OMAS Bologna Burkina

On my annual visit to Novelli Pens in Rome, Marco wisely had an assortment of pens all ready for viewing.

In 2005, one of the pens he showed me was the new OMAS Bologna Burkina. He said something like, well this would be the next pen you may want to move up to. Was that a challenge from Marco? No, he was reterrring to the distinct Burkina celluloid. This pen stood out as distinctly different from many of the other pens in circulation at that time.

 

OMAS released the Bologna Line to mark the 80th anniversary of the company. This was the first OMAS pen to include the name of the city where the company started and was still today positioned: Bologna, Italy.

The burkina celluloid is very distinctive. The line also included pens in two other colours: blue and autumn. The pen had silver trim and fitted with a smooth 18 kt gold nib. Oh yes Marco, the Burkina is the most different and one that I would add to my collection of pens.

The pen uses the new stylized arched clip OMAS issued as part of the redesign of its lines. The sleek plain silver arch has a modern look, and the clip itself is very sturdy and securely set into the cap. I have been using this pen for 15 years and it is as tight as it was the day I walked out of Novelli. There is a silver band at the end of the cap, a silver nib section and a single silver band that separates the twist section for the piston fill from the body of the pen.

Overall the pen has a sleek appearance but it is a good size pen to hold. The pen measures 5 1/2" in length.

The stub nib this pen is perfect for me. The OMAS nibs are legendary. So smooth. OMAS was sold and then closed down operations. Great loss to the pen community. We are lucky, however, that that Scrittura Bolognese, known primarily as SCRIBO, a pen company started by some of the previous employees of OMAS, bought the machinery that manufactured the OMAS nibs. Writing with a SCRIBO pen is the OMAS writing experience.

The pattern of the celluloid is sometimes referred to as a snake skin look or an African batik design. It is distinctive pattern and one that will be rather unique to the collection of many.