New to Me Vintage Pen: Omas 557-S Extra Ogiva

...or Omas Extra Ogiva 557-S? I've been skimming websites trying to learn more about this vintage pen (why are things from the 1980s considered vintage?? 👵), and am not entirely sure where the number in the name is supposed to be. I did learn that the S stands for "smooth" since they also made a faceted version of this pen (557-F). It's also funny to me that this pen is considered "oversized", as it feels pretty normal-sized to modern fountain pen-using me, but I guess back then this size was kind of large compared to their other offerings.

Remember how I was saying I have been weighing pen purchases against a couple potential future grail pen purchases? Well, FOMO really got me, as I'll describe below. Despite a bit of churn, I think there's a happy ending in sight. Buckle up, it's story time.

FOMO Strikes

Backing up a little, I saw a listing for the Omas Extra Ogiva 557 on the Pen Addict Slack (my usual secondhand market these days), and kind of got hyped by people's comments in the thread, with one saying that the sale price was pretty low for a vintage Omas, and that they were suprised no one had bought it yet. I haven't tried any Omas pens before, and was intrigued by the idea that it was a flex nib (usually meaning it's soft and bouncy, not that it's like a calligraphic nib). I asked the seller for a nib picture and writing sample. I was on the fence about the M nib since I tend towards smaller nibs with my smaller writing, but the writing sample looked pretty good, so I was nudged even further into buying it.

I had some money set aside from a previous pen sale which was meant to go towards the Schon Design Monoc Evo or the Pelikan M600 Georg Tippel I've been eyeing, but a little part of me knew that either purchase was unlikely to happen any time soon, so I completely impulsively decided to pick up this pen. 😅 It's an Omas pen from before the rebrand, people were talking it up, and it does have a gold nib, so the asking price was very reasonable, especially given all the recent fountain pen price hikes.

When the seller and I were exchanging info for the pen to be shipped, he mentioned he was also in the SF Bay Area, not far from where I live, which was funny, so we actually ended up meeting for pen delivery. Fastest receipt of a pen purchase ever! 😀 We chatted a bit, and exchanged some ink samples, as one does with fellow fountain pen enthusiasts, and then I returned home to play around with the pen and inks.

The Pen

The Omas Extra Ogiva 557 came in a 1980s era-appropriate, fuzzy pen box. 🙂 It's a burgundy, cigar-shaped pen with gold trim, a two-tone 14K M nib with flex, and ebonite feed.

It also had the model's name engraved on the side, and a small "Italy" engraved into the side of the clip, a couple fun details you don't really see on many modern fountain pens anymore.

The seller generously provided some ink samples, which I swatched:

I was very tempted to use the Classico Seppia since I'm a fan of brown inks, but I ended up filling it with the Rosso Chianti, since it was a closer match to the pen body color.

The nib and ebonite feed combination writes very wet, and I think the Scribo might also be a wet ink, so when I tried out the pen, I had to write extremely lightly to control the line width. It was just too wet for my tastes, so I swapped to Ancora x Sailor Jugoya, Ancora's special "full moon" ink, which I knew was a drier ink.

I felt better using this ink and being able to write with a more normal pressure, but the line width was still broad for my tastes. Yes, I could see the lovely purple and blue chromoshading in the ink, but I just did not prefer the broader line that the nib provided. My gut feeling was to have the nib ground to either a F or an architect, my preferred specialty grind, but I also knew that this was probably "taboo" for an older Omas like this (we'll touch on that again in a bit). The seller actually offered to take it back, but I felt bad doing so, since I hadn't yet given it time. I decided to put the pen in my currently inked line up and revisited it over the next couple weeks to see whether it would grow on me.

Tangent: Thoughts On Cigar-Shaped Fountain Pens

Early on, after getting into fountain pens, my preferences leaned toward flat-ended, more "modern" pen shapes. I kind of looked at the classic cigar shape with ridiculous disdain, feeling like they were kind of boring. :smh at myself:

Gradually my tastes changed, starting with some inexpensive Chinese pens which are also on the larger side (Jinhao X159 and 9019, and later the Asvine C80), strengthening with the Pelikan 140 and Pilot Custom 743 and 74, and really locking in with the Esterbrook Estie that I bought earlier this year. In fact, the Omas Extra Ogiva's similarity to my Estie was one of the things that captured my attention.

My positive experience with my vintage Pelikan 140 also nudged me towards buying the Omas, because older gold nibs feel different from modern gold nibs. But the M nib was proving troublesome for my preferences, essentially nullifying the flex feature, since any significant pressure to flex the nib would make it write way too broadly. I think if the nib had been F (or EF), I would've been more than happy to keep it in my collection.

Creeping Buyer's Remorse

Because I didn't immediately take to the pen, I started to feel some buyer's remorse, especially since I'd found out that another pen that I wanted to add to my collection was actually cheaper than what I'd paid for the Omas Extra Ogiva, or just a little bit more with a custom grind add-on (the Leonardo x Stilo&Stile Poliedrica Fountain Pen Desert Night). I'd been avoiding looking at pens from sites abroad due to tariff shenanigans, but I realized that the tariffs were already included in the price and shipping would be free. The pen has a lovely, unique shape and resin, and could have a custom grind that would fit my writing better. :sigh:

I tend not to like having to adjust myself to a pen (to a certain degree) to enjoy it. As with any product, my general feeling is that the product should easily fit into my usage patterns (again, to a degree; I don't mind learning a new workflow if it will ultimately improve upon the status quo), otherwise it's probably not for me.

I also realized that when I did my periodic "check in" on my currently inked pens, a major percentage of them have some kind of feedback, which I like, while the Omas had a very smooth nib, with no real feedback that I could feel. I am not opposed to smooth nibs, but my preferences lean towards nib grinds that typically have some feedback, e.g. architect, italic, Japanese F and EF nibs. I don't even mind needlepoint nibs! For me, having feedback contributes to a feeling of more control of the pen's movement across the page, like having a mechanical focusing connection vs. focus-by-wire for camera lenses. The combination of the very smooth nib and broader line made my small and sometimes fast writing feel sloppy, for lack of a better word.

I did experiment with writing angles and found that if I basically wrote at a 90º angle, it was the best way for me to minimize line width, but it's not a comfortable angle for me to use, as my regular writing angle is more like 40-50º. So at this point, I felt like I was having to make too many compromises to make this pen work for me.

My ultimate learning was that most M nibs (especially Western ones) are likely too broad for my preferences, especially if they're wet and/or flexible. And I should ask about a nib's feedback or other specific characteristics (I just didn't think about it when I pounced on the purchase; ultimate impulse buy! 🤦‍♀️), beyond relying on a writing sample. Ridiculously, I forgot about how people have different preferences for nib feedback... 😅 🤦‍♀️

Seeking Others' Opinions

After several times writing with the pen and still not gelling with it, I decided to post a question on the Pen Addict Slack, asking for people's opinions on whether I should have the nib ground to fit my liking, or resell. I already had a hunch that reselling would probably be the "proper" option, but I wanted to ask. Through a back and forth with someone, I learned that Omas nibs are known and prized for their glassy smoothness, so obviously modifying it would be "blasphemous", like how Ron Swanson feels about painting over nice hardwood furniture. 😆

The person suggested I try to find an EF version of the nib, but a quick eBay search didn't even show many Omas Extra Ogivas for sale, and they all seemed to have M nibs. I decided that I will resell, as it might be likely that someone else on the Slack may agree to buy it from me. The nice thing about the fountain pen community is that the secondhand market can be brisk, so if you don't mesh with a pen, someone else might.

Pending Happy Ending

Luckily that's basically what happened: Someone else on the Slack inquired about the price for the Omas Extra Ogiva if I were to sell, and I quoted her what I paid, which, as I mentioned earlier, was already a really good deal. The price happens to fit with her budget, so we tentatively agreed on the sale.

She also mentioned being sympathetic about not completely liking a pen she bought and thought would like, which happens to be a pen that I have been interested in trying – the Pilot Myu, with a MF nib. So our tentative sale has morphed into a tentative trade (plus a bit of money to cover price differences). It's not complete yet, but I've got my fingers crossed that it does soon. Even if it doesn't work out, I'm hopeful someone else will want to pick up the Omas Extra Ogiva.

Regardless, I at least appreciated the opportunity to try out a pen from a brand that's new to me and learn more about its history. It was also cool to meet with another local fountain pen enthusiast who I might have a chance to hang out with again some other time at a local pen meet up. I learned from this pen "tryout", and look forward to future vintage pen purchases.