Onoto Magna Classic Tortoiseshell

[dcpritch]

This just arrived in the mail. Its my first modern Onoto and I'm tickled pink.

 

[da vinci]

This just arrived in the mail. Its my first modern Onoto and I'm tickled pink.

 

Very nice indeed DC

 

Stub o the day entry soon?

[ArchiMark]

Congrats on receiving your Tortoise, dcpritch!.....

 

Got mine recently....with nice italic B by Sorowka....joy to write with....and look at too...

 

 

 

Also, congrats on 2300 posts, that's a milestone.....

[penmanila]

gorgeous! mine (54/100) just arrived as well in the philippines but it's still in the post office and i'm waiting for my notice to pick it up. thinking not to add to the cost and the waiting time, i ordered mine with a plain B nib and will stub it myself (not to worry, i've done this on my M1000 and oscar wilde, among others).

Edited January 24, 2014 by penmanila

[ArchiMark]

While the Tortoise is an absolutely gorgeous and wonderful pen, I just listed mine for sale...

 

I have strong preference for really chunky pens and this one is not quite there for me in this regard.

 

Real shame as otherwise, this pen is perfect; visually and as writer.

 

Hope to find this great pen a good home!.....

[penmanila]

finally, after a month in transit (and two months in the making), it's here with me in manila: the onoto magna classic in tortoiseshell.

i'd been tracking this for weeks and i knew it had arrived, and finally unable to stand the wait any longer and with no postal notice in hand as yet, i went straight to the post office, showed them the tracking number, chatted up the post office ladies nicely, and they went over each newly arrived parcel until they found mine i had to pay a hefty sum in duties (somehow, my mind wants to blank this out), but when i opened the box, i forgot all about costs. unboxing pics here:

this is a gorgeous, substantial, hefty (32 gms) pen. i got it with the optional 18K nib, in broad, and it proved to be smooth and stubby enough that i didn't have to do any further tweaking. (it writes as nicely as my CS churchill, but the one thing i've always found less than stellar about the churchill is its lightness in the hand, which is also why i prefer using my heavy MBs, the agatha and the oscar. the MBs, of course, are fantastic writers as well.)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7445/12168375065_9a55503b69_c.jpg

you'd be hard put to find a more distinctive finial than this:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7378/12168859264_6113fc5841_c.jpg

i loaded it up with my current favorite ink, rohrer & klinger alt-goldgrun, and was pleased by how well the nib handled the ink:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3688/12168614625_c6e2b8a39a_c.jpg

and finally, i think the new arrival can well hold its own in distinguished company:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3722/12169037954_e23d540167_c.jpg

i'm going to have hard time every morning deciding which one to bring along (i could bring them all, but i can't help feeling i'd be courting disaster).

and here's the totally unexpected bonus: the pen is no. 54 in an edition of 100. i was born in 1954, and just turned 60

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3819/12182413686_34fb2a5f38_z.jpg

Edited January 28, 2014 by penmanila

[dcpritch]

While the Tortoise is an absolutely gorgeous and wonderful pen, I just listed mine for sale...

 

Wow, I have had mine for just a few days but already I'm thinking it will become a favorite. You must be one tough customer!

 

Stub o the day entry soon?

 

You'll be seeing the Magna there in the not too distant future.

 

finally it's here with me in manila: the onoto magna classic in tortoiseshell, a modern onoto LE, pretty much like chito's chuzzlewit

...

and finally, i think the new arrival can well hold its own in distinguished company ...

 

 

Congrats on the new arrival. It sounds like you are enjoying your pen as much as I am mine. John Sorowka put a stub nib grind on mine and it writes like a dream. Sure am glad we don't have the duties you get stuck with. Ouch!

[ArchiMark]

 

Wow, I have had mine for just a few days but already I'm thinking it will become a favorite. You must be one tough customer!

 

 

If the pen was just a bit wider, it would definitely be a keeper!...

 

To be real clear, this is a gorgeous, well-made pen, and great writer. Not in any way trying to criticize this wonderful pen, it is just not quite the size I like to use in the 'chunky pen dept'.....otherwise, it would be kept....

 

Enjoy yours!

 

[penmanila]

in response to a PM'ed question, this uses a converter--which i actually prefer for ease of use. the more i think about it, the more i'm convinced that converters are the way to go--easy to switch inks, to see how much you have left, to fix or replace when something goes wrong. i love my lever and piston fillers, and of course my vacumatics, but i'll take a converter any day.

 

the nib (an 18K bock, i think) is wonderfully smooth--i haven't felt the need or the urge to work on it further. lays down a nicely shaded line. you can get this pen in two weights: 25g and 32g. i chose the heavier weight, which is achieved with a brass insert, and i really appreciate the heft, which approaches that of my workhorse MBs (the agatha christie and the oscar wilde). here they are for comparison, size-wise:

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7327/12168847443_9827e7b1e3_c.jpg

 

one more thing to note is the threading of the cap--it takes about 5 turns to unscrew, so there's no chance of the cap slipping off. the acrylic they use on the pen has a very rich, almost rubbery, feel to it. i'm a sucker for woodgrain and tortoiseshell finishes, and this reminds me that hakase makes pens out of real tortoiseshell--they use a brass base for those pens because the real tortoiseshell "breathes" and moves with the temperature. no turtle died for this onoto, ha ha

 

the art-deco-ish chevron cap is distinctive but, for me, takes a bit of visually getting used to. (it's like the top part of an exclamation point and i keep looking for the point.) a keeper of a pen, all told. too pretty, i think, for everyday use, so the agatha will remain my mainstay, but when i want to pull out a pen to wow people with, this will be it.

 

took it with me to a meeting yesterday:

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2849/12214124125_92ed150aae_z.jpg

Edited January 31, 2014 by penmanila

[Edwaroth]

When Onoto offers an exact replica of the 1937 Magna in the same materials and dimensions and fill system...That is when I will offer up the money to buy another.

[david6]

Just been looking on the Onoto website and the tortoiseshell is now showing as sold out. That didn't take long!

[penmanila]

^am actually surprised it took that long to sell a hundred of these gorgeous pens! mine's been in the daily rotation since i got it months ago.