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Lamy 2000 Review (M, Makrolon


BVT

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This review is of the Lamy 2000, in the standard Makrolon finish that has been with us since 1966.

I bought it through Amazon.co.uk for the great price of 100 pounds (about 130 euros then). Prices fluctuate from day to day and even from nib width to nib width. In shops in Belgium, the standard price seems to be 205 euros. Despite there being a more expensive model in the shape of the Lamy Imporium, that still makes this Lamy's flagship model. Or, I should say, the metal version of the 2000 is.

Perhaps it is surprising in itself that this, at 205 euros, can be considered a flagship. Lamy is no petty manufacturer. The Lamy 2000 is no petty pen, either. It has the design, the heritage, the gold nib and the piston filling mechanism needed to trade punches with the big names in the business. It heavily undercuts them in price though. Most fountain pens are better, and thus priced higher, than the sum of their parts. Look at the Pelikan M800 (440-500 euros), one might remain unimpressed looking at the specifications next to the price tag, but most will agree it is worth every cent. The same goes for the even more expensive Montblanc 146. So this Lamy 2000, 205 euros in shops and quite easy to find cheaper than that, what is this like to live with? Is it also better than the already impressive-for-the-price list of features?

Design wise, it is a child of its age. It seems Lamy wanted to provide the public with a pen that would fit well in the space age. The shape could have been created in a wind tunnel. It is streamlined, starting at the pointy nib, reaching maximun thickness in the middle and then becoming thinner again until it suddenly stops at the end of the blind cap. This means the pen does not just have a sigar shape when it is capped, like a Montblanc. Uncapped it effectively looks like a sigar, a very modern one at that. Manufacturing precision is legendary. From nib to blindcap, the pen body consists of 4 pieces. There is the metal piece that serves as the grip, there is the little black ring behind it that it is firmly attached to (the two unscrewing from the main pen body in one unit), then there is the main pen body and finally there is the blindcap. With everything screwed into place, there is almost no telling where the devisions between these parts are. You cannot feel them with the touch of a finger. The makrolon finish is not unpleasant to the touch either. Being a mixture of plastic and fiberglass, it is famous for being slightly warm to the touch and for allowing itself to be polished by the hand of its master. Experienced Lamy 2000s will therefore be more shiny than newer ones. I have found that the material can show microcracking over time, as my cap had this issue, but Lamy dealt with it swiftly and without charge. The end result is a pen that is very comfy to hold, capped or not. Uncapped the pen may feel a little short. For me this is not an issue, but capping the pen is a painless affair and will solve the issue straight away.

Lamy clearly felt that, in the age of the ballpoint, people would never have interest in nibs again. After 80 years, the classic fountain pen design had had its go. The nib is therefore hooded by the front metal grip. Both have the same shiny silver colour, which makes it looks clean and works brilliantly with the brushed black of the rest of the pen. An often overlooked great advantage of the hooded nib is that the filler hole is very close to the tip of the pen. This means being able to fill from ink bottles that are much closer to empty. Anyone who has tried to fill a pen with a beautiful, large nib will agree that they require near full bottles, this one does not. Another great advantage is of course that the nib does not dry out quickly. I have yet to experience a hard start with this pen, or any other issue for that matter. It is soft, comfy, smooth and any other compliment one might pay to one of the little marvels we call nibs. It is not a flex nib, as is to be expected from a hooded nib, but this is hardly an issue. Be warned though: these nibs run wide. I would definitely describe this as a broad, no matter what Lamy cares to call it. Do I mind? No. This pen is known for being unforgiving, requiring the writer to hold it perfectly straight for it to find a sweet spot. For people who have written with fountain pens all their lives, this should not ever pose a problem. I have noticed that it does for less experienced users, who often say it scratches. Fountain pens are not pencils, all prefer to be written in the right orientation. The Lamy 2000 can thus in my mind be forgiven this one demand to its lucky owner.

As to the little practicalities, by which I mean the clip and the filling mechanism. Both are mediocre at best. The clip is not flexible, it is a stiff piece of metal that hinges and is spring loaded. However, the hinge does not allow it to open quite far enough. It is fine for shirt pockets but really struggles with pen pouches. In practice I would recommend clipping pens to thick leather pen pouches anyway, but it might matter to some. When you take it out of the pouch, uncap it and want to write with it (and you do), youll sooner or later run into the piston filling mechanism. The wetness of the nib requires plenty of ink and the ink chamber can hold plenty. The ink window clearly demonstrates how much is left. It is not visible when the pen is capped, as it is in the Safari and Al Star. This clearly shows the Lamy 2000 has a spends more attention to design than the utilitaristic Safari and Al Star. Those pens use a converter though, and the piston filler mechanism of the 2000 is almost always preferable. I have noticed that its usability depends highly on the ink that is inside it. If the ink lubricates the piston well, it runs smoothly, effortlessly and you can clearly feel when the piston has reached its final destination. With some inks though, this is not the case. When the piston does not run smoothly, my biggest gripe with it surfaces. It is all too easy to overtwist the mechanism, at which point you are disassembling the pen. I made this mistake once and now I really need to be careful not to start unscrewing the piston when I am trying to fill the pen. This will probably be the reason for its second maintenance trip to Heidelberg.

My initial question was if this pen is a flagship, in the sense that it warrants its price by being considerably better than the sum of its parts. I genuinely believe that there is a case to be made that the Lamy 2000 is not. When using it to write pages of text, it never seizes to amaze me how many great parts they managed to fit into a pen in this price range. It is a dead reliable daily writer, with a great warranty, that looks great and does so in just about any setting. What it never does though, is make me fall in love with it. Perhaps my respect for it is simply too boundless. Its almost complete lack of imperfections make it seem out of this world, inhuman, cold. The futuristic design almost makes it seen like this was the intent all along.

Edited by BVT
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Excellent second post!

 

I liked the review. Specially the clear explanation of the alleged sweet spot "problem" (all FPs have sweet spots don't they?)

 

I would suggest you add a couple of pictures with some examples of your handwriting. We all know what a 2000 looks like but it's nice to see it in context.

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Thank you for the kind replies, I'm happy to hear you enjoyed my review!

 

I have added some pictures of a writing sample, pardon for my crummy handwriting but I hope the pen and ink shine as they should :)

 

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Nice review of a nearly perfect pen. I also like ease of filling it offers even at the low ink levels and Lamy ink bottles T51 /T52 go perfectly with it.

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Thanks very much for a great review! I’ve got some fairly exotic pens, but I also own an inexpensive Lamy Safari for marking-up documents in red ink, and I’m always amazed by how smoothly it writes with its unassuming steel nib. I love the attention to detail in the design of Lamy pens (I also own a little Lamy pico ballpoint, whose mechanism is a joy to behold), and you’ve persuaded me that I really ought to have a good look at a 2000...

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Thanks very much for a great review! I’ve got some fairly exotic pens, but I also own an inexpensive Lamy Safari for marking-up documents in red ink, and I’m always amazed by how smoothly it writes with its unassuming steel nib. I love the attention to detail in the design of Lamy pens (I also own a little Lamy pico ballpoint, whose mechanism is a joy to behold), and you’ve persuaded me that I really ought to have a good look at a 2000...

Thanks, I’m very glad you found it useful! The Safari is the summum of undiluted practical thought. Therein lies the beauty it has, it is very very Bauhaus. The 2000 is a little bit more classy and polished looking. Above all though, the writing experience is tough to beat. Especially if most of your pens are exotics that you don’t feel comfortable daily using, a 2000 should be a no-brainer addition :)

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Very nice review! I should use my 2000 more (but currently I am in a Lamy Persona mood). Mine is an older model, marked with "W. Germany" and back then already an expensive pen.

 

I paid 100 Dutch Guilders back then, which now equates only 45 euros ;-)

Edited by jthole
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Good account of an underrated pen, arguably primarily for aesthetic reasons. The 2000 has its faults, which are well presented in this review, but I have to agree with BVT: it's easy to like or even love it.

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I disagree with a lot of this but appreciate the review. For me, it is the cold, uniform look of this pen that makes it so good. It's major downfall is ergonomics. That zeppelin shape has no where to comfortably rest the fingers, and the horizontal sweet spot is no issue - rather it's the vertical angle sweet spot that is annoying, as it forces you in discomfort to hold it at a particular angle.

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