Interesting-Looking Nib On Vintage Omas Extra Lever Filler

[como]

I had posted this thread a few days ago in a different area of FPN. Perhaps best in Regional Forum under Italian pens. Would appreciate if anyone has seen this kind of nib imprint and knows what it is. Many thanks!!

 

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I had the pleasure of seeing a very nice vintage fountain pen during a recent dinner with a friend. The pen belonged to the his late grandfather. It is an Omas Extra lever filler with marbled brown celluloid. I love looking at any vintage pens, and noticed that the nib is not the usual Omas vintage nib. It has a kind of sheep(?) imprint on the nib with "14K-585" and "OSMIUM" on it. I didn't write with it, but I tried on my thumb nail and it feels very soft and flexible, a typical wonderful vintage nib of that era. With the permission of my friend, I posted the photos of this pen in the hope that someone might know what this interesting-looking replacement nib is. Many thanks!!

By the way, I had offered to restore (lever is stuck and also needs new sac for sure) and polish this pen for my friend, but he doesn't want. Nib is patinated but he doesn't want to get it polished either. He wants to leave the pen as how it was when he received it, and only uses it as a dip pen. I understand.

 

[SchaumburgSwan]

Hi,

 

a very, very nice find!

Maybe you can convince your friend to make this beauty write again without loosing the patina.

You could offer to resac and flush the pen, just as an idea...

 

Best wishes

Jens

[WLSpec]

What a nice pen!

 

  On 1/3/2020 at 8:35 PM, SchaumburgSwan said:

...

a very, very nice find!

....

So true. I would be very happy if I found one of those

[bbs]

Very nice pen! The nib is reminiscent of the mountain goat on a Bock nib?

[como]

Yes, it does look like a goat/sheep of some sort. I hadn't seen a nib with such imprint. Of course we might find out if we pull the nib out, but my friend doesn't want to do anything with the pen except for using it as a dip pen, which he does everyday!

[OMASsimo]

Beautiful pen, absolutely stunning! I would guess an early Extra from the 1930s with a replacement nib. It reminds me of the imprint of early Bock nibs.

 

I don't think you'll find another and more telling imprint even if you remove the nib. I can understand your friend and respect his decision.

 

P.s.: I might have been mistaken. The Bock imprint always faces the other way (towards the left). But I'm pretty certain that it's one of the Heidelberg nib makers. I read that the nib manufacturer Rupp used a lion head as imprint and I've seen a nib like yours which was claimed to be made by Rupp. So, most likely it's a Rupp nib.

Edited January 3, 2020 by OMASsimo

[como]

OMASsimo, thank you for your insightful input. I found another thread here on FPN with a Rupp nib, indeed a lion head! This one looks sheep with thick layers of wool. Being in Switzerland, I guess his grandfather could have gotten the replacement nib from a shop that supplied both Italian and German made nibs.

  On 1/3/2020 at 10:59 PM, OMASsimo said:

Beautiful pen, absolutely stunning! I would guess an early Extra from the 1930s with a replacement nib. It reminds me of the imprint of early Bock nibs.

 

I don't think you'll find another and more telling imprint even if you remove the nib. I can understand your friend and respect his decision.

 

P.s.: I might have been mistaken. The Bock imprint always faces the other way (towards the left). But I'm pretty certain that it's one of the Heidelberg nib makers. I read that the nib manufacturer Rupp used a lion head as imprint and I've seen a nib like yours which was claimed to be made by Rupp. So, most likely it's a Rupp nib.

[OMASsimo]

OK, I couldn't see the imprint that well on the photo. Then Bock and Rupp are out of question. But I'm still inclined to think that the nib might be a German production from one of the Heidelberg/Pforzheim/Hanau area nib manufacturers. Whenever I researched for the origin of a mystery nib with an animal imprint, I ended up in that region or another German maker. Do you have a better photo of the imprint?

[como]

I took the photos in unfavorable evening indoor lighting condition with my phone so the photos are of poor quality. I can only magnify the photo here, unfortunately. Is it a sheep, goat or cow, I cant tell.

 

  On 1/3/2020 at 11:50 PM, OMASsimo said:

OK, I couldn't see the imprint that well on the photo. Then Bock and Rupp are out of question. But I'm still inclined to think that the nib might be a German production from one of the Heidelberg/Pforzheim/Hanau area nib manufacturers. Whenever I researched for the origin of a mystery nib with an animal imprint, I ended up in that region or another German maker. Do you have a better photo of the imprint?

[SchaumburgSwan]

  On 1/4/2020 at 12:24 PM, como said:

I took the photos in unfavorable evening indoor lighting condition with my phone so the photos are of poor quality. I can only magnify the photo here, unfortunately. Is it a sheep, goat or cow, I cant tell.

 

 

Hi,

 

looks like a wisent, the "european bison"...

 

Best

Jens

[como]

Thank you, Jens. When it comes to animals, my vocabulary is always lacking. I wish my friend would let me re-sac and polish this pen for him. I've done so many and this is an easy one. It's really in excellent condition. But I must respect his decision. I was fortunate to have seen it, a lovely thing.

  On 1/4/2020 at 1:09 PM, SchaumburgSwan said:

 

Hi,

 

looks like a wisent, the "european bison"...

 

Best

Jens

[OMASsimo]

Thanks for the enlarged picture. Yes, that's a bison/wisent. The nib was produced by G. Rau in Pforzheim, Gemany between 1929 and 1961 (if my sources are correct). I'd assume it's a nib from the 1930s rather than the 1950s because of the Osmium imprint, but I could be wrong. It cannot be from the time between 1939-45 because it's gold. I own a German 835 silver guilloche overlay piston filler from the 1930s with such a nib. Lovely writer. The imprint does differ in slight details but it's definitely by the same maker. Now I wonder if it's a replacement or whether OMAS ever used Rau nibs in the very early stage of pen production. My earliest OMAS is from around 1937/38 and already has an OMAS imprint. I hope some of the OMAS experts will join in and shed some light on this...

[como]

OMASsimo, I much appreciate your continuous efforts in finding answers to this thread. It goes to show the collective knowledge power of platform and the generosity of its members' knowledge sharing. After all, it's not just using and collecting pens that we get pleasure from, but also relevant and interesting historical and technical background knowledge that we learn here. Thank you!

  On 1/4/2020 at 4:45 PM, OMASsimo said:

Thanks for the enlarged picture. Yes, that's a bison/wisent. The nib was produced by G. Rau in Pforzheim, Gemany between 1929 and 1961 (if my sources are correct). I'd assume it's a nib from the 1930s rather than the 1950s because of the Osmium imprint, but I could be wrong. It cannot be from the time between 1939-45 because it's gold. I own a German 835 silver guilloche overlay piston filler from the 1930s with such a nib. Lovely writer. The imprint does differ in slight details but it's definitely by the same maker. Now I wonder if it's a replacement or whether OMAS ever used Rau nibs in the very early stage of pen production. My earliest OMAS is from around 1937/38 and already has an OMAS imprint. I hope some of the OMAS experts will join in and shed some light on this...

[OMASsimo]

Well, thank YOU for posting that interesting pen! I always love to learn from my fellow FPN members. Maybe, those collectors also interested in pen history are a minority, but we have some extraordinary experts here on the forum and I always love to learn from them. I try to re-distribute any relevant knowledge I learned from them to others who are interested. And yes, it's also great fun to write WITH vintage pens, not only about them.

[Estycollector]

Stunning vintage FP. Thank you for posting.

[como]

You are too kind, OMASsimo. Thank you!

 

  On 1/4/2020 at 6:13 PM, OMASsimo said:

Well, thank YOU for posting that interesting pen! I always love to learn from my fellow FPN members. Maybe, those collectors also interested in pen history are a minority, but we have some extraordinary experts here on the forum and I always love to learn from them. I try to re-distribute any relevant knowledge I learned from them to others who are interested. And yes, it's also great fun to write WITH vintage pens, not only about them.

 

 

And thank you to everyone for your thoughts, comments and contribution.

[como]

A happy ending:

 

So curiosity got the better of me and I ended up getting a vintage Omas lever-filler in tortoise brown, one just like my friend's grandfather's pen (also in medium size). Ms. Letizia Iacopini, the author of the two-volume book "History of The Italian Fountain Pen" told me that the original nib for this pen was the Omas Extra nib with the "14KT" engraving and is very rare. The most acceptable alternative would be the Omas Extra nib with "585" engraving, as shown on my newly acquired pen.

 

I showed it to my friend, and he was amazed how beautiful it looked. Now he knows what his grandpa's pen is supposed to look like aesthetically! (He still doesn't want it restored, which I respect). We all satisfied our curiosity and learned something that we didn't know before! Many thanks to OMASsimo, Ms. Letizia Iacopini and everyone who contributed to this discussion.

Edited January 28, 2020 by como

[Uncial]

Now that is a beautiful pen.

Enjoy

[OMASsimo]

Congratulations and wow, what a stunning find! I once found an article about dating the early OMAS nibs but I can't find it right now. Maybe it was authored by Ms. Iacopini. Did she also tell you the dates of production of your pen and would you be willing to share this information?

[como]

Hi OMASsimo, you are right. Ms. Iacopini has written a piece on the early Omas nibs. You can find it on her site: https://www.tenpen.it/sites/default/files/2019-12/Clarifying%20Omas%20Extra%20Nib%20reviewed.pdf

 

The Extra model was introduced in 1932, and she dates this pen in the 1930's. I don't know when exactly Omas stopped producing the lever-fillers, maybe in the late 40's?

  On 1/28/2020 at 7:13 PM, OMASsimo said:

Congratulations and wow, what a stunning find! I once found an article about dating the early OMAS nibs but I can't find it right now. Maybe it was authored by Ms. Iacopini. Did she also tell you the dates of production of your pen and would you be willing to share this information?

 

Thank you, Uncial.

  On 1/28/2020 at 12:28 PM, Uncial said:

Now that is a beautiful pen.

Enjoy