One more incoming! Omas Paragon Noir

[Formulansx]

This is the last one for a few weeks . So today was a scary day for fountain penning. For one DHL left the pen on my door step without notifying me it was delivered. I went home at lunch on the off chance it was there and, sure enough, there is was. I ordered the pen from a very reputable dealer in Malaysia and the shipping was super fast. I open the packaging and got the pen out. I went through the usual cleaning out with a drop of soap in water but after unscrewing the piston filler, the knob just kept spinning. That's bad!! Apparently the knob was stuck tight to the threads and trim ring and just unscrewed the piston from the body. So this was scary. Really scary. I had no experience working on an Omas before today. Expensive pen from a company out of business with no warranty bought from out of the country. Luckily I was able to loosen the cap after pulling the piston assembly out of the pen and add some shellac to the body side of the threads. I added some silicone to the piston filler threads and where it meets the pen body to slick it up a little. I put it back together and went back to work, letting it dry. I inked the pen but later the cap was very tight on the pen to line up the facets. I uncapped the pen and the pen body started turning in my hand while the cap is stationary........oh $&*@! What's this all about!? The section had sort of expanded and grabbed the threads too tight. I was able to get the cap off by unscrewing the piston filler. Not sure how that worked exactly. Some how I was able to twist the body to get the cap to align by holding the section. The piston side is still a little tight but it's not seizing up anymore. When putting the cap on, the whole pen kind of creaked a little. Those threads were cut too tight or something. I added silicone to the threads on the section and now it's fine. Everything lines up and the pen writes great. The nib is a little off center to the feed but I'm not touching it! Ebonite feed, Omas out of business, I have bad luck with feeds........nope run away! I need a drink! I think I misunderstood the astethics of the pen when looking at the pictures. It's the same Paragon form factor as the other models but the ruthenium and rice grain pattern make it look very modern in person. It took me a while to get used to it but I really like it now. The body reminds me of the rear grille on a Ferrari 360 Challenge car and it sort of shimmers and reflects the light in a certain way that looks very futuristic. Anyway here's some pics of the pen.

[Formulansx]

Couple more pics. The nib feels much like the fine nib on my Rosewood Milord but the Paragon nib is a little bigger. The bottom of the feed is cut a little shallower also so you can see some of the fins more in the feed on the back.

[Bisquitlips]

Not my cup of tea due to the metal section, but that is one gorgeous FP!

[Formulansx]

Originally Posted by Bisquitlips

Not my cup of tea due to the metal section, but that is one gorgeous FP!

Thank you Sir! It looks like the slightly smaller Milord Noir has a cotton resin section in black. Between the two I could have gone either way. The Paragon doesn't really feel much bigger in the hand than my Milord but it does have a metal section. Not sure if it's silver. I don't see any hallmarks on the Noir.

[vintage69]

Great pen collection.

[Formulansx]

I just picked up a new Omas Milord in the lighter rosewood color today for a great price. Never inked and from a legit retailer. Would you believe it though, the freakin piston assembly came out just the same as my Paragon did. Also the nib was all over the place. One tine was off and I had to heat set the feed. I looked down the body of the pen when it was open and the feed looked completely capped off like there was shellac over it. I cleaned it out, or at least it looked clean. It looks like this is what Omas used to seal the section. They used a greased talc on the piston cap threads of which explains why they keep coming off in my hand and I have to shellac them in. Right now the pen fills and looks fine when cleaning but won't draw ink from the body. It just writes about 1/4 page, I assume just until the feed is dry. When I open the piston it draws ink in no problem. When I close the piston it spits it out just fine. Not enough flow for any capillary action though. These Omas's man. Making me nuts! There's a quality control cert in the box but I'm having my doubts if they tested/tuned anything. 2 out of 3 Omas pens needing work right out of the box.

[Formulansx]

It is a great looking pen though and, for that 1/4 of a page, awesome!