Ciao, OMAS!

The worldwide fountain pen community expressed a collective, solemn lament as news broke that Italian pen-maker OMAS, after celebrating its 90th anniversary last year, had become defunct. It was an outcome that we all hoped would be avoided with an 11th hour intervention. There were buyers that were looking to save the company and keep the doors open. Unfortunately, the deals had fallen through and the company shuttered its doors for the foreseeable future.

As there are still interested parties looking to purchase what is left of the company, OMAS fans can hold onto hope that, some years from now, we may see a resurrection of the brand. However, at the time of this writing, we are looking at a dwindling inventory of OMAS pens world-wide.

I thought it would be important to note that I'm writing the first draft of this post with an OMAS Ogiva Cocktail fountain pen. Now, more than ever, I treasure my pens for their uniqueness and craftsmanship. Being that I have a personal affection for the brand, I wanted to see the last OMAS pens be put in the hands of true fans and writing enthusiasts. So, we're throwing a special going-away party!

"Ciao" in Italian could mean either "hello" or "goodbye," depending on the context it is being used. Therefore, it is with much respect and fondness that we invite you to our Ciao, OMAS farewell party. We might be saying "goodbye," but for anyone that is purchasing a new OMAS, it is time to say "hello" to your new pen.

OMAS Ogiva Cocktail Limited Edition

Goldspot Pens has acquired a number of OMAS pens from what was left at the US distributor and Japan. At the start of our party, we're offering our stock of Arte Italiana, Ogiva Cocktail, Bologna, 360, and more at a discount, including free, insured shipping anywhere in the USA. We're also hosting a giveaway of the rare Milady ballpoint pen that you can enter here. Help us get the word out to OMAS fans everywhere and you can possibly win an OMAS pen. Enter the giveaway by using the form below (if it is closed, the giveaway is over).

a Rafflecopter giveaway
All of our OMAS pens were acquired through authorized distribution and are still covered under a 3-year warranty. Contact Kenro Industries (US OMAS distributor) to arrange the pen to be sent for warranty service only. For any repairs that are outside of the warranty, or are user-related (dropped nib, crushed pen, etc), contact Classic Fountain Pens directly.

Each OMAS pen purchased from Goldspot Pens is new, in box with the original booklet / papers. They are all covered under our return policy, which allows you to return, for any reason, within 15 days of purchase with the option to exchange or refund. Please note returns for refund will incur a 15% restocking fee from the total amount.

OMAS Bologna, Reintroduced

We will be listing new pens all week. To kick off the party, we added an entire collection that hasn't been seen in the United States in some years. The Bologna is a rounded and tapered OMAS pen that comfortably sits in your hand. The eye-catching, pearlescent acrylic resin is a sight to behold, adding a dimension of luxury that OMAS is known for. The fountain pen fills by cartridge or converter. The 14kt gold nib glides smoothly, engraved with a graphic of Bologna's famous porticoes. The twist-action ballpoint is loaded with an easy-flow, Parker-style refill and is also emblazoned with an image of a portico on the nosecone of the pen. Shop Now.

If you enjoy OMAS ink and are looking to get stocked up for some time, we still have bottled ink and ink cartridges in a variety of colors. We are trying to stay on top of our website to remove items as soon as they are sold, but undoubtedly we will become oversold, but we will notify you as soon as possible if a discrepancy occurs to see if another option, or a refund, is preferred.

As a bonus, we're offering a complimentary bottle of OMAS Violet with any purchase of $150 or more (can include OMAS or other brands of products). Use promo code OMASPARTY during checkout and the ink will be added to your order with a discount to offset the cost.

Parker / Waterman 2015 Rebate on New Pens

Waterman Ombres et Lumieres Pen Collection - 2015

Who is up for saving just a little bit more on your Parker & Waterman Pens? Of course you are.

Even if you've already purchased a Parker or Waterman from us this past month, you may be eligible to get up to $25 back in the 2015 Holiday Rebate.

Parker Sonnet Great Expectations Collection - 2015

Sponsored by Newell Rubbermaid, the parent company of the fine writing division that owns both Parker & Waterman, this Holiday rebate includes purchases made from November 15th, 2015 to December 31st, 2015.

Purchase Amount (before tax)	Rebate Amount
$50 - $99.99	$5
$100 - $149.99	$10
$150 - $199.99	$15
$200 and up	$25

To Redeem the Parker / Waterman Rebate

1. Purchase any Parker or Waterman pen from us during the rebate period and be sure to save the sales receipt we send in the package.
2. Complete the rebate redemption form on www.finewritingrebate.com
3. Mail the redemption form, the original sales receipt with the Parker / Waterman purchase circled, making sure it is postmarked by January 15th, 2016.

The mailing address for the Rebate promotion is as follows :

Fine Writing Promotion 2015

PO Box 2511

Grand Rapids, MN 55745-2511

There is a limit of one rebate claimed per person & per household during the promotion period.

The offer is valid only in the United States. Goldspot Pens is not responsible for payment for these rebates and they cannot be exchanged for a discount at the time of purchase.

For more details, please check out the official rebate voucher below:

The Goldspot Black Friday Giveaway and Mega Sale

We've kicked off our Black Friday Weekend a day before Thanksgiving and wanted to let everyone know about the sale and the tremendous giveaway that we're hosting.

Combined with free US Shipping on orders of $49 or more, we are also including free gifts with orders that are $125 or more, including a bottle of Pelikan Edelstein ink color of your choosing. Place an order from today (Wednesday, Nov 26) through Cyber Monday (Dec 1) and enter one of the following promotion codes below to get your free gifts included on the order : 

• JinHao + Parker Case + Edelstein Onyx Ink Promo Code GIFTONYX
• JinHao + Parker Case + Edelstein Sapphire Ink Promo Code GIFTSAPPHIRE
• JinHao + Parker Case + Edelstein Garnet Ink Promo Code GIFTGARNET
• JinHao + Parker Case + Edelstein Topaz Ink Promo Code GIFTTOPAZ
• JinHao + Parker Case + Edelstein Jade Ink Promo Code GIFTJADE
• JinHao + Parker Case + Edelstein Adventurine Ink Promo Code GIFTADVENT
• JinHao + Parker Case + Edelstein Ruby Ink Promo Code GIFTRUBY
• JinHao + Parker Case + Edelstein Amber Ink Promo Code GIFTAMBER
• JinHao + Parker Case + Edelstein Mandarin Ink Promo Code GIFTMANDARIN
• JinHao + Parker Case + Edelstein Tanzanite Ink Promo Code GIFTTANZ

In addition to getting complimentary gifts with your order, you will also be included in our drawing for an Edison Fountain Pen ($149 value). Which Edison fountain pen is completely up to you!

To enter the drawing without placing an order, you can enter by posting on social media (Facebook, Twitter or Instagram) with a picture of your favorite black pen, black ink or black notebook and using the hashtag #GoldspotBlackFriday

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. May your hearts and tables be filled with abundance and shared with those you love. 

Goldspot's Fountain Pen Day 2014 Celebration Sale

Each year, it's getting bigger and bigger. Fountain Pen Day is fast becoming a yearly tradition amongst fountain pen enthusiasts online, around the globe. We're looking to continue that tradition with our biggest celebration yet.

What is Fountain Pen Day?

Recognized the first Friday in November, Fountain Pen Day is a celebration of the writing instrument and rejoicing the act of writing. Write a letter to a friend, send someone an "intro to fountain pens care package," share photos of your fountain pens on social media, handwrite your tweets, or set aside some quiet time to write in your favorite journal. There are numerous ways to appreciate the pen and to promote the use of fountain pens in our modern, daily lives.

Goldspot Sponsors Fountain Pen Day with a Giveaway and Sale

As an online fine writing retailer and sponsor of Fountain Pen Day, we are doing our part this year to promote the use of the pen by giving away free fountain pens and ink for this weekend only. Starting Thursday, November 6th and concluding Sunday the 9th, we will be giving away Pilot Varsity fountain pens, Jinhao fountain pens and Namiki ink with orders placed during the weekend. To have your free pens added to your order, you will need the proper promo code, which we will be e-mailing to our newsletter subscribers on Thursday morning when the sale commences.

The Weekend Celebration concludes with the giveaway of a Pelikan Souveran M605 Marine Blue Fountain Pen to one lucky customer who places their order over the weekend. We will randomly select one customer from all the orders placed during the sale and include this beautiful fountain pen (retail value $595) with their order. As an added bonus, we are also including some great Fountain Pen Day bookmarks from the organizers of fountainpenday.org in every order purchased during the weekend.

Share your excitement for fountain pen day by using the hashtag #fountainpenday on social media.

J. Herbin Vert Olive - July/August's "Ink of the Month"

Sometimes, our expansive selection of fountain pen inks can get a bit out-of-hand with a particular color. Similar to our "Weekly Dip" special that features an item on our website that has been selected for an extra discount for a week, we are going to feature an "Ink of the Month" that will be available at an extra discount for a month or until the herd is thinned. For the last week of July and during the month of August, we will feature the J. Herbin Vert Olive as the Goldspot Ink of the Month.

Vert Olive has a lighter, khaki green color that has is lower in saturation and shows some shading. As you can see in the above olive doodle, you can build up the color of the Vert Olive after letting it dry, creating contrast for ink sketches and drawings. Each J. Herbin bottle also has a little shelf built into the design for your pen to rest on (see below). 

Order your bottle of J. Herbin Vert Olive here.

Happy Fountain Pen Day!

Started in 2012, the movement to make November 1st National Fountain Pen Day is catching fire! This year, we've joined in on the fun.

Goldspot Fine Writing and Luxury Gifts is sponsoring this year's Fountain Pen Day with a weekend-long special deal for those who want to celebrate by purchasing a new pen.

Simply purchase a new fountain pen of $99 & up on our website's store between now (Friday) and Monday, 11/04/13 (until 2pm) and we will  include a FREE bottle of Noodler's fountain pen ink (value up to $13.50 Retail). You may select the particular color in the order comments section of the website order form. If no ink is selected, we will include Bulletproof Black by default.

Even if you're not in the market for a new fountain pen, ink up the pens you do have and spread your enthusiasm for writing with your stylo plume! Wear your inky fingers proudly today!

A New Pelikan Green Demo + Labor Day Coupon

Hopefully this catches everyone's internet purview before the long weekend. I know we'll be looking to head out earlier today to beat the traffic. But before we do, we wanted to introduce a new Pelikan pen and announce our Labor Day store-wide sale that will be active throughout the weekend.

The Pelikan m205 Duo Highlighter in Shiny Green

After the success of the m205 Duo Highlighter in Yellow that has been available for a little over a year (still a current item), Pelikan has released the same pen design concept in a lively green tinted demonstrator. This piston-filling fountain pen is also fitted with a double broad, stainless steel nib that is meant to be used with the included bottle of green highlighter pen ink. With the easily interchangeable Pelikan nib, you could easily switch out the double broad for another Pelikan Nib size and be able to go back to the double broad for highlighting purposes.

The m205 Duo Highlighter retails for $175, but we currently offer the pen for $139.95. The additional bottles of Pelikan green highlighter ink are available for $16.50 and Pelikan stainless steel nibs that fit the m205/215 are available for $58.00 each.

SAVE 10% and get FREE Shipping with our Labor Day Weekend Sale Coupon

Indulge your exceptional taste in fine writing instruments and get an additional 10% off your order with free shipping (within the US only) with our special Labor Day Coupon. Order the m205 Duo Highlighter with an additional bottle of the Pelikan ink, or an additional Pelikan nib to qualify for the discount ($150 min. order). This coupon is good for our products store-wide. You must have an order total of $150 or more and use the promo code LABORTEN in the order form to receive the discount.
Expires Tuesday, September 3rd, 2013 at 12:00pm.

We will be enjoying some well-deserved time off on Monday and will catch up with your e-mails and phone calls again on Tuesday. Have fun this weekend and remember to laugh, relax and take it all in.

Free Engraving Promo This Week - Your Questions Answered

Starting today, we're running one of our more popular promotions in preparation of Valentine's Day gifting.

We have free engraving on Goldspot.com for any pens, organizers and other items that can be engraved. Personalizing your pen or pen gift makes it an unique item, distinguished as a one-of-a-kind pen. Having your loved ones' name on a pen leaves a lasting impression and makes it harder for pen thieves to steal. Normally $9.50 per item, this free promotion extends for a maximum of 5 items per customer, per order during this promotion period, which ends January 31st, 2013.

For those who are interested in our engraving service and would be considering getting their next pen gift personalized, here are several of the most frequently asked questions :

What color will the engraving be in? Can it match the trim of the pen?

The color and the ability to match the trim varies on each pen, depending on the material. Most hard lacquer pens, like a Waterman Expert or Parker Sonnet lacquer can be engraved and matched with either a gold or silver color enamel. Pens with a metal finish are engraved and left with only the impression, since the material does not allow for enamel to adhere to the slick metal.

Is the engraving "stamped" on? Will it fade?

No. We use two different machines to engrave our products in-house. One is a laser engraver (for resins, acrylic, leather and other non-reflective materials) and the other is a diamond-pointed rotary engraver (for metallic finishes, sterling silver, gold, etc.) Both machines employ a subtractive method of engraving, which means material is taken out of the pen via laser or etching tool. The pen's material is cut into and leaves a permanent imprint on the pen.

What kind of fonts/styles can you engrave with? How do I select the style?

We have four basic fonts styles that we use with most engraved items. You can see sample font sets below:

To indicate your font preference, please include the font name in your "order comments" section of the order form. If no preference is indicated, the style is selected at our engraver's discretion. Certain items cannot be engraved with all styles and might be changed if the engraver determines the pen cannot be inscribed with the requested font choice.

Do you engrave other items besides pens?

Yes, we do engrave our Filofax leather organizers, leather pen cases / holders, and plates for Desk Sets.

Where does the engraving go on a pen?

In most cases, engraving is placed on the side of the cap, or top portion of the pen, running parallel to the clip. For an example, check the picture below.

Certain pens, like the Cross Century II and Aurora Ipsilon Sterling Silver, have a blank spot on the patterned metal surface that specifically exists to be engraved upon. Other pens, like a Caran d'Ache Ecridor, only has a small blank spot on the pen that would allow for initials only. Then, you have pens with such a busy pattern, like most ACME designer pens, that allow us only a small location on the pen to put an engraving.

Should I put periods after initials?

For monogramming and title initials (like MD or PhD), we would usually say no, because it is assumed that the uppercase letters are initials. In a case where you would put the person's first two initials and then last name (like A.J. Devanworth), we would recommend periods after the letters to differentiate initials from a full name.

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If you have any additional questions, please post them below in our comments section and we will address them there. If you have a question specific to a particular pen, please contact us directly and we can have our engraver get in touch with you directly.

2011 Black Friday Specials Flyer

Well, you really can't call them "Doorbusters" because our website doesn't technically have any doors. So, maybe we can refer to these deals as "Clickbusters?" Starting 12AM Eastern Standard Time on Friday, November 25th, we are officially kicking off our Black Friday deals and specials for the entire weekend through Cyber Monday. Get those fingers ready and sign up to our E-Mail Newsletter List to get the special coupon codes sent directly to your inbox.

Check out our special Clickbuster deals that we will be featuring at a great price this weekend. We have ample amounts of inventory of these items, so corporate orders are welcome and encouraged. Buy for the whole family or the whole company in one shot. If you need help with gift ideas, feel free to check out our suggestions on pen gifts. If you are really lost and want to drop us a line, feel free to post on our wall at our Goldspot Facebook page or Tweet us @goldspotpens on Twitter. We will be out of the office during the weekend enjoying some family time, but will be checking FB and Twitter periodically to answer questions.

Winner of the Goldspot 2009 Pen of the Year!

Our Goldspot Pens readers have spoken! With 34% of the total votes cast, the Pelikan m205 Blue Transparent fountain pen is 2009's Pen of the Year. To celebrate the m205 being the people's choice, we will be running a special offer for those who have not purchased the winner. From today (November 16h) until Friday November 20th, we will offer one free bottle of Pelikan fountain pen ink to accompany the purchase of your new Pelikan m205 Blue Transparent fountain pen. Simply visit our store, select the pen plus the bottle of ink (and any other items you would like) and make sure to mention the promo code PELIKAN205 at the checkout screen. The discount will be taken off after the order has been confirmed. If you pay through Google Checkout or PayPal, you will be promptly refunded for the cost once the order has been imported from the website. Congratulations to Pelikan for making such a fine product and many thanks to everyone out there who voted! Please note: this offer is only valid for purchases of the Pelikan m205 fountain pen in blue transparent in any point size. This offer is not redeemable for cash and cannot be combined with any other discount. Promotion ends at the discretion of Goldspot Pens or by Friday, November 20th, at 11:59pm.