Omas and the brand

[solarossa]

We all know that Omas went defunct and parts of it were sold off. Equipment was sold to one company (Scribo), material to another (Armando Simoni) and the brand itself to another. One of the more important bits of Omas that was sold off was its IP, designs, trademarks, and any other aspect associated with the Omas name. This was sold to Ancora. Ancora had said they were going to begin releasing Omas pens again under the Omas name back in 2018 and since then have been silent and even going to the Omas website shows an error. I don't think this brand will ever come back as Ancora is more likely to continue building their own brand as well as due to the current global and economic climate, they probably don't have the time or resources to spare.

I posted this sentiment on Reddit and was directed to a different forum on a similar discussion regarding Ancora, Armando Simoni, and Scribo. Little did I know that this was a bit of a charged topic as some believe that Armando Simoni and Scribo are vying to be seen as the "New Omas". What are your guys' thoughts? I don't think that the Omas spirit has been kept alive all that well since their departure. I am really intrigued by the brand even though I arrived in the fountain pen world quite recently. Do you think Omas will come back in some fashion under the brand name?

Also, I found an interesting analysis on Omas from 2016 when they were being liquidated. It goes into detail about some of the hardships and losses the Chinese company that acquired them suffered as well as the enormous price tag they paid.

http://www.peneconomics.com/blog/201...closure.<br />

[fountainpenkid]

I've not been keeping up with the ongoing brand rights saga, but having owned a few OMAS pens (2 modern and 4 vintage), I do think the spirit of their designs has been lost. The Armando Simoni Club pens are hopelessly glitzy (those golden brand discs are shameful) and have very ugly nibs; it's unfortunate they were the ones to get such glorious material, in my opinion. The Scribos seem fresh at least but to me are out in some modern left field design-wise. I'm rooting for someone with a good feel for the magic of the original brand to buy some of the material from A.S Club or find a way to re-create some of the original celluloids.

[solarossa]

To be completely transparent, I don't own any Omas pens but am looking to acquire one soon. When would you say that Omas started too lose spirit? Also, I find it rather perplexing that the Armando Simoni "Club" brand is held under a consortium of other brands known as thepenfamily. Why did they not just do their own thing? I have read from others that the two brands (ASC and Scribo) are run by former employees. I wonder why they couldn't come together... How would you feel if the company left Italy and it went elsewhere?

[dneal]

Omas’ decline began in the late 90’s, and was confirmed (for me) when they stopped making their own nibs and outsourced them from Bock. I believe that happened after they were bought out from a Chinese company.

I was first introduced to the brand during one of my assignments to Germany. A very nice pen shop in Wiesbaden was closing out their stock of Omas and not going to carry them anymore. Their justification related to quality control, particularly writing performance. I bought a few pens, and found them to be consistently poor writers “out of the box”; but also discovered how amazing they are when properly tuned. Just the right amount of flow for variation in shading, a hint of spring to the nib, and a nice feel of the pen in hand.

I’m not sure what the “spirit” of Omas is, and I think it varies among individuals. For me, it is the elegant simplicity of their piston filling system, the continuity of their design language, and the writing performance. Some love their nicer celluloid, and I do too; but I’m happy with their “plain” black pens. It’s an intangible thing to try to describe.