Jump to content


Photo

Is this an Osmia?


  • Please log in to reply
15 replies to this topic

#1 Wardok

Wardok

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 52 posts

Posted 16 December 2014 - 11:05 PM

I bought this pen recently as an Osmia. It has just arrived and a beautiful thing and well made, but the only thing I can find to identify it as an Osmia is the clip which could easily be a replacement. There is no imprint anywhere that I can see, and the nib, and I knew this when I bought it, is a Palliag 1st Qual.  The only other identifying feature is the pen motif on the top of the cap stud. The pen is a button filler.

 

gallery_355_361_648459.jpg

 

gallery_355_361_414451.jpg

 

I've had a look at the German chapter of my Lambrou book and it has no Osmias that match this pen, not anything else that is identical. What have I got?



#2 Jos

Jos

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 105 posts

Posted 17 December 2014 - 07:53 AM

I saw that auction and was reluctant to bid because it appeared that only the clip (and not the barrel) had an original Osmia imprint.

Can you find any imprint on the barrel?



#3 Norm

Norm

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 237 posts

Posted 17 December 2014 - 02:52 PM

This has nothing to do with your pen but I was struck with the similarity of the logo on your pen and the one on china in the 1940s dining cars of the Union Pacific railroad.

 

DSCN2025_zps3fb881f9.jpg



#4 AZuniga

AZuniga

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 240 posts
  • LocationMexico

Posted 17 December 2014 - 03:47 PM

I have an Osmia 226, it seems to be the same as yours but with only one cap ring and the name in the barrel. It also has the name of a stationery company. I can easily assume Osmia did it for some company and nothing was written in the barrel, I have seen that before. The nib says: Osmia 6 14 k but Palliag 1st quality was common with Osmias

Hope this helps.

 

gallery_3716_451_60238.jpg

 

gallery_3716_451_19671.jpg


Edited by AZuniga, 17 December 2014 - 03:48 PM.


#5 Cob

Cob

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 170 posts
  • LocationBerkshire, England

Posted 17 December 2014 - 09:44 PM

I have an Osmia 226 Frankenpen - it is fitted with a large English Jewel nib.  I believe the pen to be pre-war - note the clip detail at the point.  The pen's barrel is stamped Osmia and 226BB.

gallery_80961_406_15879.jpg

gallery_80961_406_11353.jpg

 

Cob


Edited by Cob, 17 December 2014 - 09:46 PM.


#6 AZuniga

AZuniga

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 240 posts
  • LocationMexico

Posted 17 December 2014 - 11:27 PM

Cob,

 

It is the fact that your pen has a wrong nib and a clip that could belong to another model that make you think it is a Franken pen ?

I wonder...



#7 Cob

Cob

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 170 posts
  • LocationBerkshire, England

Posted 18 December 2014 - 12:15 AM

Cob,

 

It is the fact that your pen has a wrong nib and a clip that could belong to another model that make you think it is a Franken pen ?

I wonder...

Well I assumed that the clip was original; do you think it is not?  I am still looking for a clip for my 223 - and a complete cap for my 884.

 

The pen came with an English Parker Duofold Senior nib which was in perfect condition and which I hated - it was everything I do not like in a nib.  I sold the nib for 55% more than I paid for the complete pen...  I thought that the Supra nib I have in the 884 would do; ha ha! much too small, but I had the very big Jewel nib to hand for which I had no home.  It fitted like a dream to the big Osmia feed and writes superbly.  A Frankenpen yes, and I love it!

 

Rgds

 

Cob



#8 Newriter

Newriter

    greenhorn

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 23 posts

Posted 18 December 2014 - 06:54 PM

Hello

Yes, I am not sure too that this is an Osmia.

The time window where Palliag nibs had been made is very small. The nazi government forced the industries to create a nib material without gold in 1936. The DEGUSSA made Palliag whhich is an alloy with Palladium and Silver. In 1939 the use of Palladium had been prohibited and since then only steel nibs had been made (exept for the export market with a refunds of Gold) The Degussa provided the Osmia with their nibs since 1932.  Just within the small time period Hermann Böhler, who had founded the Osmia together with his Brother Georg Böhler, split off from the corporation and founded his own factory. There was no struggle among the brothers but Herman did not tolerate the firm politics of Faber, who became a very strong  partner. Many pen parts made by the two Böhler firms had been interchangable. They often used the same dimensiones, the same windings and the same nibs. (early imprint of Hermann Böhler nibs had been DEGUSSA)

I must confess that "Wardok`s and Ariel`s pens had the same origin but the cap top has the geometry of many Hermann Böhler pens. The conclusion is difficult. Normally I used to say: There is noname where is no name. But the imprint could be disappeared within the many years of use. My suggestion: try to find any rest of caracters of the imprint using a good loupe.

Kind Regards

Thomas



#9 AZuniga

AZuniga

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 240 posts
  • LocationMexico

Posted 18 December 2014 - 09:35 PM

 

Cob,

 

It is the fact that your pen has a wrong nib and a clip that could belong to another model that make you think it is a Franken pen ?

I wonder...

Well I assumed that the clip was original; do you think it is not?  I am still looking for a clip for my 223 - and a complete cap for my 884.

 

The pen came with an English Parker Duofold Senior nib which was in perfect condition and which I hated - it was everything I do not like in a nib.  I sold the nib for 55% more than I paid for the complete pen...  I thought that the Supra nib I have in the 884 would do; ha ha! much too small, but I had the very big Jewel nib to hand for which I had no home.  It fitted like a dream to the big Osmia feed and writes superbly.  A Frankenpen yes, and I love it!

 

Rgds

 

Cob

 

Cob,

I believe your clip is original, I only wondered if it could belong to another model, but there is no reason to assume it is not from a different version of 226 for example; let's say one with two rings and one with one ring in the cap could have a different clip. What does not belong to the pen, in your case, is the nib but that does not make the pen a Franken pen. It is a beautiful pen anyway and you are right to love it.

Now Thomas observations are quite useful too, since those pens in the late period before the war used to mix parts quite often... although that does not mean the pen is not original.

What I meant with my question to you is that I believe your pen is original. I believe the clip could belong to another model and the nib is certainly not an Osmia, but the rest of the pen shape seems pretty much an Osmia to me, even if Wardok pen and mine "have a cap top which geometry seems closer to a Hermann Böhler" as Thomas tells us.

Those details do not mean both pens are not essentially Osmias. I am certainly not an expert but the amount of Osmias I have, show me so many different versions that I am sure the most part of Wardok pen, as well as yours, are essentially Osmia.

Regards, Ariel


Edited by AZuniga, 18 December 2014 - 09:37 PM.


#10 Cob

Cob

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 170 posts
  • LocationBerkshire, England

Posted 18 December 2014 - 10:37 PM

Thanks Newriter and AZuniga for your messages; most interesting.  I did notice the difference in the clip screws.  As I said the nib is English from the old-established Jewel Company; such nibs were fitted to the very large No 55 model.  I cannot remember why I think it s pre-war - perhaps the seller claimed this; were 226s made pre-war?

 

Meanwhile I have acquired a Bohler about which I shall make a fresh thread as it would strictly speaking be off topic here!

 

 

Rgds

 

Cob



#11 Parcival

Parcival

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 33 posts

Posted 29 December 2014 - 10:25 PM

Soon I bought one pen Osmia from France. It has no inscription of the body - I guess that disappeared with time, but there are number - 226 at the end of the barrel. The nib is not genuine.

DSC00006
Album: Osmia
5 images
0 comments


Edited by Parcival, 29 December 2014 - 10:28 PM.


#12 Cob

Cob

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 170 posts
  • LocationBerkshire, England

Posted 30 December 2014 - 08:51 PM

Soon I bought one pen Osmia from France. It has no inscription of the body - I guess that disappeared with time, but there are number - 226 at the end of the barrel. The nib is not genuine.

 

Fascinating!  The clip screw appears to be shorter than on mine, the clip is the same, but yours has handsome triple cap bands, whilst mine has only one.

 

Unlimited variations it seems!

 

Rgds

Cob



#13 Parcival

Parcival

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 33 posts

Posted 30 December 2014 - 10:36 PM

This pen is Streamline style - 1932-35. There are Osmia flat top Duofold style - 1930-32. I think your pen is later. After 1935. I have two or three with only one ring - black and pearl and black.

1

 



#14 Cob

Cob

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 170 posts
  • LocationBerkshire, England

Posted 30 December 2014 - 10:42 PM

Thanks very much; can you tell me what year that one is - I mean is it pre-war?  It looks identical to mine - apart of course from the colour.

 

Cob


Edited by Cob, 30 December 2014 - 10:43 PM.


#15 Parcival

Parcival

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 33 posts

Posted 31 December 2014 - 09:40 AM

This is certainly a pen before the war. I think this is a later version of the button filler Osmia's - about 1935 and shortly thereafter.

Here is an older version - Lapis Osmia Minor, Parker Duofold Streamline style - 1932-35:

Osmia Minor
Osmia Minor Nib

 



#16 Cob

Cob

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 170 posts
  • LocationBerkshire, England

Posted 02 January 2015 - 08:54 AM

This is certainly a pen before the war. I think this is a later version of the button filler Osmia's - about 1935 and shortly thereafter.

Here is an older version - Lapis Osmia Minor, Parker Duofold Streamline style - 1932-35:

Thanks very much Parcival, what a beauty!  I love Lapis in a pen.  Sadly I sold the only one I have had - it was not an Osmia!.

 

Cob






0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users