NPD: The "New" Omas Paragon
I have had the pleasure of owning a handful of different Omas pens, all from the Original Omas, and a Scribo - I have really liked them all. Recently I set out to find some in Arco and while I would love to have a 90's Paragon they are hard to come by and are very expensive when you can find them. Through that hunt I have found a couple of other Omas' in Arco, a small Dama another have a true vintage short Omas lever filler incoming.
I read up about the current state of Omas and the drama that has led to the current state of confusion about the company. Owners, Bankruptcies, licensing, managing partners, family trying to reclaim the brand... The general sentiment I have picked up was fairly negative and wanted to be cautious. Ultimately I wanted to give the new Omas a shot - found one priced well and pulled the trigger.
The retailer I bought it from is based in Europe and did not have up to date photos for the product and had stock pictures of the ASC Paragons alongside some of the Green Arco with the "new" Omas branding. I decided to give it a shot and worst case I could either return or resale. The pen arrived today and so far I am pretty excited about it. Firstly, the pen does not fully meet the pic/description on the retailer's site: the aforementioned picture issue, and marketing material/descriptions I have seen do not mention a two tone nib. I like the two tone nib so no issue there. When compared to a paragon nib they are very similar in design, my sample is also a pleasure to write with and the piston is smooth. The engraving on the gold trim is done with dots vs lines on the older Omas pens that I have used, this gives it a different look but not necessarily a + or - (although I would not have minded if they omitted the thick band about the section. The pen seems to have more metal parts and feels much heftier than the other paragons I have handled. Filling and writing posed no issues and the nib seems great. You can coax some line variation out of the nib but this is not anywhere close to flex territory. The ink flow is wet and just a pleasure to write with - something that has been consistent with all Omas' I have written with. The actual Arco has a bit of a different look when compared to my 1992 Dama but that could have to do with age or just differences from batches (red-orange gold vs brown-gold. Now I have to say the new Omas' facets line up much better that the 1992 - a pleasant surprise. Overall I am happy with my purchase and while it is only a sample of one I will continue to be hopeful for the future of the brand.
In the meantime I eagerly await the arrival of the vintage short one that is on the way...