E.g.

combobox<ItemViewModel<*>> {
  items = listOf(ItemViewModel("One"), ItemViewModel("Two")).observable()
  cellFormat { text = it.item.toString() }
  value = items[0]
  setOnAction { println(selectionModel.selectedItem) } // debug: show real object
}

not familiar with what your'e trying to do, but you might be able to communicate status using user events on a record