Lamy Persona

[Namo]

I was just looking for some informations on the official Lamy site, and I found the "Design" page. I was totally surprised that the page about the designers doesn't mention the Lamy persona (and there is no picture of the misterious Lamy unic). I have a black Persona, and I must say that I love the pen. It is one of my two or three favorite pen for long writing sessions, but I understand that the pen has some weak points. Was the Persona such a catastrophy, commercialy and from a design viewpoint, that Lamy does not even mention the pen and the designer on the page?

 

Thank you for reading.

[JDR]

I too, have a Persona and think it is a very nice pen, though not in the same class as my Pelikan M805. Though I wasn't aware of any particular problems with the Persona, I have also been curious as to why you never see anything written about it.

Especially in light of all the glowing comments about Lamy's less expensive pens, the Persona seems to be an orphan. So, what are the usual problems with the Persona?

[Glenn-SC]

I have a Persona in the black titanium oxide.

It is a very nice pen.

Its only problem is that the finish will "sandpaper" any pen it rubs up against. It "Does not play well with Others".

[MikeW]

Its only problem is that the finish will "sandpaper" any pen it rubs up against. It "Does not play well with Others".

 

I never heard that - very interesting - thanks for letting us know!

[JDR]

I have heard about the abrasive qualities of the titanium oxide finish. My Persona, however, does not seem to have the titanium finish. My pen was a gift, so I don't know too much about it. How many finishes were available for the Persona? Mine appears to be a matte black plastic, but I am only guessing.

[MYU]

The Persona was not really a catastrophe, from a quality perspective. They made a very expensive pen that Lamy found difficult to sell. The main issue is that Lamy has been known for mid to low tier pricing, not high pricing. The Persona was Lamy's attempt to gain a foot hold in the higher end again, for fountain pens. They've been pseudo successful with the Dialog series (ballpoint pen). And now Lamy is trying it again with the Dialog3, a retractable nib fountain pen that is priced at around $280.

 

The Persona was conceived of by a well respected Italian designer, Mario Bellini. Which makes sense, due to the cues to Italian design icons (like the reeded column). There's a review of it on FPN, believe it or not.

 

From what I know of, the Persona came in four finishes: black titanium oxide w/gold trim, brushed titanium oxide w/gold trim, matte black resin w/palladium trim (resin might be Makrolon) and platinum w/platinum trim. The Platinum one was quite expensive at $475. Lamy retired the Persona, then reissued it again as the Persona II without the platinum finish available. There also might have been some very minor cosmetic changes in the Persona II.

Edited November 6, 2009 by MYU

[Namo]

Thank you all for your answers (special thanks to MYU, this is very informative). Any clue about why Bellini is not on the designers' page?

[jips123]

I had one. It was a nice writer but what bothered me was that the cap kept unscrewing itself all the time.....

[brothersoulshine]

I kinda suspect that naming it after a contraceptive device probably didn't help sales much.

[Readymade]

Sorry to revive an old thread but I found a picture of the Unic (ah the wonders of Google!) --

 

http://www.lamy.com/content/e10/e14/e1006/e1047/items1154/S_14_Lamy_unic_ger.jpg

[czar]

I was just looking for some informations on the official Lamy site, and I found the "Design" page. I was totally surprised that the page about the designers doesn't mention the Lamy persona (and there is no picture of the misterious Lamy unic). I have a black Persona, and I must say that I love the pen. It is one of my two or three favorite pen for long writing sessions, but I understand that the pen has some weak points. Was the Persona such a catastrophy, commercialy and from a design viewpoint, that Lamy does not even mention the pen and the designer on the page?

 

Thank you for reading.

The lamy site in english language is sometimes different from german language version.

Recently I have had a look at their site (for other reasons) and I found the wonderful Persona in Titanium among the several important pens they show as "Lamy distinguished products".

 

Mr. MYU has given a complete information. I have a Persona in black, gold finiture, and it is a perfect writing: it can stay weeks without any usage and then you unscrew the cap it start writing perfectly.

For me a very elegant, practical and robust fountain pen.

 

I agree with MYU: perhaps one thing did not help commercially the Lamy persona was the fact that it was marketed initially in the titanium version. In general titanium pens don't have much success (perhaps because they are a little "icy".

 

Yours

Cesare

 

 

 

 

 

[Bo Bo Olson]

The spring clip holds it very securely in a shirt pocket....such an old fashioned pen of course was doomed to fail....imagine, needing a shirt pocket to keep the pen from becoming loose.

180 degree twist and ready to write.

 

I have a Persona Black titanium. As soon as I get some money up....I'm getting rid of that dammed 18K OB nail....I'll have Lamy put on a 14K nib....something one can write with.

 

 

I'd stopped at an optometrist; who also sells antiques, to ask if he had any fountain pens.

The Black and Gold Persona was, there. I looked it up and showed my wife on the computer. Considering I do not "like" black and gold pens having more than enough...it was pretty sharp.

 

My wife went behind my back the very next day and bought it for me.

 

Biggest disappointment is I'd expected pleasure of a soft wonderful writing 18 K nib.

It is a nail ....and I'll never waste any money on an 18 K nib again.

14 K or semi-flex steel...and prefer 14 K in semi-flex too.

[Glenn-SC]

Biggest disappointment is I'd expected pleasure of a soft wonderful writing 18 K nib.

It is a nail ....and I'll never waste any money on an 18 K nib again.

14 K or semi-flex steel...and prefer 14 K in semi-flex too.

You've missed the point entirely and are damning all 18k nibs just because of the way Lamy chose to build that particular nib.

 

That's like "hating" chicken because KFC makes theirs too salty!

 

With the proper design and work Gold and SS can be made to write how you like.

 

Again, you've missed the point entirely.

But it will be your loss, not anyone elses.

[kazoolaw]

 

 

Biggest disappointment is I'd expected pleasure of a soft wonderful writing 18 K nib.

It is a nail ....and I'll never waste any money on an 18 K nib again.

14 K or semi-flex steel...and prefer 14 K in semi-flex too.

 

Funny, my Persona is softer than my vintage Duofold 14k nib.

And the 14k Balance nib could have been an armor-piercing projectile.

 

Any time a pen design steps outside the mainstream it risks failure. Which is fine, because the Persona pens

listed for sale now seem to sell quickly.

gary

[Bo Bo Olson]

I might some day try an Omas. I've heard good things about their 18 nibs. But I'll have to test it first.

 

I've become spoiled with semi-flex nibs.

[beluga]

I was just looking for some informations on the official Lamy site, and I found the "Design" page. I was totally surprised that the page about the designers doesn't mention the Lamy persona (and there is no picture of the misterious Lamy unic). I have a black Persona, and I must say that I love the pen. It is one of my two or three favorite pen for long writing sessions, but I understand that the pen has some weak points. Was the Persona such a catastrophy, commercialy and from a design viewpoint, that Lamy does not even mention the pen and the designer on the page?

 

Thank you for reading.

 

 

For years the Persona was my favourite pen and still own two of them and like many I do regret that Lamy stopped producing them.

The pens was initially well received, but sales figures dropped and a later introduced less expensive makrolon/palladium version was not able to stop slipping sales.

 

I had no problems finding the Persona on the Lamy "Design" page: http://www.lamy.com/content/the_company/design/design_highlights/design_history/index_eng.html

The link will take you to the English language version of the German Lamy website, all you need to do is scroll to "1990".

 

The Lamy US website, is differently structured and concentrates on designs that are still in production.

 

 

 

 

 

 

B.

Edited July 3, 2010 by beluga