A mythological bird which never dies, the Phoenix flies long distances ahead of us, observing with its sharp eyes the countryside around us and the area ahead. It represents our visual capacity to gather sensory information on the environment around us and on the events which unfurl within it. The Phoenix, with its perfect beauty, produces an amazing exaltation combined with the dream of immortality. (The Feng Shui Handbook, Feng Shui Master Lam Kam Chuen).
Only in the aura of mystery surrounding it is the Chinese Phoenix similar to the mythical Egyptian bird which continually rises from its own ashes. It represents the power and prosperity which were the exclusive attributes of the emperor and empress, the only people allowed to wear the symbol of the Feng.
It is portrayed in many ways, often with the forehead of a crane, the beak of a wild bird, the neck of a snake, the shell of a tortoise, the stripes of a dragon and the tail of a fish, held to be the finest attributes of these animals, and is the personification of the primordial forces of the Heavens.
In its beak, it carries the sacred texts, on its body are written the Five Cardinal Virtues, its song contains the five notes of the Chinese musical scale and its tail has the five primary colours: blue (the East, spring and wood), red (the South, summer and fire), white (the West, autumn, metal), black (the North, winter and water), and yellow (the Centre, the emperor and earth).
The two yang colours, blue and red, are balanced with the yin colours, white and black.
The enamel Phoenix, elegant and proud, which dominates the reservoir of the Omas fountain pen ""The Trip of the Phoenix"" copies this faithfully.
The body of the pen too, which comes in four versions, offers four of these colours. However, the metal for the finishings changes: the yellow enamel is combined with platinum, the red with gold, the blue, silver, and the white, bronze.
On the top there is a beautiful jade of an intense green which recalls the green of the plumage. The highly original clip is inspired by movement and harmony.
The Phoenix flies from Greece to China, from the Parthenon skilfully reproduced on the cap, to the Summer Palace, symbolically miniaturized on the nib, bringing together for the Olympics two great civilisations whose influence has been fundamental to the development of humanity.
Though geographically distant, they have both given the world wisdom, philosophy, art and innovation.
This small masterpiece comes in a precious wood case, and its production has been entrusted, as always, to craftsmen and artists with unquestioned experience over many long years.
About Omas Pens
Omas was established in Bologna, Italy in 1925 by Armando Simoni who designed equipments and tools for the company to make the Omas Pens. The name OMAS comes from the first letters of Officina Meccanica Armando Simoni, a name synonymous to quality and contemporary design today.
Some of the most iconic designs of OMAS includes the vintage Omas Doctor Pen which allows a thermometer to be inserted into the pen, Omas Art Italiana Collection, Omas 360 Collection
with a triangular body to maximize grip and writing comfort.
The largest size pen manufactured as a non-limited edition in the OMAS stable include the 12-faceted Paragon, the second largest being the Milord Collection. Omas product range was last updated in 2005 with the Milord model which has the size of the pre-2005 Paragon model. OMAS continued to release Limited editions based on their earlier style pens. Other luxury collection include the Apollo 11 Collection, Atlantide Collection, Merville Du Monde and the Almirante Collection.
In 2000, the French company LVMH acquired OMAS from the heirs of Armando Simoni. Subsequently, in October 2007 the Xinyu Hengdeli Group 亨得利 of Hong Kong purchased 90% equity stake in OMAS. It was subsequently sold to another Chinese company O-Luxe.
As at this time of writing, OMAS pens have become such a collectible pen that exudes luxury and contemporary design of modern times. Hence, with the company on liquidation since 2015, Omas is definitely a very collectible pen.
