

It's a shame they can be so short lived, but they are such a pleasure while they are around.

[DavidD62]

My wife just acquired an OMAS Extra Paragon in Royal Blue date stamped 1996. I was somewhat aware of the celluloid degradation issue, but did not realize this pen was affected. However, it has begun to drift to a violet blue color, most noticeably on the section. There was also a bit of black oil seeping from the edge just around the nib.

 

We will be storing the pen in a cool dry place with plenty of circulating air. Is it also advisable to leave the cap off so the section can breathe? Further, should the section possibly be removed for storage so air reaches the inside of the piston?

Does the Royal Blue celluloid become crazed and swollen, or is turning purple the worst symptom? If the latter, I think we’ll be very happy with this pen since we both think it is quite pretty.

 

[jchch1950]

My Galileo and  Urbano had deteriorated. Is it possible that some the celluloid used for these pens were defective?  or they rushed to  manufacture and sell this pens for a high price without being sure of the quality of the material? Unlucky their is no Omas company available to give an answer.

[Uncial]

All things must pass

[Garageboy]

Wait, so are acro and Burkina style celluloid affected? 

[Uncial]

I haven't heard of the Arco or Burkina being effected in this way, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

[alfredop]

The blu royal is the more affected by the problem, then come the Galileo. I do not remember if I have seen also example of green celluloid deteriorated.

 

Alfredo

[Seney724]

8 hours ago, alfredop said:

The blu royal is the more affected by the problem, then come the Galileo. I do not remember if I have seen also example of green celluloid deteriorated.

 

Alfredo

The worst one is the Arlecchino celluloid.

[alfredop]

7 hours ago, Seney724 said:

The worst one is the Arlecchino celluloid.

Yes I completely forgot the Arlecchino (there should be very few example working now).

 

Alfredo

 

 

[Uncial]

On 7/31/2023 at 9:56 PM, alfredop said:

The blu royal is the more affected by the problem, then come the Galileo. I do not remember if I have seen also example of green celluloid deteriorated.

 

Alfredo

Is this the green arco? I think I saw a picture on the net of rot in one but I've never seen a brown arco picture of rot in that one.

[alfredop]

59 minutes ago, Uncial said:

Is this the green arco? I think I saw a picture on the net of rot in one but I've never seen a brown arco picture of rot in that one.

No, I was referring to the saft green celluloid. The arco celluloids should be safe, but I think that there are not guarantee.

 

Alfredo 

[VacNut]

I see either the section or the end cap of the royal blue change colors. I have not seen a barrel fade.
The Saft Green is problematic. It tends to affect the furniture more that the celluloid. I will be lining the storage boxes with the Zeolite paper to see if it slows the process. I store a little silica moisture pack with he pens, just in case.

[Christopher Godfrey]

alfredop wrote, just above: <..Yes I completely forgot the Arlecchino (there should be very few example working now)>

 

ASC are now offering a new pen in that same celluloid, aren't they?  I'll bet that the problem still persists.  Anyone know better?  Perhaps they <have> cured it?