My favorite Omas is a vintage one, a 556/S. It’s the slinkier, Continental version of the Parker 51. What I love about it is the nib – a classic flexible Omas nib with tremendous softness.
I found an Extra Flessibile nib on an Omas Saffron being sold on the Green Board. It’s nothing like my vintage Omas nib, but it has its own charms. The pen it comes in ain’t bad either.
This is an 80th anniversary Arte Italiana old-style Omas Paragon in Saffron celluloid.
I didn’t know it was 80/80 until Karlo pointed it out to me.
The edition number is engraved on the section, hidden under the cap.
Omas calls this trim HT, or high-tech. It’s in white metal compared to the more traditional golden. The trim matches the nib.
The ink flow is more than generous for what the nib requires.
The generous flow, combined with a nib width somewhere between a Western fine and medium, results in expressive, although not very shaded lines.
Given a finer tip, say an EF, this would show good line variation. The nib width and the high rate of ink flow don’t show the flexibility of the nib to its best advantage.
They’re not always reliable out of the box, but Omas nibs are always lookers.
