14 replies to this topic

[Edo98]

Hi all

I really love the feathers that lamy produces and currently my favorite pen is my 2000 lamy that makes me an extremely practical fountain pen because I can perform a deep cleaning or grease the piston without any difficulty and write perfect.

 

Recently I just saw the lamy imporium titanium model and it looks pretty good and from here my question arises if it really is a good and reliable fountain pen? What are the pros and cons of this fountain pen? Is the body really titanium or is it a cheap metal coated with titanium :wacko: ?

 

Above all I have seen that there is a lot of controversy because despite its price it has a cartridge / converter filling system.

 

What do you think about the lamy imporium really worth it?

[praxim]

Whether it is worth it is up to you. For the queries to which I can respond more reasonably, I too have a Lamy 2000 and also have the Imporium. The Imporium was in rotation recently (as the 2000 is now, by coincidence) and my view on it is that it is an excellent pen. I would have used a mild Australianism as the descriptor but FPN is a bit strait-laced.

 

I too would prefer a full piston system rather than the converter. One lives with that. I have paid much more for pens with converters anyway (hello, S T Dupont).

 

It is reasonably heavy but works well in the hand (I write unposted). Note that it takes 2.5 turns to unscrew the cap so it is not a quick note-taker like the Dialog 3 or 2000.

 

I believe the "titanium" is a coating which may not contain traces of titanium at all? I have not used mine enough to declare the coating robust, but it certainly appears to be so. The rest of the pen is, and the nib excellent in the modern idiom.

 

I thought it was worth buying one. I remain satisfied with the expenditure today.

[dapprman]

Lamy's own site say "The various models designed for Lamy by Mario Bellini are refined using high-end PVD coating and galvanisation.", so I would suspect steel underneath.  It is a heavy pen, but very nicely balanced.  I really like mine.  However, if you're forced to get it through the USA then the price is very high, considerably higher than in the UK and Europe.

Cheeky plug for my write up on the Imporium from a couple of months back

[RMN]

I like my Imporium. I have the black version.

It's fairly heavy but I like that. I always write unposted.

 

The pen has only 1 flaw. When screwing on the cap, sometimes the cap sits askew. It helps by first turning the cap slightly in the open direction till you hear it click (the threads all catch then) and from there on screw closed.

 

 

 

D.ick

[ClockworkCollector]

The Imporium was in rotation recently (as the 2000 is now, by coincidence) and my view on it is that it is an excellent pen. I would have used a mild Australianism as the descriptor but FPN is a bit strait-laced.

 

 

A lad wishes you would have graces us with that taste Australian candor.

[ClockworkCollector]

I've owned my 2000 for a a while now, three years maybe. I've found it so nice I bought it twice, despite the few issues I've had with them. I have several other pens in the same price range and above however I the 2000 is still handily my favorite pen. The Makrolon is never cold and nicely textured. Even now the body shows little if any signs of wear.

 

Having seen the Imporium, no having lived with it mind you, I can't imagine it being worth the price tag it carries. It has nice fluting through body which I'd imagine makes for a nice grip as I've experienced with other pens with similar barrel designs. The biggest drawback in my opinion is the that it share the same nib and converter design of the Lamy Safari. To me it lacks the cache and forward design of the 2000.

 

This isn't to say I dislike the Imporium, I think its a great looking pen, I just don't feel as though is offers the same factor of function and form as the 2000 or say, the Dialog 3.

[jthole]

I have a Persona, and I tried an Imporium a few times. In my very personal opinion, the Persona nib is superior but the Imporium certainly is a good pen.

 

Since the Persona is not produced anymore, your choices are between a new Imporium or a second hand Persona.

 

In terms of finish, both are equally nice ... I just prefer the original Persona nibs.

 

Edit: I also like the Persona pocket clip a bit better, and the Imporium is certainly expensive.

 

TBH, I have no idea anymore what I paid for my Persona, but I do remember that I found that expensive as well. Considerably more than the Lamy 2000. But the pain of the high price is long gone already ... it is a great pen which I already enjoy for almost 20 years.

Edited by jthole, 03 February 2019 - 22:27.

[dapprman]

Having seen the Imporium, no having lived with it mind you, I can't imagine it being worth the price tag it carries. It has nice fluting through body which I'd imagine makes for a nice grip as I've experienced with other pens with similar barrel designs. The biggest drawback in my opinion is the that it share the same nib and converter design of the Lamy Safari. To me it lacks the cache and forward design of the 2000.

The price in the US is stupidly high - no clue why it was so - think some people may have hoped that with distribution changing the price might be dropped but it does not appear to be so.

[jameswatts]

I have the Persona, which was an earlier incarnation of the Imporium. I like the pen, but I don't think the price point for the Imporium is worth it. Look for Personas on the second market.

[dapprman]

In the UK, if you hunt around and wait, you can get a new Imporium for less than Persona are going for.  In the US, however .... guess they don't want to sell any

[Jezza]

Owning both, I can say the Imporium is not worth the money, unless you can find it at a steep discount.  The body is quite heavy.  I don't know the identity of the base metal, but I suspect brass.  This makes the pen ridiculously heavy. The cap threads are very fine, which is something of a double-edged sword: it makes the cap threading difficult to engage when re-attaching the cap, but those thin threads are also very unobtrusive.  Even if your grip happens to land on the threads, you most likely won't find it uncomfortable.

 

In terms of writing, the Imporium writes as well as any other 14k version of Lamy's shovel-shaped nib.  That means you could put the same nib on a Safari and it would perform the same.   

[Intensity]

How much does Imporium cost in Europe?  I'm seeing 385 Euro with VAT included on, say, La Couronne du Comte or PenWorld.eu.  That translates to approximately $432.  It's $439 at Goulet Pens, Fountain Pen Hospital, or  nibsmith.com.  I'm sure it can be found for less on "deal" sales and on eBay, I'm just looking at some major retailer prices.  Also seeing 315 GBP price, which is about $410, close enough.  Not seeing much of a difference between USA and European prices on Imporium.

Edited by Intensity, 10 March 2019 - 08:48.

[1nkulus]

It is a great pen at a steep discount. I prefer the titanium to the black.

 

The heft and screw cap swayed it for me.

Imporium is the only one with a screw cap in the Lamy lineup.

[A Smug Dill]

I just ordered one in the titanium finish with EF nib, along with a Lamy LX (also with EF nib), as a package deal for US$250 including international shipping to Australia. Meanwhile, Drop.com (né Massdrop) is offering the Imporium in white-with-rose-gold finish for US$312.75 delivered. I look forward to trying the Imporium, in a way that I certainly do not wish or look forward to trying the Lamy 2000 (which I don't have, of course). Hopefully it'll be as good or better than my steel-nibbed Diplomat Aero!

[Intensity]

I just ordered one in the titanium finish with EF nib, along with a Lamy LX (also with EF nib), as a package deal for US$250 including international shipping to Australia. Meanwhile, Drop.com (né Massdrop) is offering the Imporium in white-with-rose-gold finish for US$312.75 delivered. I look forward to trying the Imporium, in a way that I certainly do not wish or look forward to trying the Lamy 2000 (which I don't have, of course). Hopefully it'll be as good or better than my steel-nibbed Diplomat Aero!

 

That is quite a deal--congratulations!  I think you will like the gold EF nib.  Although I've read that the newer Z56 and Z57 gold nibs with rectangular outline around the breather hole are not as nice/springy as the older Z55 nibs with round outline around the breather hole.  I've only tried a Fine Z55 nib and liked that one a lot.  It felt soft (though not flexible, just comfortable with some spring) with pencil-like feedback, very nice.