The Omas Ogiva Cocktail Vodka Yellow Limited Edition Fountain Pen: A Review

When I first saw pictures of the new Omas Ogiva Cocktail limited edition pens, I wanted one so badly. I seriously considered buying the yellow or blue version, but I simply did not have the money. Plus, I purchased one of last year's limited edition Albas in green with an EF extra flessibile nib, and I couldn't see the need for another pen just like it in a different color.

Omas Alba in Green

But, Kenro Industries sent the Pen Addict some pens to review, and happily, one of them was a Cocktail in Vodka Yellow with a 14K broad nib. I love my extra flessibile nib, but I was interested to see how the non-flexible broad wrote.

The Omas Ogiva Cocktail limited edition fountain pen is a cigar-shaped piston filler. All three colors (Vodka Yellow, Blue Angel, and Bloody Mary) are semi-transparent, but, obviously, the yellow is the most transparent of the three. The yellow color is rich and in sunlight the faceted surface of the cotton resin sparkles.

The pen has rhodium colored trim. The clip is Omas's usual style with a cylinder to assist in clipping the pen to a pocket or papers.

The band on the cap is engraved with the beautiful Greek key design as is the band at the top of the grip. The only other adornment is a thin silver ring at the piston end.

The nib is large and luscious. It has arrow engravings, the Omas name, and the gold content on top. The nib size is engraved on the side.

Omas nibs (at least the ones I've tried) tend to be very wet. That is definitely true for this nib. It never skips or has hard starts, but it lays down a thick, wet line.

Omas Broad Nib

Unlike the extra flessibile nibs, the broad nib has no flex. The difference is that the broad nib writes a consistently thick line whereas the extra flessibile nib offers variation from EF to B.

Omas Extra flessibile Nib

If I were to purchase an Omas with a broad nib, I would probably have it ground to a smooth italic and tone the wetness down just a bit. Still, I'd rather have a too-wet nib than one that stutters and is stingy with ink.

This pen is large, comparable to a MB 149 but lighter and not quite as thick. It is 5.75 inches in length, capped; 6.875 inches posted; and 5.06 inches unposted. It is light in the hand (21 grams) thanks to the cotton resin material. I find it very comfortable to write with.

I love being able to see the inner workings of demonstrator pens. But that leads to one negative. The piston seal on this pen allowed ink to seep in between the sides of the seal and the pen body. It is quite noticeable because of the light color of the pen.

Piston Seal Leak

I checked my green Omas for similar leaks, but it has a tight seal. So, the defect might be limited to this particular pen. I don't think there's any way to remove the piston for cleaning, unfortunately.

No leak on the Green Alba

All in all, I love the Ogiva pens Omas is producing. I am sorely tempted to buy the Blue Angel (because: BLUE), but I'm sort of hoping that next year Omas will do a light turquoise version like the vintage Omas 360.

The Omas Ogiva Cocktail pen retails for around $395.00. It comes packaged in a sturdy Omas box with a suede-like sleeve for the pen. These are limited edition pens, so once they are all sold, there will be no more.

Pros

• The Omas Ogiva Cocktail is a beautiful demonstrator pen.
• The pen is light in the hand and well balanced.
• It is a piston filler and holds a good amount of ink (0.9ml).
• The nib is smooth and trouble free. * I love the Greek key details on the pen.

Cons

• On this particular pen, the piston seal allowed ink to leak between the seal and the body of the pen.
• The broad nib is very wet.

(This Omas Ogiva Cocktail Vodka Yellow was loaned to Pen Addict for review by Kenro Industries)

First Look- Mini-Click Pen Project

The Kickstarter Fist Looks have been rolling in fast and furious lately, and I am happy to bring you another one with the Mini-Click Pen Project. Jack Roman from Tuff-Writer Pens is back on Kickstarter for the third time with a lighter, shorter click pen with a new custom designed and maufactured clicky mechanism.

Many machined pen manufactuers use the stock Schmidt SKM-88 click mechanism for their retractable pens. It is readily available and works well. Jack wasn’t content with using an off the shelf mechanism for this project and set out to design his own. The result is what you see here, first used in the Mini-Click.

The design, specs, dimensions, and materials are all laid out on the project page, but all you really need to know is that the mechanism works, and it works well. It is solid, smooth, and responsive. When you depress the knock to engage the pen you know you are locked in and ready to write.

The pen barrel itself is made from aluminum, giving it a lightweight yet durable feel, while the clip is stamped from steel. The balance and feel are spot on. The glossy coated anodization on my prototype is wonderful, give it a sharp, crisp finish. Refill wise, the Mini-Click is based around the standard Parker design, and ships with a Fisher Space Pen pressurized refill.

The only issue I have with the pen is the use of o-rings in the grip area. Theoretically, they are there to allow for a better grip when writing. While this is true, the tradeoff is you will be losing them constantly, and hunting for one is like searching for a lost contact lens. When I unscrewed the barrel to get to the refill, I lost the middle o-ring, never to be found again. I’m not the only one either, as eagle-eyed viewers will see Jack in the video writing with a pen at one point missing the very same o-ring after swapping the refill. I would much rather a smooth or machined grip area than have to worry about extra o-rings on hand.

Aside from that, the Mini-Click is rock solid to use. All of the tolerances are tight, the new click mechanism design is great, and it feels good in the hand when writing.

Pledge levels begin at $60 for aluminum finished barrels, with anodized barrels priced at $65. For an American made pen with a brand new in-house designed click mechanism this is a good deal. Head over to Kickstarter and check it out now.

My thanks to Jack for sending me this pen at no charge for the purposes of this review.

The Pelikan M600 Pink Special Edition Fountain Pen: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

Scandalized! That's what I was when I first saw ads for the Pelikan M600 Pink "Ladies" Collection complete with boudoir box. I busted out laughing. I scoffed. I was offended by a so-called "ladies" Pelikan, even more so by the packaging. A pen in a corset box? Seriously, Pelikan?

I posted pictures on Facebook making fun of the pen. "Look! It's a Victoria's Secret pen!" "Barbie would love this pen!" "Who would buy this atrocity?"

Me, that's who.

In spite of some claims that this isn't necessarily a women's pen, it was clearly packaged and marketed to appeal primarily to women. Classic Fountain Pens simply calls it the Pelikan M600 Pink Special Edition, but notes that in "some markets" it is known as the "Pink Ladies Pelikan."

Even though I was initially incensed by such gendered marketing (I mean this is the 21st Century, people), I realized that it's nothing new. In the past there were Lady Sheaffers and Lady Soenneckens. Pilot markets pens to women, such as the Pilot Lady White Fountain Pen. Other manufacturers do the same or offer pens that might appeal more to women, such as the Montblanc Princess Grace or the Parker Sonnet Feminine collection.

So I grew a little less critical. A little. The pens above don't come in corset boxes (though one of my friends wondered why Pelikan put the pen in a tennis shoe box . . . .) Still. I think Pelikan could have thought through the implications of the packaging and marketed the pen to a broader audience.

I decided it didn't matter to me since I would never be caught dead with a Victoria's Secret pen. But then I saw photographs of the pen by actual owners. The color was less Barbie pink, more subtle, like dark cherry. The pen looked sophisticated and gorgeous rather than bubble-gum silly.

And that's when the obsession started. Me. The one who derided Pelikan for flouting a gendered pen. Me, the one who owns nothing pink in her wardrobe. Suddenly, I was thinking how nice this pen would look next to black leather.

I fell for the Pink Pelikan, and I fell hard. I had to have one. I told myself it was for research–I must write a review for Pen Addict. I even told myself I wouldn't ink the pen. I would just write a review and send it back. But I inked the Pink, and I was hooked.

This really is a gorgeous pen in person. It comes packaged in a plain white outer box (like the sleeves that are placed over racy magazines?) Inside is the boudoir box: a corset of silver laced in pink, silky ribbon.

Fortunately, you don't have to unlace the whole box. Once you untie the bow, the two sides of the box fall open to reveal the pen.

The colors have so much more depth than in the advertising shots. The darker stripes are cherry pink with a softer pink underneath.

Like the White Pelikan Tortoise, the grip and piston are white plastic with gold rings, and the cap is white.

Unlike the Tortoise, the finial is etched gold rather than black and gold. The larger band at the base of the cap is engraved with the words "Pelikan," "Souverän," and "Germany."

The nib is two-tone 14K gold. It is engraved with the usual beautiful scrollwork and the Pelikan logo. I love the design of Pelikan nibs–they are spectacular.

I opted for a fine nib. In the past, I always purchased extra fine nibs on my Pelikans. Then I moved up to italics, and lately I've been getting oblique triple broads. This time I decided to keep things simple and go with a fine nib.

It writes perfectly–smooth and lush. I inked it with Iroshizuku Tsutsuji, purchased especially for this pen (my first truly pink ink). I have absolutely no complaints, no hard starts, no skipping.

The M600 is a good fit for many people. M800s can be too big and heavy. M400s can be too small.

The M600 is 5.2 inches when capped, just less than 5 inches uncapped, and 6 inches posted. It's a light pen, weighing only 18.2 grams. It retails for $500 at Classic Fountain Pens, and that seems to be the price across the board at most retailers. You may find it for less if you do some hunting.

The Pink Pelikan M600 is a terrific pen. It boasts the usual Pelikan quality, and hopefully this pen won't have the cap cracking issues the M400 White Tortoise did. I highly recommend this pen to both men and women who love this color. Pink can brighten anyone's day. Plus, who doesn't need a corset box in their closet?

Pros

• A simply gorgeous pen with colors that are much more sophisticated in person than in photographs

• This is a piston filler, which is my favorite type of filling system.

• The 14K nib is smooth and writes straight out of the (corset) box.
• The pen is light in the hand and well balanced.

Cons

• The packaging is interesting, to say the least. But if you don't like it, you don't have to keep it. Me? I'm keeping it for posterity.
• This is an expensive pen at $500.
• People with larger hands or who prefer some heft to their fountain pens may find this pen too small or light