ASC Arco Bronze Celluloid

ASC (Armando Simoni Club) ASC was founded by Emmanuel Caltagirone.

The fountain pen collecting and craze by enthusiast in Europe did not go unnoticed and ASC was founded catering to Armando Simoni fans. The club gave birth to a publication meant to celebrate Italian fountain pens by creating a privileged group of collectors who deserves special attention and could have access to special pens which was not meant for the public and could not be purchased in stores.

The yearly clubs fees were rather high compared to other European Collectors Clubs but they justified the cost by the fact that they offered access to pens which could not be had otherwise.  

The first pen to be offered to club members was the OMAS extra Red Brick piston filler. The pens came in a limited run and numbered according to the members club enrollment number. Can you get more exclusive than that?

This pen is now highly sought after in the secondary market.

NOW coming to our current pen the ASC Gladiatore Medio Arco Bronze Celluliod.

It sure is a handful of a name for a pen. But is is most befitting. Elegant, eloquently designed and has a presence like no other pens. It is one of the rare pens that demands you to notice its presence. 

Why does this pen command an audience and make its presence felt? Well for one, the pen is made from celluliod. Celluliod due to its composition, is highly flammable, difficult and expensive to produce. The building blocks for celluliod are nitrocellulose, camphor, cotton, other agents and dye. The dye is used to produce the desired effect.

During its heyday, celluloid was used for photographic films, tennis balls, combs, guitar picks, dolls and much more.  

Initially sold under the OMAS brand as Arco Bronze Celluliod Paragon. The design remains relatively unchanged into its current evolution, ASC Gladiatore. 

OMAS (Officina Meccanica Armando Simoni) was founded in 1925 in Bologna, Italy by Armando Simoni. He was a visionary and far ahead of his peers in innovation and design creation. 

OMAS went into liquidation in 2016 and the remaining arco rods were purchased by ASC. Which explains why the design remained relatively unchanged. Well, if something is not broken, why fix it, right?

OMAS was revived in 2018 by its new owners Ancora.

Well this pen indeed has provident and a rich background of history.

The pen I purchased on 17 April 2021 has an added history as it was lost during transit in Memphis,  Tennessee on its way to Malaysia. I followed regularly with PenGallery on its status and even offered to write in to the courier company FedEx. Skipping a few heartbeats, the delay was worth it. I thank Mr. Lai for his relentless following up with the courier and grilling them.

You always remember a pen more when there is a story attached to it. 

The pen is utterly gorgeous. Breathtaking. Looks heavy but its actually very light. 

Without further ado. I present the Gladiatore

Gladiatore Medio Arco Bronze Celluliod 

The pen packaging looks like the pen has a floating effect. The scraps of arco celluloid provided is a nice touch

12 facets piston filler 

From this angle, you can faint looking at the pen

Closeup. No other pen looks like it

Even the side profile has a uniqueness to its arco design

The pen clip with the wheel is unique and fully functional. It is the smoothest clip I had ever used to fasten to my pocket. It literally glides into position

18K Gold nib. A dream to use and write effortlessly on the fist ink fill up