OMAS Paragon November 2005 Stylophiles Online

There's a new look for the OMAS Paragon, and a pen that has existed basically unchanged in appearance for seventy-odd years is ready for a new century.

OK, it might be going a bit far to say that the whole pen has a new look... With the cap still on, it's really a new clip design. The basic outline of the pen remains the same, with the distinctive faceted shape that gently tapers a bit towards the cap top and barrel end. The clip is a bit of a departure, gone is the almost dainty construction that once secured these pens in our pockets. Now the clip is a bold and dramatic splash of bright metal that dominates the cap. OMAS have retained their classic roller clip design, but the roller on these new clips are, like the clip itself, outsized. The result lifts the Paragon design from a classic, traditional look into a much more modern and "stylish" look. It's not better or worse, per se, just dramatically different. The other principle change to the look of the Paragon is that the section is now metal instead of matching the pen barrel.

Another difference is that the sizes of the Paragon have shifted. As with the new clip, this change is not a subtle one!

The Milord size is now about the same as what used to be the largest Paragon, and the Paragon is now a truly oversize pen, on par with the Montblanc 149 or Pelikan M1000 for size. The larger pen is really quite massive now, answering the one complaint that many had with the old style Paragon, that it simply wasn't large enough. Problem solved!

The old Paragon was not what you would call a small pen at 5 5/8 inches long. The new model is really only slightly longer at 5 7/8 inches long, but it's much wider, 5/8 of an inch across instead of 1/2 inch. The result is a pen that not only looks a lot bigger, but really is a lot bigger!

The weight is increased as well, the large Paragon is up to 1 3/4 ounces, much heavier than the old Paragon, which was always been considered to be a lightweight. Almost all of the additional weight is centered towards the front of the pen. This is to be expected, given the new design of the section, and actually makes the extra weight much less an issue than it might otherwise be.

With the weight centered forward, the pen still balances nicely in the hand, and the extra weight doesn't seem to bother as much as you would expect it to.

The Milord size is a bit lighter, at about 7/8 of an ounce, still a slight weight increase over the older model Paragon, but closer for those who prefer a lightweight pen. The lack of a metal section accounts for most of the difference in weight. The size is a bit reduced, but the biggest change is in width, with the Milord being 1/2 inch across. It's still a lengthy 5 3/4 inches long, and would probably be considered to be "full sized" by most.

The large Paragon is piston fill, while the smaller Milord version is a cartridge converter. One change is that the piston on the Paragon is now as smooth as silk to operate. Older OMAS pistons had a reputation for being somewhat stiff in operation, and the fact that the piston knob was a smallish affair didn't help in this regard. The new Paragon takes care of both these issues, with a smoother operation, and a much larger piston knob. Both pens use a standard size OMAS 18K nib, with that used on the larger pen being two tone plated. The nib engraving is a new design, and very attractive.

The nib is going to be the only quibble we found with the larger Paragon. Not that it's a bad nib, but... It's too small for the pen! This is a complaint we've had with several "oversize" models from various manufacturers recently. The pen becomes bigger, but when the cap comes off, the same regular sized nib is used, looking a bit too small for the larger size of the cap and barrel.

It's purely an aesthetic issue, since the physical size of a nib has nothing to do with how well it works, but it would be nice to see a bigger chunk of gold hanging off the front end!

Now, aesthetic quibbles out of the way, we can turn to the actual performance. The nibs on these pens don't just look good with their new engraving design and two tone plating, but they are good. Downright amazing, in fact. We were very impressed with the feel of these nibs on paper. They have enough give to them to seem flexible, even if they are not what in the same realm as a vintage flex nib. You will get some line width variation with pressure though.

The metal section of the Paragon made for a different feel than we've become accustomed to with OMAS pens. The balance is very good, even with the cap posted the weight stays well down in your hand. The section tapers quite sharply as well, from 1/2 inch at the threads down to 3/8 inch across at the lower end. This taper means that the pen, although large, isn't all that uncomfortable for smaller hands. The Milord is a much slimmer pen, with a tapered section from 7/16 inches at the threads down to 3/8 inches at the end. It's not much in actual size, but it feels much smaller all the same. The lighter weight of the Milord also affects balance, and with this version, we found that using it without the cap posted was a bit more comfortable. The extra weight of the cap on the end of the barrel made for a bit of a top-heavy feel.

The new design may not be to everyone's taste of course. Any time you change a classic you run into complaints! However, it's pretty clear that in designing the new Paragon, OMAS were looking to address some of the past issues that affected the Paragon series with a new clip, and larger size. With this new oversize model, they now have a pen that can stand alongside anything being made today in terms of size. And if our sample nibs are anything to go by, they should provide quite a race for the competition when it comes to writing performance as well!

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