Omas Ogiva Alba With A Factory Italic Nib

[Ambien]

 

Yes, but the vintage pens generally can be purchased for less than the new ones. The prices of the new "Vintage" celluloid pens are mind boggling.

 

David

 

Interesting as I'd been browsing sold listings on eBay. I will continue researching into vintage Omas then. Thanks.

[Diderot]

A good review of a lovely pen.

I handled one of these at the recent Sheffield pen show, and it actually looked very attractive and felt just right, and wrote with no stress.

I was tempted but in the end balked at dropping £300.

I suspect I shall get one at some stage.

 

[gerigo]

David

 

Just got the Alba in purple as well. I got an italic, not realizing that it's only a medium. I am not a fan of any italic narrower than a 1.3. I originally got the purple Alba because I also own a pair of red transparent Ogivas that I really love. They were an Asian exclusive, and the pens have an extra fine Flessible nib on one, and a stub on the other. They are nos 19 and 20 respectively so they get called the twins. Somehow this excitement did not translate to the Alba. For now at least.

 

As for the Italic OMAS nibs, as far as what I have, I have a true Stub, that has a square bit of iridium tipping on the end of the nib and also an ST initial on the side of the nib, the medium italic on the Alba that is stamped with a simple M on the side, and a very broad italic on the Shakespeare pen that also feel like it had the iridium cut off. I can't tell with the Shakespeare pen because that nib has a unique imprint specially designed for the pen and does not have any nib size markings.

 

What's in a name?

 

I just watched Brian Goulet's video comparing the nib options for the Ogiva Alba and looked at the Q&A's regarding the italic nib option on the Gouletpens web site.

 

It seems that the "broad" versus "medium" italic nib distinction is without substance. Here are the facts, as near as I can tell:

 

1. OMAS calls their factory italic nib "medium italic," and that is what Brian calls it.

2. Brian says the nib is 1.1mm wide. I assume he measured the physical nib width, rather than the width of the written line. In any event, that is identical to the italic nib on my Ogiva Alba, within measurement error.

3. My nib is a modified OMAS B nib, as described in my OP. Can I assume that all the OMAS "medium italic" nibs started as round B nibs?*

 

Could those who also have an OMAS Ogiva Alba with a factory italic nib take a look at it and report on the original nib width designation? (Just to be certain we're comparing apples to apples, as I now believe.) This is stamped onto the near shoulder of the nib when the nib is pointing at your left shoulder. See the nib photo in my OP.

 

Thanks.

 

David

 

* enricof stated this as a fact in Omas Calligraphic Nibs Testing - The Fountain Pen Network

Edited January 7, 2015 by gerigo

[dms525]

David

 

Just got the Alba in purple as well. I got an italic, not realizing that it's only a medium. I am not a fan of any italic narrower than a 1.3. I originally got the purple Alba because I also own a pair of red transparent Ogivas that I really love. They were an Asian exclusive, and the pens have an extra fine Flessible nib on one, and a stub on the other. They are nos 19 and 20 respectively so they get called the twins. Somehow this excitement did not translate to the Alba. For now at least.

 

As for the Italic OMAS nibs, as far as what I have, I have a true Stub, that has a square bit of iridium tipping on the end of the nib and also an ST initial on the side of the nib, the medium italic on the Alba that is stamped with a simple M on the side, and a very broad italic on the Shakespeare pen that also feel like it had the iridium cut off. I can't tell with the Shakespeare pen because that nib has a unique imprint specially designed for the pen and does not have any nib size markings.

 

 

Thanks for the information and comments.

 

So, some OMAS stubs and italic nibs are manufactured as such, and some are made from nibs that came from the factory as M or B nibs. If the latter are made by cutting off the tip, including the entire iridium bead, the factory size (M or B ) probably does not correlate very well with the final nib width.

 

My OMAS Alba nib was originally a B nib. As a cursive italic, it writes a line about 1.1 mm wide. OMAS does not make a nib as wide as you prefer. Here is a thought, though: A few years ago, I ordered a Pelikan M600 SE from nibs.com. I told John I wanted a crisp cursive italic that wrote a 1.3 mm line. What he had to do was take a BB nib and re-tip it to get a broader iridium bead, then grind it to a cursive italic. It was expensive, but I ended up with a terrific nib that is just what I wanted.

 

I don't know of any gold (as opposed to steel with or without gold plating) nib nib that is over 1.1mm except the now discontinued Pelikan M800 3B and IT nibs. That said, the 1.9 mm music nib that JoWo makes for Franklin-Christoph is a very fine nib. You might like it. It is very smooth and reasonably crisp. And, beside F-C pens, it also screws directly into Edison pens that take a number 6 nib.

 

David

Edited January 8, 2015 by dms525

[Koyote]

For what it probably cost, I would've expected Omas to grind the nib and leave some iridium.

 

But it looks like a nice pen!

[dms525]

For what it probably cost, I would've expected Omas to grind the nib and leave some iridium.

 

But it looks like a nice pen!

 

Yeah. I find the procedure a bit strange, altogether.

 

David

[Ghost Plane]

I don't care if they call djinns from the desert to magic it as long as the nibs perform this well.

[dms525]

I don't care if they call djinns from the desert to magic it as long as the nibs perform this well.

 

I believe that was an extra-cost option that I declined.

 

David

[dms525]

Re. ink leaking into the cap.

 

Last week, I took the OMAS Alba on a little trip by air (Fresno-Phoenix-Tucson and return). The pen did not leak on the first set of flights but it did on the return flights. Now, I traveled with something like 20 pens. (Why so few? Well, it was just a four day trip.) The only other pen to leak was a Pelikan 140, and it leaked going but not coming back.

 

From this, I conclude nothing. Insufficient data. But Greg asked.

 

David

[georges zaslavsky]

congrats on a fantastic pen

[dms525]

congrats on a fantastic pen

 

Thanks, Georges!

 

Regards,

 

David

[jmccarty3]

I attempted to order one of these with a medium oblique nib about Christmastime. After a delay of about a month, the OMAS people told the folks at Goulet that they were not going to make any more of the pens or any of the "special order" nibs. Still waiting for a credit to be posted to my VISA.

[fountainpenlady]

I do not need this fountain pen!. I will not purchase this writing instrument. I have plenty of ink filled beauties. I do not like orange. I can see an aurora borealis without having to fill it with ink, touch it, covet it. Demonstrators require extra care to clean. I will not order this pen in extra fine. I can resist the temptation.

 

There are two Youtube videos to my knowledge reviewing/showing this pen, let me view them again...just in case I can no longer resist.

[fountainpenlady]

Got my hands on one and was stunned at the perfection of the experience. I normally get the broad italic, but the medium really surprised me. Have to watch the corners, which surprised me as I've had a lot of italics, but once it found the angle it wanted...wow! Now using the experience as a benchmark for what I want in a writing experience. Loaded with Sailor ink, it was transcendent.

I thought of a question to ask you since you have this pen. You said normally, you have a specific Nib Meister to adjust your nibs. Can this pen nib also be adjusted in your opinion? I know it is a Western style nib, not as thin a line a those from Japan. I have for instance, Pelikans, which I have grown used to in them writing XF, perhaps not as fine as they could with the help of a Nib Meister's magic. I adjusted the nibs of my Lamys to make them have a finer line for each. I was wondering, if the XF is not fine enough, do you think sending it to a Nib Meister would be a good idea. Not that I am convinced I am getting the orange in XF. Yet, I do have another significant birthday coming up next month.

[akafridi3]

I've heard Mike-it-work does very good japanese xf nib adjustments

 

http://www.mikeitwork.com/NibRepair.html

[fountainpenlady]

I've heard Mike-it-work does very good japanese xf nib adjustments

 

http://www.mikeitwork.com/NibRepair.html

Thanks, got it. I'll check him out.

[sannidh]

Thanks for the wonderful review, David.

While I was planning to get one, this one - Ogiva Alba in green celluloid (Fine/Medium Nib), it quickly (in a week) ran out of stock in one of the authorized Indian websites.

 

What brand of ink would you normally prefer for this pen?

Is the pen's celluloid body susceptible to some non-neutral PH inks?

 

Best,

Sonik

[gerigo]

Sonik

 

Funny question to ask, the one about celluloid body staining. I don't whether you're asking because you had a bad experience in the past or that David also had the same experience. When you have such an expensive pen stained because of the wrong ink choice, you feel like (bleep) because the pen will not only be ugly, you will either relegate the pen to the trash heap or bury it deep and not want to see it again. I lived through the experience with a pen that is not only completely transparent, it was also stained pink! That's the burden to bear with a demonstrator. Trust me, you don't want to share this experience AFTER it has happened because its such a wretched feeling.

 

My advice is NOT to use any aggressive, permanent or non neutral ink on this pen. It's a cotton celluloid. If you use inks that bond with cotton in paper, you will definitely end up with a stained pen.

 

Thanks for the wonderful review, David.

While I was planning to get one, this one - Ogiva Alba in green celluloid (Fine/Medium Nib), it quickly (in a week) ran out of stock in one of the authorized Indian websites.

 

What brand of ink would you normally prefer for this pen?

Is the pen's celluloid body susceptible to some non-neutral PH inks?

 

Best,

Sonik

Edited February 14, 2015 by gerigo

[dms525]

Thanks for the wonderful review, David.

While I was planning to get one, this one - Ogiva Alba in green celluloid (Fine/Medium Nib), it quickly (in a week) ran out of stock in one of the authorized Indian websites.

 

What brand of ink would you normally prefer for this pen?

Is the pen's celluloid body susceptible to some non-neutral PH inks?

 

Best,

Sonik

 

Hi, Sonik.

 

Thank you for the compliment!

 

You raise a good question I have not even considered. I have little experience with demonstrators and no previous experience with the material OMAS used for this pen. I have just finished one load of ink in my Ogiva Alba so far, and that was a green Diamine ink. It did not stain the pen, as far as I can tell.

 

I am quite conservative in the inks I use. With a few exceptions such as Diamine and J. Herbin, I buy inks from established pen makers - Sheaffer, Pilot, OMAS, Aurora, and so forth. I would be shocked to find, for example, OMAS making a pen that would suffer damage from an OMAS ink. Is this naive?

 

I am enjoying this pen and have been considering buying another, but I may have considered for too long. I wish you good luck in finding the pen you want.

 

Happy writing!

 

David

Edited February 14, 2015 by dms525

[Ghost Plane]

I thought of a question to ask you since you have this pen. You said normally, you have a specific Nib Meister to adjust your nibs. Can this pen nib also be adjusted in your opinion? I know it is a Western style nib, not as thin a line a those from Japan. I have for instance, Pelikans, which I have grown used to in them writing XF, perhaps not as fine as they could with the help of a Nib Meister's magic. I adjusted the nibs of my Lamys to make them have a finer line for each. I was wondering, if the XF is not fine enough, do you think sending it to a Nib Meister would be a good idea. Not that I am convinced I am getting the orange in XF. Yet, I do have another significant birthday coming up next month.

I can't imagine anything that could improve on perfection. I use MikeItWork (Masuyama) on those rare occasions when I get a nib that skips, clicks or has a dry feed. Generally I'm quite happy with stock nibs.

 

I've been using Sailor inks in mine and no apparent staining.