OMAS Princess #5

Recently another long-awaited OMAS Princess fountain pen joined my collection - a 1997 Arco Green Princess with gold-filled trim!



This is the fifth Princess in my collection, and the sixth OMAS celluloid I have had the pleasure of owning. The diminutive Princess and Dama models were released along with the Paragon as the Classic Celluloid Collection in 1991. The Princess is as beautifully made as the 1930s ring top models which preceded it, and there is nothing like it amongst modern OMAS offerings.

A 5-Piece Scarlet Red Classic Celluloid Set: Dama Ballpoint #C2811, Princess Ring Top Fountain Pen with Tassel #8141, The Paragon Fountain Pen #8711, Dama (Lady) Fountain Pen #8811, and The Paragon Rollerball #5711. (Photo © Unknown)

The Classic Celluloid Collection was a high-quality OMAS range which featured their faceted, twelve-sided (dodecagonal) design turned out in four beautiful celluloid stocks: Scarlet Red, Saft Green, Pearl Grey and Arco Bronze. Later, three additional celluloids were added – Blue La Royale, Arco Green and Senape Blue:



The Classic Celluloid Collection was discontinued in ~2002. All subsequent releases in these celluloids feature different models, including several revisions of the Paragon. Models and sizes can be confusing in regard to these OMAS pens, but as a general guide:

• The Princess is a clipless ring top, and it is tiny. It is 4.3" / 110mm capped.
• The Dama is also known as the "1930" model. It is a very small pen, and sometimes incorrectly referred to as the "Mini Paragon". It is 4.6" / 118mm capped.
• The Milord is the model sized between the Dama/1930 and the Paragon. It was not part of the 1991 collection.
• The Paragon has been revised several times. When part of the 1991 collection, it was 5.5" / 142mm capped.

My Arco Green Princess has a 0.3mm Stub nib, and both pen and nib were courtesy of Dillon Ang, who like myself, has long appreciated what a exquisitely crafted little pen the Princess is. I have a couple of nibs from Dillon now, and have been very pleased with them. The pen is inked with Diamine Umber, which goes beautifully with the grey-green Arco Green celluloid.

The older OMAS nibs are of a very high, if slightly inconsistent quality, while the newer (2000 onward) Bock nibs are more uniformly produced and inconsistencies have largely been eliminated. However, this is of little concern to me... every one of my OMAS pens has a customised nib. ;)

If you have very deep pockets, only one store which I am aware of has any stock of the celluloid pens left - Pens in Asia. Be prepared to spend up for one, NOS.

Nakaya Piccolo III - Review

I have just posted the review for my third Nakaya :

• Piccolo Chinkin Palmet - Shu with Colored Powders

Nakaya Piccolo III - Photo!

So this morning I woke up to a fantastic post by SJM1123 in a recent thread on the FPN about Japanese lacquerware decoration. The post links to a wonderful database of techniques, including Chinkin, which is what I chose for my third Piccolo.

I was so inspired by the videos that I got the camera out and started snapping away. Here is a teaser from the shoot:


I couldn't find my remote cable release and I was all in despair over the lighting quality... but I think they turned out OK.

Just Inked: OMAS Princess #4

Today one of my stunning OMAS Princess fountain pens returned to me after spending some time with Deb Kinney. The nib is now a very nice Kinney 0.3mm Cursive Italic, and much more usable than the original (shudders in horror) B nib.

This 1997 Princess is all inked up with Iroshizuku Yu-Yake. The soft shade of orange goes beautifully with the Senape / Saffron Blue / Autumn Blue celluloid. (I have no idea why this celluloid has so many different names... but I like them all.)

I'm planning to photograph some pens this weekend... hopefully I might have a few more photos to update this with. This is definitely one of the less common OMAS celluloids.

Also, at some point in the near future I will have a Arco Green Princess arriving... another delicious and uncommon celluloid!