Lamy 99

[fauxbro]

This is cross-posted from my site were I have a few more pen reviews. I'm posting it here in hopes of getting some feedback. Thanks for reading.

 

I like Lamy pens. They may not be the flashiest pens on the market, but I like their designs. So far I have three Lamy writing instruments: a red Safari fountain pen, and a black Scribble mechanical pencil.

 

I began checking Ebay for Lamys and saw this pen listed for $5 and decided it would be mine.

 

http://homepage.mac.com/fauxbro/blog_images/pens/lamy99/99_body.jpg

 

I tried to do a little research on the 99 but was unable to find any useful information. There were some other 99s for sale on ebay for a lot more, but they didn't look like this one. This one is marked 99b on the body, so maybe it's a different iteration in the 99 line. But I figured, what the hell, it's only $5 ($11 with shipping).

 

So two things about this pen:

 

1. Even though it's marked F on the body, it's more like a fat medium.

 

and

 

2. It's a hell of a writer. Smooth and skip free.

 

This pen is a piston loader with a large reservoir. It is loaded by unscrewing the back end, which reveals the piston, and dipping the nib into the ink.

 

http://homepage.mac.com/fauxbro/blog_images/pens/lamy99/99_piston.jpg

 

Stylistically it's a pretty basic pen with a couple of unexpected surprises. First, the nib is partially hooded, and second there are little round porthole-like windows on the grip that show the ink level.

 

http://homepage.mac.com/fauxbro/blog_images/pens/lamy99/99_nib.jpg

 

http://homepage.mac.com/fauxbro/blog_images/pens/lamy99/99_nib2.jpg

 

http://homepage.mac.com/fauxbro/blog_images/pens/lamy99/99_window.jpg

 

So I'm pretty happy with this pen. It's in great condition (some light tarnish on the nib and a small scratch on the cap) and writes beautifully. For $5 it was a great bargain.

 

Like I said, I was unable to find out anything about this pen, so if anybody has any information they can share, I would very much appreciate it.

Edited May 16, 2009 by MYU

[MartiniPundit]

Interesting, I just bought a Lamy 69, but don't know much about it. Do you know what year your 99 is?

[fauxbro]

>Interesting, I just bought a Lamy 69, but don't know much about it. Do you know what year your 99 is?<

 

Not a clue. That's partly why I posted the review here. I was hoping someone might have a little background on it.

[Robert Alan]

 

Like I said, I was unable to find out anything about this pen, so if anybody has any information they can share, I would very much appreciate it.

 

Hello! I have a small Lamy collection with pens that go back to the early 1960s. The 99 came out in two shapes: one with very rounded ends, and a later, slightly shorter version with flatter ends.

The early 99 is from around 1962 and has a shape that is similar to Lamy's very popular model 27. The early 99 has a slip on cap and it is better made than the similar 27 (the metal cap, trim and clip are heavily plated).

The later model 99, I believe, is from the 70s and is all plastic with gold-plated clip and trim. It also has a visualated section and is a piston-filer, but the plastic cap and barrel are threaded.

Unfortunately, some sellers want "blood from a stone" and are asking too much, I think, for some of the early 27 and 99 Lamy fountain pens. I have a couple of sets (with matching mechanical pencils) and they are nicely made.

 

The model 69 I have never seen, but it's probably similar to a 1970s model 68 which is all plastic and uses a cartridge or converter. Lamy pen model numbers that end with the letter "p" are cartridge pens--not piston-fillers! The piston-fillers just have a number. I have a Lamy "Ratio"model 47p that takes standard Euro/Montblanc cartridges and, surprisingly, not the Lamy proprietary cartridges. However, most Lamy cartridge pens take only Lamy cartridges.

 

Pens with the names Artus (back to the 1930s) and Ratio (1960s) are Lamy pens.

 

Be on the lookout for a model 81 piston-filler with brushed stainless steel cap and exposed 14K nib. In a way, it is a precursor to the Lamy 2000, and it's a very nice fountain pen. There is a similar model that is all black plastic with a piston-filler and exposed 14K nib. They are basically the same design and write very well.

 

If you find a pen that's marked Mk for the nib it means medium-kugel. Kugel means ballpoint and the Mk nibs are firm and very smooth.

 

The only Lamy that I think warrants a higher than normal price is the all-stainless steel Lamy 2000 limited millenium edition which was manufactured as a fountain pen and a ballpoint. They are very beautiful. The fountain pen probably goes for around $200-$250.

 

Lamys are terrific pens, but they are, often, ignored. My favorite is my trusty L2K with medium 14K nib. Lamy blue ink is a favorite of mine too. It's an intense blue that's darker than most blues.

 

Regards, Robert

[christof]

Hi Robert

 

Seems that you are also a Lamy fan...congratulations! You should have a look at my catalog on flickr:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30169694@N08/...57613118942791/

 

And if you are interested in the "Profile" line of Lamy (80, 81, 86) here:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30169694@N08/...57614060047229/ (sorry, it's only in german...)

 

Are you still looking for a Lamy 81, and what pen would you trade in exchange of it?

 

Regards

Christof

[Jimmy James]

Be on the lookout for a model 81 piston-filler with brushed stainless steel cap and exposed 14K nib. In a way, it is a precursor to the Lamy 2000, and it's a very nice fountain pen. There is a similar model that is all black plastic with a piston-filler and exposed 14K nib. They are basically the same design and write very well.

 

I wonder if this is what I have. If I managed to take a photo, do you think you could ID it? I have some sort of Lamy piston that I thought we had kind of identified as a 57.

Edited May 12, 2009 by Jimmy James

[MYU]

The early 99 has a slip on cap and it is better made than the similar 27 (the metal cap, trim and clip are heavily plated).

I have to differ with you on this. The 27 came first and was produced for about 15 years. The 99 was a replacement to the 27 line, as a cheaper variant. I don't have DM price quotes, but I remember seeing them listed lower. I have both 99 and 27 model pens and the 99 feels a little cheaper. In my experience, they never came with gold caps, only chromed metal, brushed metal, and plastic. Also, the clutch ring on a 99 is a very thin piece of metal, while the 27 clutch ring is much thicker (and appears better made).

 

Why did Lamy introduce the 99? From what I can see, the introduction of the 2000 would be at a price point comparable to the 27. So, the 27 was retired. Rather than mothballing the tooling, Lamy kept the 27 going as the 99... a cheaper alternative to the 2000.

 

That said, the 99 is still a great pen. It is essentially a slightly dressed down 27. There are some rare variants of the 99 that will cause collectors to pitch prices rather high, but in the end I'd choose a 27 instead. Especially the 27m, which has a thicker barrel that matches the Parker 51 width.

Edited May 16, 2009 by MYU

[Robert Alan]

The early 99 has a slip on cap and it is better made than the similar 27 (the metal cap, trim and clip are heavily plated).

I have to differ with you on this. The 27 came first and was produced for about 15 years. The 99 was a replacement to the 27 line, as a cheaper variant. I don't have DM price quotes, but I remember seeing them listed lower. I have both 99 and 27 model pens and the 99 feels a little cheaper. In my experience, they never came with gold caps, only chromed metal, brushed metal, and plastic. Also, the clutch ring on a 99 is a very thin piece of metal, while the 27 clutch ring is much thicker (and appears better made).

 

Why did Lamy introduce the 99? From what I can see, the introduction of the 2000 would be at a price point comparable to the 27. So, the 27 was retired. Rather than mothballing the tooling, Lamy kept the 27 going as the 99... a cheaper alternative to the 2000.

 

That said, the 99 is still a great pen. It is essentially a slightly dressed down 27. There are some rare variants of the 99 that will cause collectors to pitch prices rather high, but in the end I'd choose a 27 instead. Especially the 27m, which has a thicker barrel that matches the Parker 51 width.

 

Hello again! Very sorry for the late reply, but I was very sick (my doctor said I had pneumonia, but I think it could have been the Swine flu). Anyway, I feel much better and I remembered to check back here.

 

You are probably correct about the 27 and 99. Although I bought the mint 99 from a respected store in NYC, I think I paid too much for it (blue plastic barrel with guilloche-like steel cap). The 99 clutch ring is as you described, but it appears that the 99 cap is nicer than the 27 cap of a, similar, blue plastic barrel model. The two pens actually look like twins except for the clutch rings. I will attempt to photograph them and include them in this thread. I would also like to post a photo of the all-plastic 99.

 

Here's another Lamy mystery: I have a smaller version of an all-plastic red 99 with gold-plated clip and trim. Instead of a model number, the barrel is engraved "LAMY" with "Akkerman" under Lamy. Also, on the piston knob, "44" is engraved over the nib size "EF." Who was "Akkerman?" It has a gold-plated nib, I believe (I have not dismantled the pen), the cap is threaded and has a small ventilation hole, and the feed is transparent. It is about 12.5 cm capped, and about 14 cm with cap posted. The all-plastic 99 is about 13 cm capped, and it is about 14.5 cm long with cap posted. The older, metal-capped 99 has the same dimensions as the 27.

 

I would like to see Lamy reissue the model 27.

 

By the way, have you seen the new Dialog 3? It is a fountain pen with, what appears to be, a"vanishing" nib! There is a photo of one on the homepage of Bertram's Inkwell: http://www.bertramsinkwell.com/ .

I will try to upload the picture. Here it is!

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this reply. Perhaps others can add more information to this thread. Remember, the famous baseball player Yogi Berra said something like, "You can observe a lot just by looking at things."

 

Peace be with you!

Robert Alan

Edited June 8, 2009 by Robert Alan

[rpj]

God! It's like the Return of the Zombies. I had not thought about Lamy pens until I came home form a trip and read this thread. I have a Lamy 99 that I thought was a 27 for years until I bought a higher magnification loupe and found that it is a Lamy 99 36! It is all black, piston filler, screw cap and no nib size indication at all. The previous owner's name is on the barrel. I have two 27s with chrome slip caps, black bodies and all the rest. The 27s have sort of rounded barrel ends, while the 99 has a concave (or dished) barrel end. The 99 that I thought was a 27 looks to be older and I allways felt was the better looking of the pens. It is shorter and looks nicer as an all black pen with gold ring accents. But clearly my judgement is wrong, as it is the newer pen (according to the posts so far).

 

Anyway, I also have a pair of black 2000s that I love dearly and three Safaris that I picked up in Paris last month. One of which has a black nib (I thought it was cool looking), but it doesn't write too well for me. It has an LH nib, which I discovered is a left hand oblique (I am right handed), but since I don't speak French the sales clerk in Paris wasn't able to explain this to me. :bonk:

 

From what I can tell the Lamy Pen Co. has a long tradition of producing multiple models of each pen with different features so that collectors in the future will have a huge number of variants to acquire before they have a complete set of any one model. After all, Parker, Sheaffer, and Esterbrook all did this, much to the joy of today's collectors.

[Robert Alan]

Hi rpj & others! Greetings from the Eastside!

The early 27 and 99 models work very well and, as someone noted, are similar to the Parker 51 because of the hooded nib design. The Lamy's piston filler is very reliable and is not as difficult to repair as the 51's vacuum-filler and it is certainly better than the 51's "aerometric" filler.

One little note, regarding vacuum fillers, I have a couple of Pilot Custon 74 fountain pens with the "CON-70" converter. That converter is a vacuum filler and it works very well (better than my 51 vacuum fillers), plus it's easy to replace! It's the one that comes with the Custom 74 demo, but can be purchased separately and it will fit many different Pilot/Namiki fountain pens. It holds 1.10cc of ink which is more than what a Pelikan M1000 holds (1.02cc) and almost what an M800 can hold (1.22cc). As far as I know, the CON-70 holds more ink than any other converter (ref. volume 11, Shumi-no-Bungu Bako mook). 'Just some trivia I thought some would enjoy.

BTW, in the Seattle area (and a few other U.S. cities), have you been to Kinokuniya at Uwajimaya? The bookstore sells some Pilot fountain pens (steel-nibbed models), ink and converters.

Regards, Robert

[amateriat]

It's funny how the Lamy 99 gets compared to the Parker "51"; WHen I got hold of a very nice 99 a little under two years ago, I regarded it as something of "German '51'", thematically speaking. To my hand, it has just about the right size, shape, and heft. It this is regarded as the "cheaper" version of the 27, I'd be interested in handling a 27 just for comparison, because my 99 amazes me in terms of overall "feel" and writing quality. Between this, my Persona and 2000, I can't say I'm wanting for much more (even though I was given a lacquer-finish Parker Sonnet out of the blue, by a fellow pen lover...how could I refuse that?)

 

 

- Barrett

[sirksael]

Here's another Lamy mystery: I have a smaller version of an all-plastic red 99 with gold-plated clip and trim. Instead of a model number, the barrel is engraved "LAMY" with "Akkerman" under Lamy. Also, on the piston knob, "44" is engraved over the nib size "EF." Who was "Akkerman?" It has a gold-plated nib, I believe (I have not dismantled the pen), the cap is threaded and has a small ventilation hole, and the feed is transparent. It is about 12.5 cm capped, and about 14 cm with cap posted. The all-plastic 99 is about 13 cm capped, and it is about 14.5 cm long with cap posted. The older, metal-capped 99 has the same dimensions as the 27.

 

from This link

 

"The excellent book Fountain Pens Of The World by Andreas Lambrou, confirms this as it states that Akkerman Pens were produced for them by Lamy in Germany. The striking ..."

 

Mystery solved?

[Bo Bo Olson]

Akkermann pens were also produced by Osmia....from Lambrou's Fountain Pen's modern and vintage...in German. But that was then an older pen.

[Robert Alan]

QUOTE (Robert Alan @ Apr 16 2009, 12:27 AM) Be on the lookout for a model 81 piston-filler with brushed stainless steel cap and exposed 14K nib. In a way, it is a precursor to the Lamy 2000, and it's a very nice fountain pen. There is a similar model that is all black plastic with a piston-filler and exposed 14K nib. They are basically the same design and write very well.

 

I wonder if this is what I have. If I managed to take a photo, do you think you could ID it? I have some sort of Lamy piston that I thought we had kind of identified as a 57.

 

I should be able to identify it. Also, I can refer to Regina Martini's book Pens & Pencils. She has a fairly decent section on the evolution of Lamy designs.

 

BTW, I would be happy to post photos of what I have found, but I can no longer follow the standard FPN format, for some reason. I could post a picture of my 80 and/or 81. I don't know how to use a photo-site, and need directions. Thanks!

 

Cheers,

R.A.

[Robert Alan]

Here's another Lamy mystery: I have a smaller version of an all-plastic red 99 with gold-plated clip and trim. Instead of a model number, the barrel is engraved "LAMY" with "Akkerman" under Lamy. Also, on the piston knob, "44" is engraved over the nib size "EF." Who was "Akkerman?" It has a gold-plated nib, I believe (I have not dismantled the pen), the cap is threaded and has a small ventilation hole, and the feed is transparent. It is about 12.5 cm capped, and about 14 cm with cap posted. The all-plastic 99 is about 13 cm capped, and it is about 14.5 cm long with cap posted. The older, metal-capped 99 has the same dimensions as the 27.

 

from This link

 

"The excellent book Fountain Pens Of The World by Andreas Lambrou, confirms this as it states that Akkerman Pens were produced for them by Lamy in Germany. The striking ..."

 

Mystery solved?

Thanks a lot for that. They were manuafactured for the Dutch market.

R.A.

[Robert Alan]

Hi Robert

 

Seems that you are also a Lamy fan...congratulations! You should have a look at my catalog on flickr:

 

http://www.flickr.co...57613118942791/

 

And if you are interested in the "Profile" line of Lamy (80, 81, 86) here:

 

http://www.flickr.co...57614060047229/ (sorry, it's only in german...)

 

Are you still looking for a Lamy 81, and what pen would you trade in exchange of it?

 

Regards

Christof

 

Please forgive the delay in thanking you for these links!

 

BTW, until the dollar is in a better relationship with the Euro, I may not be purchasing pens from Europe, and I have too few pens to be able to offer anything in trade.

 

Happy New Year!

Robert Alan