Omas Ogiva Albas: Two Italic Nibs Compared

[dms525]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

[Bill Wood]

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

[dms525]

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

[RVC]

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

[Ste_S]

Thanks for the review David, both of those look like excellent pens

[Aysedasi]

Lovely

[nicholasyeo]

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

[whichwatch]

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 April 1, 2015 by whichwatch

[dms525]

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

[dms525]

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.

 

David

[StrawberryJam]

 

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.

 

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...

[StrawberryJam]

 

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....

[graystranger]

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.

[TinyTim]

Your writing is beutiful .

Nice pics as well

Thanks

[Keyless Works]

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.

[dms525]

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

[Diderot]

Beautiful.

[rwilsonedn]

 

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

[StrawberryJam]

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 April 7, 2015 by StrawberryJam

[dms525]

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