Review by Laura Cameron
I love looking at Opus 88s! They are all colorful and fun, and they hold so much ink. They remind me of candy – I feel like I need one of each color. So when the Opus 88 Omar (Appelboom, €82.23, approx. $93.50) came out, I knew I wanted to try one. What color? My signature purple, of course!
The Opus 88 Omar has a semi-transparent resin barrel. The cap is mosaic patterned in a matching resin. The Omar is available in Amber, Grey, Green and Purple (also called Amethyst). The pen has silver accents (clip, rings around the ends) and ivory resin finials on both ends of the pen.
The Omar features a #6 JoWo nib stamped with the Opus 88 logo available in multiple sizes; mine is a Fine.
All Opus pens have an eyedropper fill systems (a glass eyedropper is included in the box) and make use of a piston knob on the end of the pen to increase or decrease airflow to the nib, allowing the ink to flow smoothly. While I’m always tempted to add a little silicon grease when I seal up the pen after cleaning, for the purposes of this review I didn’t – I just let the tiny black o-ring do it’s job. No leaks so far!
The Opus Omar pens are big. There’s just no way around this. They dwarf my Pilot Metropolitan and Diplomat Traveller, and are still quite a bit heftier than my Retro 51 and some of my indie pens like this gorgeous one from Carolina Pen Company. The pen is 5 7/8″ or 15cm long, capped, and 5 3/8″ or 13.5cm long, uncapped. When filled, it comes in at a hefty 37gms.
So here’s my problem: I love the way the Opus 88 Omar looks! This one was a little slow to start, but once I got the ink flowing, I had no problems. The nib was smooth, worked great right out of the box and the pen was a pleasure to write with. But I have to face the fact that my tiny hands and the Opus 88 Omar pens are never going to be a good match. I just can’t deny that I get hand fatigue if I use them for too long. So my recommendation is this: if you have small hands and don’t go for big pens, you’re gonna have to give this one a pass (until they make a smaller size… please?!?!?). If you enjoy larger pens, give these a try. They’re fun to look at and write with and I desperately want one in my collection!
Tools:
- Papers: Rhodia Soft Cover Rhodiarama 7.5″ x 9.75″ Silver Notebook (Vanness, $26.95), Story Supply Co, Limited Edition Ithaca
- Pen: Opus 88 Omar (Appelboom, €82.23, approx. $93.50)
- Inks: Waterman Harmonious Green (Vanness, $11.00)
DISCLAIMER: Some of the items included in this review were provided to us free of charge for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
Massive pen, and great review.
“This one was a little slow to start, but once I got the ink flowing, I had no problems.”
Opus 88 eye dropper pens need to first be primed by crumpling up a small piece of paper towel, then slowly eye dropping 3 or 4 drops of ink into the Section until a drop of ink drops out of the nib onto the paper towel. Wait until the ink still in the Section gets into the feed; you don’t want any ink still in the Section to spill out onto the desk top. Put the primed Section to the side, making sure it does not roll off the desk and onto the floor, fill the barrel, pick up the Section and screw it onto the Barrel, open the valve, start writing.