Omas "the Paragon" Problems And Service

[georges zaslavsky]

Glad to hear all will end well

[KenroPens]

tryphon,

 

I'm very sorry about the dilemma that surrounded the Omas pen.

 

I'm happy to hear it was resolved, if you require any further service on any of your Omas pens, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

[tryphon]

I was very glad to see that Omas stepped up to the plate and made things right.

Now I can't wait to get the pen back and using it.

[intrepidcva11]

I'm a newbie here and have read this entire thread with interest since I first discovered Omas over twenty years ago and became friends with David Marks, owner of Marcovici Designs, the first Omas distributor in the U.S. I guess it's fair to say I've been a fountain pen fancier for sixty years, having bought a Shaeffer snorkel as a birthday present to myself in 1953 when I was at Columbia Law School. Still have it, still functions well, though ink capacity is wanting.

 

I first bought a Mont Blanc 149 Meisterstuck - 18kt/750 nib, in the late 1960s shortly after they began selling in the States. List price was $23. and since my small law firm had an account with the neighboring stationary and office supply store I got a 20% discount, my price: $19.! A couple of years later I was walking by a large office supply store in New York City, they were advertising a sale on 149's and I bought one listed at $45. for $36. and a year after that a third discounted from $60. for $48.! All of a sudden I'm in business, I'm a dealer! Well, not exactly. I kept thos two new Mont Blanc 149s fortwenty yeas, finally sold both to a partner in the law firm where I had my offices for $500. Still have the original, well, not exactly, since the barrel of that first one cracked, and I hadn't dropped it or mishandled it in any way. Mont Blanc replaced it with a new pen, keeping my cap and fitting my original nib. Even engraved my name into the barrel, making it a pure collector's item for when I became famous!

 

My first Omas was a Galileo Galilei celluloid that I bought new at Fountain Pen Hospital in NYC in 1994. It is still new in orig Perspex 'lens' case and packaging, may be a one-of-a-kind since David's/Omas' service man, Jeremy Trafford, on my visit to Boston, installed an Omas roller clip. I have another Galileo that is my everyday carry fountain pen that I bought 'pre-owned' from John Mottishaw of "Nibs' - it is superb in every way. Also two black Paragons, one NIB (I'd better check to see if it's all corroded ), the other that I used daily for many years I've given to my life-mate who never wrote with a fine fountain pen before and is enthralled with it, uses it daily. None of them has ever given me the least problem, perhaps because each time I refill one I flush it several times with distilled water.

 

Someone wrote that you are a pen expert and even were a dealer. You certainly should know then that the Omas Paragon is made of what the Company elegantly calls vegetal resin, not celluloid. (see your quote above)

 

I'm very glad that the Company has finally responded positively, something I'm certain it would have done when owned by the Malaguti family. That said, IMHO there is no way that the Company would have had any legal liability for this damage. Not just because of the warranty time limitation but also because to prove its responsibility you would have to have proved for example that you did not leave the pen in its package in a hot humid environment at any time during the many years it remained in the original package. And I'm certain you know that legal conundrum: one cannot prove a negative. btw, I don't recall your ever answering that question: how long did you have it unopened in that faulty packaging?

 

P.S. FWIW if I were interested in an Omas today I'd look for a NOS from the time when the Malaguti family still owned and ran the Company. My sense is that it is now run like a commodity business, much like Mont Blanc and several other 'top' producers. I don't believe the old-fashioned quality is still there. just my 2c.

[tryphon]

Intrepid, I own 30+ Omas pens. I sent OMas a picture of all my Omas pens, in their boxes (shown open) that were stored together with the pen that melted. They were all stored in different Omas cases and showed no damage (they were stored in an air conditioned environment, together with the damaged pen). Yes, I am a keen collector (I started in 1968) and I was the official US distributor for Platinum pens of Japan, Columbus of Italy and a few other Brands.

OMas vegetal resin is a form of celluloid. Celluloid is made with cellulose from plants: the Omas resin uses cotton as a source of the cellulose.

Edited August 14, 2014 by tryphon

[hoppes no9]

Never mind, posted before I read that the issue had been resolved...

Edited August 14, 2014 by hoppes no9

[intrepidcva11]

Intrepid, I own 30+ Omas pens. I sent OMas a picture of all my Omas pens, in their boxes (shown open) that were stored together with the pen that melted. They were all stored in different Omas cases and showed no damage (they were stored in an air conditioned environment, together with the damaged pen). Yes, I am a keen collector (I started in 1968) and I was the official US distributor for Platinum pens of Japan, Columbus of Italy and a few other Brands.

OMas vegetal resin is a form of celluloid. Celluloid is made with cellulose from plants: the Omas resin uses cotton as a source of the cellulose.

 

No, tryphon, Omas' vegetal resin is not a form of celluloid. Celluloid is cellulose nitrate, treated with camphor. Their vegetal resin is cellulose acetate, quite another material. Both derive from cellulose but to equate cellulose acetate with cellulose nitrate is like saying apples are oranges because both are fruits. Unless, as some do on other threads here, you want to call resin 'fake celluloid.' you are mixing terms when you equate these two different materials. One can say that red is orange, if that satisfies you, but saying it does not create a truth.

 

Originally the name 'celluloid' was trademarked by the Celluloid Manufacturing Company of Albany NY and referred exclusively to the cellulose nitrate material that they produced. Over the years the word became generic and came into common usage, referring to various applications, but always of cellulose nitrate, not the cellulose acetate that is Omas' 'vegetal resin'.

[tryphon]

Intrepid,

I have sold thousands of pens in cellulose acetate. I used to have my own brand of fountain pens and I picked the material for my pens. In the trade, cellulose acetate is known as celluloid. I know it is not cellulose nitrate and it is not as flammable as nitrate. If you want to pick nits, that is OK. Say that it is not "really" celluloid (or Permanite or any one of the many trade names used in the past to describe celluloid). Mazzucchelli, where the acetate for the pens I produced came originally, call their cellulose acetate "celluloid". You tell Mazzucchelli that they are wrong to call it celluloid...

Edited August 16, 2014 by tryphon

[tryphon]

My OMAS is finally back from Italy. OMAS did a wonderful job: the pen looks brand new. They sent it in a suede lined box (beautiful) and even added a small gift. They kept in touch with me and I must give them credit for truly outstanding customer service. The pen writes like a dream (as OMAS pens usually do!). Kudos to OMAS for responding to my complaints and going a step farther in the quality of their service. Grazie OMAS! I am a very happy customer!

[intrepidcva11]

My OMAS is finally back from Italy. OMAS did a wonderful job: the pen looks brand new. They sent it in a suede lined box (beautiful) and even added a small gift. They kept in touch with me and I must give them credit for truly outstanding customer service. The pen writes like a dream (as OMAS pens usually do!). Kudos to OMAS for responding to my complaints and going a step farther in the quality of their service. Grazie OMAS! I am a very happy customer!

 

Amen and amen! very glad Omas stepped up and that your Paragon writes as it should. Now I have a serious question for your expertise: storage of my still new uninked Omas Galileo and my ditto black (vegetal) resin Paragon. The former is still in its original packaging, in the clear perspex case it came in; the Paragon, dating from about 10-12 years ago just before the Malaguti family sold the Company, in the hard case lined with a white satin material but slipped into a white sleeve of some kind of plastic. Both are in brand-new condition. Assuming I'll keep them in a dark cool environment, would you think it safe to store them in an airtight ziplock plastic bag with a small package of dessicant?

[tryphon]

That should be OK! IN any event, I would wrap them in a clean, soft handkerchief and keep them in a dry cool place (not too dry!). A linen drawer would be fine!

My compliments on your great pens!

[intrepidcva11]

That should be OK! IN any event, I would wrap them in a clean, soft handkerchief and keep them in a dry cool place (not too dry!). A linen drawer would be fine!

My compliments on your great pens!

 

Many thanks for your prompt reply. While I have your attention may I pose a question as to the relative stability of the different substances of which my Galileo and Paragon are made, what I will call the 'true' celluloid and Omas' vaunted vegetal resin. From what I've read, apart from the 'feel' of the two substances of which much has been written, the celluloid is harder and somewhat less susceptible to scratching while the resin is less brittle thus less likely to crack. I know that Omas' celluloid is slightly porous since my everyday 'user' Galileo shows signs of ink 'bleeding' into the body of the pen just above the section, discoloring the originally white areas of the pen's body to a light yellowish color. I've read conflicting reports of pens shrinking, others swelling, and don't know what to believe.

 

Again my thanks.