Ruthless Review! Omas Arte Italiana Celluloide

[TassoBarbasso]

Hi All!

 

This is the second of my "Ruthless reviews", after my review of the Pilot 3776 with Music nib, which you can find here. Don't forget: these reviews aim to spot all minimal faults in a pen, which really has to give its best to deserve a good mark (from 60/100 upwards) and must be close to absolute perfection to get a 90/100. I don't even think that a pen can get a 100/100, but if anyone wants to send me one to review, I won't complain

 

Now it's the turn of my favourite pen... but even if I literally love this pen, I'm going to be very strict anyway

 

Omas Arte Italiana in blue royal celluloid, fine nib

 

1. Appearance and design: 10/10

The design of the Omas Arte Italiana line is just perfectly elegant. I really can't think of any other pen with such pure lines. Inspired by the Greek temples, the 12-sided Omas pen is a masterpiece of design. It truly is a "symbol of distinction" as the company claim goes.

 

2. Construction: 7/10

The pen is flawless with the only exception of two small details: the clip ball tarnished very quickly and got a black shade that doesn't look very nice. The other detail is that the cap is turned slightly off-centered. It's a matter of 1/3 of millimeter, but still

 

3. Quality of materials: 9/10

Almost completely perfect: the celluloid has a beautiful blue colour, quite stable apparently (no purple shade, no shrinkage either, even if the pen was made more than 10 years ago). The beauty of the colour is impossible to make justice to with a picture. Only reason why it doesn't get 10/10 is that the shade of gold of the clip and the trims is slightly different.

 

4. Weight and dimensions: 10/10

The pen is a masterpiece of balance. Simply put, it's perfect: you can write for ages with it and you will never get tired. The nib would write with just the weight of the pen itself. The section is neither too narrow nor too thick and fits my hand perfectly.

 

5. Nib performance: 9/10

The nib of this pen writes wonderfully! No other pen in my collection provides such a writing experience. Smooth but with a little bit of feedback, "soft" enough to give some line variation. Doesn't get a 10/10 because it's not exactly an F nib, more of an M or even a B, sometimes!

 

6. Nib appearance: 6/10

The bicolour, "arrow" nib is indeed beautiful, but the imprints are not very deep, as opposed to previous Omas models I have in my collection (from the 1990ies or 1980ies, mostly). If the imprints were deeper it would get a full mark.

 

7. "Out-of-the-boxness": 5/10

[For those who don't know it, "out-of-the-boxness" measures the quality of the nib as it was delivered by the manufacturer, before adjustment] This pen unfortunately required a bit of work to get it write perfectly. Initially the nib would skip on long strokes, which was very annoying. It was fine after a quick fixing, but it shouldn't even be needed.

 

8. Filling system and maintenance: 9/10

Good old Omas piston filling system! Flawless and high-capacity, with just one problem: it lacks an ink window. But after all, an ink window would spoil the elegance of the pen, so I can live without.

 

9. Clip and usability with shirts: 8/10

Great clip, tight but smooth enough to slip smoothly over most kinds of fabric. Only problem is, this pen is a bit too long to fit comfortably in all shirt pockets But the cap closes very well, meaning that you can keep it in deeper pockets like a jacket's one without worrying that it could open.

 

10. Cost and value: 7/10

This was an expensive pen: at over 700 euros, it would be far overpriced and would deserve a 5/10. But I got it on a discount for 400 euros when Omas was changing its Arte Italiana line, hence the higher mark

 

Final mark: 80/100

Very good for a ruthless review! What a great pen this one is! I'm sooooo happy to have one!!! It's been my daily writer since 2008 and it's going to remain my daily writer until 2088 ... IF I will be still alive then! It's by far the best writer among my OMAS pens, with the only exception of an unbeatable Omas AM87 Briarwood.

 

Pictures:

 

Here I tried to catch the shades of the celluloid, but I wasn't very successful

 

 

A close-up of the nib

 

 

The pen in its full beauty!

 

 

One more...

 

[whichwatch]

Nice review! I love Omas and yours is a particular beauty.

 

Thanks for sharing it with us!

[brunico]

Thanks!

 

This pen has a lot going on - the faceted celluloid, the roller on the clip, the gold trim - but it manages to pull it off in an understated and elegant fashion.

 

Perhaps this is because it's a restyling of a 1930s classic? Like the Aurora Optima I'm dreaming of, and the Ancora Da-Ma I was browsing last night. Take a look at the Ancora - I think you'll appreciate it.

[TassoBarbasso]

Oooh.. that Ancora is just .....

 

yes, the beauty lays definitely in the fact that it's based on a 1930ies design. But differently from other pens that can be considered as "restyling", this one has simply never been discontinued and has remained in production constantly since that time. Which is even more fascinating I thing

[Pterodactylus]

Thanks for the review, I'm missing writing samples, can you please add some?

For me a pen review without seeing how it writes is not complete.

[OMASmaniac]

Thanks for the review, I'm missing writing samples, can you please add some?

For me a pen review without seeing how it writes is not complete.

 

Same here!

Edited March 18, 2013 by OMASmaniac

[TassoBarbasso]

Will try to upload a writing sample at the end of my working day

[akustyk]

Thank you for this review! I have this pen in black, and with an EF nib. Agree with almost everything you said, well, except the nib appearance. I like it. However, mine looks a little different, maybe it's the oder version. Not sure.

 

The only thing that this pen needs is some sort of ink window, a translucent window like the MB or Pelikan would be nice.

[Montblanc owner and lover]

very nice review and,nicer again,the pen

[nicholasyeo]

I'm awaiting my copy of the pen. Thanks for the photos and writeup, in the meantime!

[loqutus]

fantastic pics! And great write up too

 

pal o mine just got one last month and loves it

[notVirtuThe3rd]

Excellent review.

Thanks for the sharing this.