OMAS Made in China?

[Keyless Works]

I got my first new OMAS pen, an Ogiva Cocktail Bellini, with their new in-house flex nib. I’ve compared it to my extra flessible nib and prefer the new one. It’s excellent. The extra flessible nib is smoother but doesn’t flex as easily. However, these flex nibs can vary in flexibility, at least that’s my experience with Scribo nibs.

 

Now for the problems:

• There seems to be a feed issue. It might be dirt in the feed, but it writes beautifully with a generous flow for 2-3 lines, then skips a word and resumes.
• The engraving on the trim is poor, cheap laser engraving that you can notice from a distance.
• The roller on the clip does not roll or move in any way. The OMAS logo on the cap ring is not centered with the clip.
• The threading feels gritty and doesn't always catch perfectly.
• The cap doesn't post because they moved the threading further back on the section (requiring the threading to be right at the cap opening).
• The piston isn't smooth but feels better than most old OMAS pistons from the 90s and 00s. The Asvine tool's tines fit the indentations of the piston filling system.

 

OMAS responded the same day to my repair request and gave me a return label. We’ll see what they do for me.

 

I’m hopeful they’ll improve the quality as the nib is excellent and the pen retains the form of the Ogiva from the ‘00s. The customer service is better than anything from the old OMAS company.

 

On 1/12/2025 at 7:12 PM, Dillo said:

Historically, there were very particular celluloid pens that had much more problems than others. Usually it could be traced to very particular materials. For OMAS, a few of the celluloids they used, for example in the more modern Extra Lucens, the Wild celluloids, the Arlecchino celluloids, the Saffron Blue, seem to be more susceptible to than others. I believe most of these were made by Mazzucchelli. I believe they don't offer cellulose nitrate anymore though, only the more stable cellulose acetate material now. I collect vintage Italian pens, and most older OMAS pens have not had the same kinds of issues. The material requires very specific production and environmental controls to yield a stable product, and some of the issues may not be directly traceable to OMAS. It's more likely a "wrong place" in the "wrong time" sort of situation. OMAS certainly used a lot of that material.

 

There are particular vintage pens with this problem as well where you would see this, but it was only very particular pens. Some Wahl Eversharp Dorics for instance.

 

To be clear, I'm talking about the crystallization, not the ambering. Ambering in this case does not appear to have much effect on the strength or integrity of the material.

 

Most plastics can be considered inherently unstable in some ways, but with care usually they can last a while, celluloid included. However, there are some plastics that just don't survive well over time and deteriorate rapidly in age, more so than their counterparts. The material that the 2000's era Parker Reflex was made of is one of these. It forms cracks very easily and becomes brittle after only a few years. Another is the material of the Parker 61 and the material of the 45. All of these are pretty common plastics, but for whatever reason, with the processing and formulation, somehow they were not stable enough to survive long term compared to other pens made from similar plastics (likely with different additives). I would consider that, in some ways, a failure of the formulation and processing. I will be quite curious to see how some of today's modern pens fare some years from now.

Good points. I too am curious to see how these modern celluloids hold up in time. I have a number of modern Montegrappas with different celluloids as well and they feel so much less delicate and less fussy than OMAS pens such that I end up using them a lot more. I hope they will last. 

[MarcoA63]

Out of curiosity, why buy a new Omas today when it has nothing to share with the old Omas. It is a completely different design and approach to what was a vintage Omas pen. It is your money but.... really? Do you want to throw it away like this?

[Keyless Works]

Just now, MarcoA63 said:

Out of curiosity, why buy a new Omas today when it has nothing to share with the old Omas. It is a completely different design and approach to what was a vintage Omas pen. It is your money but.... really? Do you want to throw it away like this?

1) The pen looks like an OMAS in shape. I think OMAS made some of the most beautiful pens ever. 2) The pen has a really nice in-house nib.

 

I will except lower quality to have a beautiful nice writing pen. These pens are cheaper than a Scribo and look so much better.

[MarcoA63]

I have a couple of Omas. A Gentleman with vegetable resin body, in my case was (bleep), so much so that the barrel shrunk but got repaired perfectly.

An Extra Lucens which is amazing.

I would never buy a new Omas as well as new Delta or any new Italian resurrected brand. Why? They are done and buried and a rip off in the price bracket they are placed.

[Keyless Works]

1 hour ago, MarcoA63 said:

I have a couple of Omas. A Gentleman with vegetable resin body, in my case was (bleep), so much so that the barrel shrunk but got repaired perfectly.

An Extra Lucens which is amazing.

I would never buy a new Omas as well as new Delta or any new Italian resurrected brand. Why? They are done and buried and a rip off in the price bracket they are placed.

What makes them a rip off? Other Italian brands charge more and most don't have in-house nibs.

 

I haven't tried the new Delta pens yet but I do have experience with Maiora (same factory as new Delta and same CEO as the original Delta brand) they seem of equal build quality to my old Delta pens, the noticeable difference is the nibs which I do think are not as nice aesthetically as the old Bock Delta nibs.

[Seney724]

@Keyless Works  I'm confused.  Just five days ago (January 11th) your comment about the "new" Omas nibs was you had "No idea where the nibs come from."

And now  you have repeatedly referred to them as "in house." 

Why the change? Have you learned more about the "new" Omas which you can share with us?

Until now it has not occurred to me that the "new" Omas had anything "in house" or, for that matter, even a "house."

[Keyless Works]

13 minutes ago, Seney724 said:

@Keyless Works  I'm confused.  Just five days ago (January 11th) your comment about the "new" Omas nibs was you had "No idea where the nibs come from."

And now  you have repeatedly referred to them as "in house." 

Why the change? Have you learned more about the "new" Omas which you can share with us?

Until now it has not occurred to me that the "new" Omas had anything "in house" or, for that matter, even a "house."

Both statements can be true. The company says they are in house and I have no idea where the OMAS house is.

 

[Seney724]

14 minutes ago, Keyless Works said:

Both statements can be true. The company says they are in-house and I have no idea where the OMAS house is.

Sorry, that does not pass my "smell" test.

 

Until someone can provide some documentation or evidence of the "house,", I'm not buying that these are "in house" nibs.

 

Sure, they came out of some factory (or factories), somewhere...... along with the rest of the parts they use to assemble the "new" Omas pens. 

But, until so documented, to call them "in house,"....... at least in the context of what dedicated pen people over the years have thought about when hearing the words "in house".......IMO is a bit of a stretch.

[Keyless Works]

1 hour ago, Seney724 said:

Sorry, that does not pass my "smell" test.

 

Until someone can provide some documentation or evidence of the "house,", I'm not buying that these are "in house" nibs.

 

Sure, they came out of some factory (or factories), somewhere...... along with the rest of the parts they use to assemble the "new" Omas pens. 

But, until so documented, to call them "in house,"....... at least in the context of what dedicated pen people over the years have thought about when hearing the words "in house".......IMO is a bit of a stretch.

For something to be made in house you first have to have a house and I agree that isn't at all known with the new OMAS.

 

The nibs to my eye are the nicest part of the pen by far. They are nicely stamped (no cheap laser engraving) and the ebonite feed on my pen looks nice to me; it's closer to a 90s OMAS feed than the feeds on my Scribo. If they are Bock or JoWo nibs they are not at all standard.

 

To just start making your nibs from scratch though is no small feat, so I do think the company should provide us more details.

 

[Dillo]

It's quite a big deal to have a good-working nib. If you look at Visconti's in-house nibs, they really are struggling with them quite a bit. It takes a good amount of time and R&D to make a decent and consistent nib. If they can continue the OMAS name and make a pen that is as good or better, then all the power to them.

[Seney724]

12 hours ago, Keyless Works said:

For something to be made in house you first have to have a house and I agree that isn't at all known with the new OMAS.

 

The nibs to my eye are the nicest part of the pen by far. They are nicely stamped (no cheap laser engraving) and the ebonite feed on my pen looks nice to me; it's closer to a 90s OMAS feed than the feeds on my Scribo. If they are Bock or JoWo nibs they are not at all standard.

 

To just start making your nibs from scratch though is no small feat, so I do think the company should provide us more details.

 

I very much agree with all you have said about nibs.  And, yes, a really great nib makes up for a lot of shortcomings.

But there is more to a pen than just its nib.

 

Let's not forget the other issues you have encountered with your new pen upon arrival (shared earlier in this thread):

• There seems to be a feed issue. It might be dirt in the feed, but it writes beautifully with a generous flow for 2-3 lines, then skips a word and resumes.
• The engraving on the trim is poor, cheap laser engraving that you can notice from a distance.
• The roller on the clip does not roll or move in any way. The OMAS logo on the cap ring is not centered with the clip.
• The threading feels gritty and doesn't always catch perfectly.
• The cap doesn't post because they moved the threading further back on the section (requiring the threading to be right at the cap opening).
• The piston isn't smooth but feels better than most old OMAS pistons from the 90s and 00s. The Asvine tool's tines fit the indentations of the piston filling system.

Bottom line is your new, "New" Omas pen has a number of quality control related flaws and failures.  And, you have to send it back.

This is not a "one off", unusual event; it is recurrent theme with the fountain pens which are being produced by the principal players.

[Seney724]

11 hours ago, Dillo said:

 If they can continue the OMAS name and make a pen that is as good or better, then all the power to them.

That's a big "if!"  The courts will ultimately make that decision, if they last that long.

 

It would be really great if there is a lawyer in our midst who can opine on the way they staked their claim to the name "Omas" (by stating the trademark for the name had been abandoned and was theirs for the taking) and whether it will hold up in court with others claiming they did not abandon the Omas name, a name for which they paid a  a goodly sum to acquire.

 

Note:  This information is in the public domain in both a video and a blog featuring the CEO of the "new" Omas.

[Keyless Works]

9 minutes ago, Seney724 said:

Bottom line is your new, "New" Omas pen has a number of quality control related flaws and failures.  And, you have to send it back.

This is not a "one off", unusual event; it is recurrent theme with the fountain pens which are being produced by the principal players.

 

Yes, the pen isn't good, but I'm excited about having OMAS-looking pens with high-quality nibs that are different from those on the market. If they can improve their quality and make pens that look and write great, I'm willing to accept teething issues.

 

Why isn't this a "one-off"? I'm not saying it isn't, just that I don't know. Who are the principal players? We don't know much about the production or the company's setup.

 

[Seney724]

6 minutes ago, Keyless Works said:

 

Yes, the pen isn't good, but I'm excited about having OMAS-looking pens with high-quality nibs that are different from those on the market. If they can improve their quality and make pens that look and write great, I'm willing to accept teething issues.

 

Why isn't this a "one-off"? I'm not saying it isn't, just that I don't know. Who are the principal players? We don't know much about the production or the company's setup.

 

Did you look through the link I previously provided for you?  

[Keyless Works]

15 minutes ago, Seney724 said:

Did you look through the link I previously provided for you?  

Yes I did but my questions remain. We know Frank is a part of the business but nothing more.

[Seney724]

13 minutes ago, Keyless Works said:

Yes I did but my questions remain. We know Frank is a part of the business but nothing more.

Ok, I guess we'll just need to leave it at that..............

Good luck and please let us know how this all turns out for you.

[Keyless Works]

16 minutes ago, Seney724 said:

Ok, I guess we'll just need to leave it at that..............

Good luck and please let us know how this all turns out for you.

Will do!

The old Lamy US sales director is now at Navhalur/OMAS. I will see if he can answer some of my questions.