The Write Stuff

Sometimes wisdom can be found in comedy. One of my favorite recurring bits on the old “Honeymooners” TV series was the elaborate, posturing ritual that Ed Norton would go through every time he put a pen in his hand to do even the most trivial bit of writing, irking his short-tempered, easily-annoyed neighbor Ralph Kramden to cuff him in the back of the head and bellow, “Would you hurry up?!” Ol’ Ed wasn’t the brightest guy in the world, but I am starting to be convinced that he had the right idea about approaching the task of writing after a chat with Eric Aliamus, the CEO of the luxury pen manufacturer OMAS. Perhaps it helps that Aliamus describes his passion for the work in a context cigar smokers can understand: “Taking a pen and opening it, looking at it before you write, is like taking a cigar and enjoying that moment before you light it. There is an anticipation of enjoying what is to happen next.”

Penmanship often seems to be a dying art in this modern era, yet another casualty of the electronic age. E-mail has largely replaced handwritten correspondence; modern word-processing programs have not only supplanted typewriters as producers of business documents, but have nearly made handwriting obsolete with their numerous functions (One wonders how much more interminable Norton’s ritual would’ve been had he access to spell-checking, style sheets, and a zillion fonts). How then, to explain the continuing popularity of luxury pens, not just as dust-gathering collectibles, but as prized, useful accessories? Simple, really. As anyone who’s ever signed a contract, bought an autograph, or had an unsigned credit card turned down at a restaurant knows, the signature makes it official.

“Writing on paper is writing about the essential,” Aliamus declares. “I think everything important will always be put on a piece of paper. It’s not just a reaction to modernity and electronics, but I think there are more people with a sense of culture and human relationships and want to show it.”

Ritual, however, is not the only reason that people who appreciate a fine cigar seem to gravitate toward the best writing instruments as well: there is a similar appreciation of a quality, hand-made product with generations of family history and dedication behind it. OMAS was founded in 1925 by Armando Simoni, an Italian artisan with a deep fascination for ancient Greek culture, as still evidenced today by the trademark Hellenic frieze design element that encircles the cap of all of his namesake pens (OMAS is an acronym for Officina Meccanica Armando Simoni). In the 1930s, he developed the Arte Italiana - a 12-faceted model reminiscent of a Greek column that remains the company’s signature piece. Simoni’s daughter Rafaela carried on the penmaking tradition following her father’s passing in 1958, along with her husband Angelo Malaguti. In 1983, their son Gianluca Malaguti joined, officially making OMAS a three-generation business. Bought by the corporate giant LVMH two years ago, OMAS, with a worldwide staff of around 60 people (40 in production), probably seems small compared to the company’s other household-name holdings, like Louis Vuitton, Chandon, and Dior. And Aliamus wouldn’t really have it any other way.

“We are still a small company,” he says. “Today we make about 35,000 pens a year. To give you perspective, Montblanc [another well-known luxury penmaker] produces about 1.5 million a year. We are all handmade, and that means production will always be an issue.”

Much like the several years’ time between when tobacco is grown and when it is rolled into a premium cigar, the process of handcrafting a truly topnotch writing implement is a slow and painstaking one. “It’s usually a one-year process between raw material and finished product,” Aliamus explains. “Working on the material before assembling takes nine months. The lids normally take three months. There are actually about 12 separate crafts going on in the making of a pen: cutting the metallic pieces, making the nibs, polishing, assembling, et cetera.”

The result is a pen that is remarkably light and comfy in the hand. Part of the reason is the raw material itself: cotton resin, a light, unbreakable substance that absorbs warmth, polishes to a marvelous shine, and is exclusive to OMAS’s manufacturing process. Another is the nib. All OMAS pens have an 18-carat gold nib that fairly glides across the paper as you write. But, as Aliamus is quick to point out, these features are not simple adornments to impress collectors: every facet of the design and construction is geared toward a utilitarian goal: a pen that writes well, feels good in the writer’s hand, and lasts a very long time.

“Our pens are well-balanced and economic because they are meant to be used,” Aliamus says. “If a pen is too heavy in your hand, you don’t want to carry it around in your jacket. These are companions, not just symbols.”

Of course, while all the pens are made for writing, some are more collectible than others. In addition to the Arte Italiana series, OMAS has introduced the 360 collection, a three-sided pen founded on the rules of ergonomics, whose shape ensures the pen’s nib will always touch paper at a perfect angle. The 360 is now available in a lightweight titanium in addition to the cotton resin version. The Leonardo, a limited production piece based on early studies of writing devices by DaVinci in his treatise, Codex Atlanticus, is available in gold (100 pieces) or sterling silver (1,000 pieces.) OMAS has also forged a partnership with another company known to cigar smokers for consistent class and quality: Davidoff of Geneva. Davidoff writing instruments, crafted by OMAS, are available in four series: Serie Gold, finished in vermeil, a material consisting of sterling silver coated with a layer of gold; Serie Silver, with sterling silver over a resin base, rhodium-plated to prevent oxidation and tarnishing; Serie Classic, with a smooth black resin finish; and Serie High-Tech, available in either black or burgundy resin finish. On request, customers can personalize their pen with a diamond engraving on the band to accompany the elegant Davidoff logo. One can almost picture old Zino Davidoff himself sitting down at his desk to write with one of these, a plume of smoke rising from his hand-rolled cigar.

Aliamus believes strongly that a great deal of his market is comprised of cigar connoisseurs and it’s difficult to argue the point. “I like people who smoke cigars,” he announces. “These people have a taste for the good things in life.”

Here, here. (Hey, can I get that in writing? You know, just to make it official.)