The OMAS brand has made some new pens

[dms525]

3 hours ago, Seney724 said:

Do not be confused by all the smoke & mirrors.

Frank Zhang "answers" to Emmanuel "Manu" Caltagirone

https://thepenfamily.com/pages/our

 

Frank Zhang comes across as sincere. Manu has always triggered my BS meter alarm. Where's the evidence for your assertion re. whose in control?

 

David

[ZeroDukE]

13 hours ago, Seney724 said:

Do not be confused by all the smoke & mirrors.

Frank Zhang "answers" to Emmanuel "Manu" Caltagirone

https://thepenfamily.com/pages/our

 

I don't understand that.  That webpage just says "When the OMAS luxury pen brand was up for sale, Emmanuel knew it would be his crown jewel. OMAS had something other pen makers covet – beautiful and rare celluloid material". It seems it's talking about the material he bought.  

 

[Seney724]

11 hours ago, dms525 said:

 

Frank Zhang comes across as sincere. Manu has always triggered my BS meter alarm. Where's the evidence for your assertion re. whose in control?

 

David

Quite honestly, I think the point is moot and not worth creating an argument between two like souls who both definitely mourn the loss of the real Omas.

I'll only offer that your points are all based on a tightly scripted "infomercial" which is hardly any kind of evidence at all.

 

Do I have more evidence?  Sure.  If you'd like to discuss privately, I'd be happy to do so.  

 

For now, just remember that old adage "Whomever holds the gold makes the rules."  Simply substitute the words "genuine vintage Omas celluloid rods" for the word "gold."  From there, look back and see who made the announcement about the launch of the "new" Omas at the 2023 CA Pen Show. There's more.  Lots more.  It's all too easy to connect the dots.

[dms525]

2 hours ago, Seney724 said:

Quite honestly, I think the point is moot and not worth creating an argument between two like souls who both definitely mourn the loss of the real Omas.

I'll only offer that your points are all based on a tightly scripted "infomercial" which is hardly any kind of evidence at all.

 

Do I have more evidence?  Sure.  If you'd like to discuss privately, I'd be happy to do so.  

 

For now, just remember that old adage "Whomever holds the gold makes the rules."  Simply substitute the words "genuine vintage Omas celluloid rods" for the word "gold."  From there, look back and see who made the announcement about the launch of the "new" Omas at the 2023 CA Pen Show. There's more.  Lots more.  It's all too easy to connect the dots.

 

The issue for me is one of trust in the brand - expectations of product quality and customer service. For now, I think I will monitor the situation and read/watch product reviews. 

 

The penaddict review of the 2023 CA Pen Show mentions "Jorge Mejia" as a partner with Manu and Frank Zhang in the OMAS venture. Do you know anything about Mejia?

 

David

[Seney724]

10 minutes ago, dms525 said:

 

The issue for me is one of trust in the brand - expectations of product quality and customer service. For now, I think I will monitor the situation and read/watch product reviews. 

I agree 100%.  This is the thing to do.  Time will tell all.

 

The penaddict review of the 2023 CA Pen Show mentions "Jorge Mejia" as a partner with Manu and Frank Zhang in the OMAS venture. Do you know anything about Mejia?

Yes.  See below. (His business card)

More dots for you to connect David.  

 

 

 

[Seney724]

On 3/13/2024 at 7:31 PM, dms525 said:

 

Here's the current status of OMAS's former property: At OMAS's liquidation, Ancora owned the name, ASC owned the materials (celluloid) and the former OMAS staff who formed Scribo owned the nib making equipment.

 

Since then, Ancora has sold the rights to the OMAS name to a new company, named "Uniluxe LLC" which is  the company that makes Nahvalur and Ikakku, the principal of which is Frank Zhang, They arranged a "joint effort" with Armando Simoni Club, aka ASC, and started a new pen company called ... OMAS!  Frank Zhang is President of the company. They are making OMAS pens in Italy. I don't know where. They indicate they make the nibs in house. At present, they only sell pens with F, M and B nibs. 

 

 

David-

Until you mentioned the Goldspot interview with Frank Zhang on YouTube I was unaware of its existence. 

I have gone back and had a look at it, especially in view of your very strong impression of Mr. Zhang's performance.

The primary reason for this post is to ask where you got the information that "Ancora has sold the rights to the OMAS name to a new company named 'Uniluxe LLC' which is the company that makes Nahvalur and Ikakku, the principal of which is Frank Zhang?"

 

I ask because in this interview Tom (the Goldspot YouTube guy) asks Zhang is asked about the new OMAS and, in particular, its origin.  This segment begins at 26:38 of the interview.  The first and most noticeable thing (at least to me) is at this point Zhang becomes very visibly nervous and remains that way throughout this portion of the interview.  If I am understanding him correctly, he explains that the rights to the OMAS name were about to expire and that it was his & Caltigirone's plan to snap up those naming rights by taking them over as soon as this expiration date occurred.  To me that sounds more like a hostile hijacking of the name rather than an amicable sale of the rights from Ancora to Zhang, so the source of your information would be of great interest to me as I try to sort this all out.  Is there more to know? 

 

As I recall, part of the early fighting between Caltgirone's operation and Ancora was based upon the fact that Caltgirone has the US rights to the name OMAS but Ancora had the EU rights to OMAS.  I think this is correct but am not 100% positive.  Regardless, my recollection is they both felt they had the right to call their operation OMAS.  Was what Zhang is talking about expiring the EU rights to the name?  If so, and Caltigirone & Zhang did acquire them via takeover or sale then they do, indeed, have what I would guess is the worldwide rights to the name OMAS.  Based upon Zhang's nervousness in that segment of the video I surmise that this is not a simple nor a "done" matter.  Or, more fairly stated, were not when this video appeared about 6 months ago.  It would be interesting to see if more up-to-date information is currently available.

 

Equally interesting to me are the comments which are a part of the page where one accesses this video. Did you see them?  Trust me, none of them are me; it seems that there was a lot of skepticism among those who commented about Caltigirone's role in all this........

 

In keeping with your report, Zhang does say on the video that he is the "managing partner" of the OMAS operation.  That is certainly not inconsistent with a structure / relationship where Caltgirone is in charge ("Head Honcho" as he likes to call himself) and the day-to-day activities are managed by Zhang.  One might even postulate that the structure put into place is one which was intentionally created in a way so as to protect Caltgirone and his other business assets (ASC, Pen Family, Nibs.com, Fountain Pen Hospital, etc., etc) from any OMAS related legal action(s) taken by Ancora or any others.  

 

Many of the timelines that Zhang outlines in the video were for late 2023 / early 2024.  A quick look at the https://omasofficial.com/ website would suggest that they have not been kept.

 

In the end, perhaps the most pertinent observation is your own.  You have stated "I will monitor the situation and read/watch product reviews."  At this point, I think that is the best course and, quite frankly, all that any of us can do pending further information & clarification from either Ancora or Zhang/Caltigirone.

 

[Carrau]

I understand the concern many have when a beloved brand changes ownership, as it is always a dice roll. I’m sure this happened when Porsche, Volvo, Jaguar, and Rolls-Royce were sold on to others.  There were changes, some for the better (improved reliability, production, serviceability, updated design, for example), and doubtless aficionados complained that change occurred. As the owner of a number of OMAS pens, and from what I’ve read over the years, it seems most of those who venerate OMAS pens do so because of their nibs, their celluloid, workmanship (up to a point), and fairly simple designs.  Were they perfect?  It seems not, considering the number of issues with their pistons and celluloid, not to mention general issues with their customer service.  Are they around now to provide service on their pens when there is a problem? Are any of their designated service centers still offering to perform service on them?  Were they such good pens and businessmen that their company was successful?

 

So what are the standards that we should employ to measure any pen manufacturer by?  Mr. Zhang will be using the same materials (presumably until they are exhausted), and it appears that he will be using some of the old model designs.  Apparently the filling mechanism will not be OMAS’ (probably a good thing).  So this leaves overall workmanship and the nib quality as the unknowns at this point.  Mr. Zhang’s Narwhal pens appear to be quality products even at a much lower price point, and in particular buyers consistently have good things to say about the performance of their standard nibs out of the box (we can all relate to experiences with major luxury pen producers that can’t come close to that level of satisfaction).  One can be hopeful that his new company’s nibs, wherever they may be made, will be quality products.  I’m not aware of any evidence either way at this time,   He is offering to service his products, with a two year warranty at this time, and, I believe he is offering to service original OMAS pens as well (I’m sure someone will find something dark in that offer).  While how good his product is remains to be seen, I have to agree with David that time will tell.  Why not be hopeful for a product that may functionally be better than the original?   What the behind the scenes dealings and company timeline have to do with the measures of quality, I’m not sure I understand, especially given the chequered past of the original OMAS as a now defunct company.

[Seney724]

13 minutes ago, Carrau said:

I understand the concern many have when a beloved brand changes ownership, as it is always a dice roll. I’m sure this happened when Porsche, Volvo, Jaguar, and Rolls-Royce were sold on to others.  There were changes, some for the better (improved reliability, production, serviceability, updated design, for example), and doubtless aficionados complained that change occurred. As the owner of a number of OMAS pens, and from what I’ve read over the years, it seems most of those who venerate OMAS pens do so because of their nibs, their celluloid, workmanship (up to a point), and fairly simple designs.  Were they perfect?  It seems not, considering the number of issues with their pistons and celluloid, not to mention general issues with their customer service.  Are they around now to provide service on their pens when there is a problem? Are any of their designated service centers still offering to perform service on them?  Were they such good pens and businessmen that their company was successful?

 

So what are the standards that we should employ to measure any pen manufacturer by?  Mr. Zhang will be using the same materials (presumably until they are exhausted), and it appears that he will be using some of the old model designs.  Apparently the filling mechanism will not be OMAS’ (probably a good thing).  So this leaves overall workmanship and the nib quality as the unknowns at this point.  Mr. Zhang’s Narwhal pens appear to be quality products even at a much lower price point, and in particular buyers consistently have good things to say about the performance of their standard nibs out of the box (we can all relate to experiences with major luxury pen producers that can’t come close to that level of satisfaction).  One can be hopeful that his new company’s nibs, wherever they may be made, will be quality products.  I’m not aware of any evidence either way at this time,   He is offering to service his products, with a two year warranty at this time, and, I believe he is offering to service original OMAS pens as well (I’m sure someone will find something dark in that offer).  While how good his product is remains to be seen, I have to agree with David that time will tell.  Why not be hopeful for a product that may functionally be better than the original?   What the behind the scenes dealings and company timeline have to do with the measures of quality, I’m not sure I understand, especially given the chequered past of the original OMAS as a now defunct company.

In all fairness, I think you have mischaracterized the true, original Omas.  In my mind, that Omas died in 2000 when LVMH acquired the Company from the founder's (Armando Simoni) family. 

 

For sure, as you describe, from 2000 to 2016 the Company definitely floundered as it went from ownership in France to Hong Kong and ultimately to China before finally being liquidated. And, what you describe with poor quality and customer service continued, if not worsened, once the new, non-Omas ASC ramped up their operations shortly thereafter.

 

But, prior to 2000, when the Company was in the hands of Simoni and his heirs things were nothing like what you describe in terms of workmanship, customer service, etc., etc.  There was nothing "chequered" about the original Omas.  It was a class act.

 

I know this because I was an owner then as well as a card carrying member of the real Armando Simoni Club "back in the day" when Omas was Omas. (Yes, we actually had membership cards and individual membership numbers)!  I'm not the only one, there are others here too.  Hopefully they will corroborate my recollections and sentiments.

 

[dms525]

5 hours ago, Seney724 said:

David-

Until you mentioned the Goldspot interview with Frank Zhang on YouTube I was unaware of its existence. 

I have gone back and had a look at it, especially in view of your very strong impression of Mr. Zhang's performance.

The primary reason for this post is to ask where you got the information that "Ancora has sold the rights to the OMAS name to a new company named 'Uniluxe LLC' which is the company that makes Nahvalur and Ikakku, the principal of which is Frank Zhang?"

 

I ask because in this interview Tom (the Goldspot YouTube guy) asks Zhang is asked about the new OMAS and, in particular, its origin.  This segment begins at 26:38 of the interview.  The first and most noticeable thing (at least to me) is at this point Zhang becomes very visibly nervous and remains that way throughout this portion of the interview.  If I am understanding him correctly, he explains that the rights to the OMAS name were about to expire and that it was his & Caltigirone's plan to snap up those naming rights by taking them over as soon as this expiration date occurred.  To me that sounds more like a hostile hijacking of the name rather than an amicable sale of the rights from Ancora to Zhang, so the source of your information would be of great interest to me as I try to sort this all out.  Is there more to know? 

 

As I recall, part of the early fighting between Caltgirone's operation and Ancora was based upon the fact that Caltgirone has the US rights to the name OMAS but Ancora had the EU rights to OMAS.  I think this is correct but am not 100% positive.  Regardless, my recollection is they both felt they had the right to call their operation OMAS.  Was what Zhang is talking about expiring the EU rights to the name?  If so, and Caltigirone & Zhang did acquire them via takeover or sale then they do, indeed, have what I would guess is the worldwide rights to the name OMAS.  Based upon Zhang's nervousness in that segment of the video I surmise that this is not a simple nor a "done" matter.  Or, more fairly stated, were not when this video appeared about 6 months ago.  It would be interesting to see if more up-to-date information is currently available.

 

Equally interesting to me are the comments which are a part of the page where one accesses this video. Did you see them?  Trust me, none of them are me; it seems that there was a lot of skepticism among those who commented about Caltigirone's role in all this........

 

In keeping with your report, Zhang does say on the video that he is the "managing partner" of the OMAS operation.  That is certainly not inconsistent with a structure / relationship where Caltgirone is in charge ("Head Honcho" as he likes to call himself) and the day-to-day activities are managed by Zhang.  One might even postulate that the structure put into place is one which was intentionally created in a way so as to protect Caltgirone and his other business assets (ASC, Pen Family, Nibs.com, Fountain Pen Hospital, etc., etc) from any OMAS related legal action(s) taken by Ancora or any others.  

 

Many of the timelines that Zhang outlines in the video were for late 2023 / early 2024.  A quick look at the https://omasofficial.com/ website would suggest that they have not been kept.

 

In the end, perhaps the most pertinent observation is your own.  You have stated "I will monitor the situation and read/watch product reviews."  At this point, I think that is the best course and, quite frankly, all that any of us can do pending further information & clarification from either Ancora or Zhang/Caltigirone.

 

 

My statement that Ancora sold rights to the OMAS brand name was extrapolated. I don't believe I saw a clear statement to that effect. Zhang's report that the copyright had expired due to lack of use sounds more authoritative, although I don't have the business law knowledge to support this. My diagnosis remains "Greek tragedy." Or maybe soap opera.

 

David

[Seney724]

3 minutes ago, dms525 said:

 

My statement that Ancora sold rights to the OMAS brand name was extrapolate. I don't believe I saw a clear statement to that effect. Zhang's report that the copyright had expired due to lack of use sounds more authoritative, although I don't have the business law knowledge to support this. My diagnosis remains "Greek tragedy." Or maybe soap opera.

 

David

Thanks so much David.

This all makes much more sense now. 

My guess is the business law knowledge (which we both lack!) has figured strongly into all of this.

And it further accentuates your diagnosis of "Greek tragedy vs. soap opera."  Not an ideal differential!!

[como]

I think It would be safe to say that @Seney724 is not planning on buying a new Omas pen 😜

[Seney724]

41 minutes ago, como said:

I think It would be safe to say that @Seney724 is not planning on buying a new Omas pen 😜

Ha, ha @como!  Good one!!

 

Actually, the honest truth is given the irreproducible nature of the glorious, vintage Omas celluloid rods, were someone to take them and produce a high quality fountain pen and couple it with similar high quality customer service (pre & post sale) I would be most amenable to acquiring one of them. 

 

Unfortunately, to date, that has not happened.  But, my friend @dms525 has offered all of us the very wise counsel of patiently sitting back, waiting, watching and seeing what follows.  That's my plan.  But, I must say, I do not think it is going to happen.  Only time will tell..............

[como]

@Seney724 “If my grandmother had wheels, she would have been a bike!”. No, I think you are not going to buy one no matter what 😂😂😂 because you think the best of Omas is behind us already. To this, I agree.

 

[Seney724]

19 minutes ago, como said:

@Seney724 “If my grandmother had wheels, she would have been a bike!”. No, I think you are not going to buy one no matter what 😂😂😂 because you think the best of Omas is behind us already. To this, I agree.

 

Thanks @como  This made me laugh!

In my heart, I know you are right.

(As always!)