Parker 51 vs. Lamy 2000

[NedC]

I have both, I like them both, a lot. The one advantage that the Parker 51 has is its size, it's a bit slenderer and since mine is a demi, a full cm shorter so it finds its way into my shirt pocket more often. Beyond that, they are both elegant classics of mid 20th century design, reasonably priced, supremely functional and extremely reliable and durable pens. If you are serious about fountain pens or 20th century industrial design and are not flat broke you really owe it to yourself to get at least one of each.

[Tom Aquinas]

I enjoy and use both the Lamy 2000 and P51 on a regular basis, however the P51 has elan. Just think of the endorsements, for instance, "M" in James Bond used to use the P51.

[liptonnr]

Great review on 2 pens I am interested in. Thanks for the info!

[ThirdeYe]

I own and use both and prefer my fleet of "51s". I have one heavily used "51" that needed a new sac (1948 Aerometric) and the nib is a bit dry/rough, but the rest of my 51s are great. I bought a 1944 "51" on eBay and the nib was worn down from use and extraordinarily scratchy to use. I got the nib replaced and smoothed, and it's great now. The L2K I have was kind of a dud from the get-go. It skipped in certain directions and the flow wasn't the best. I had to send it in to Lamy and pay $9.50 in "shipping & handling fees" (some warranty for a brand new pen that wrote poor out of the box), and it's writing better now, but I still find the pen a little bulbous in the middle of the barrel and heavier than expected for extended usage. The nib is really quite smooth though. One minor complaint is that the "fine" writes much finer than expected, close to an XF. I was under the impression that L2Ks tended to write more broad and I was anticipating something closer to a medium.

Edited May 16, 2012 by ThirdeYe

[humsin]

One should compare a 1970 Parker 51 with a 1970 Lamy 2000.

[Moynihan]

One should compare a 1970 Parker 51 with a 1970 Lamy 2000.

 

That would be interesting. They are actually not from totally different eras. The P51 aero was produced until 1972, and the Lamy 2000 appeared in 1966. Both are favs of mine, and are daily users along with my Pelikans.

[Truman]

I own seven "51"s so I guess you can figure out what side I come down on. One "51" with a medium nib is just to die for. I will never sell it. I've never tried a Lamy 2000 and honestly am not feeling a great need to do so. I have a Safari which is ok but not great in my opinion.

[Tom Aquinas]

I own seven "51"s so I guess you can figure out what side I come down on. One "51" with a medium nib is just to die for. I will never sell it. I've never tried a Lamy 2000 and honestly am not feeling a great need to do so. I have a Safari which is ok but not great in my opinion.

 

 

I have both of them and they are both excellent, the Lamy 2000 advantage is that it is still in production. In Australia the retailers charge $A300( about $US320), which is overpriced to blazes and a top condition P51 can be picked up second hand for a maximum of $A75 and that is an advantage.

[fortlane]

I have both pens and they are both great. The only advantage the Lamy 2000 has In my view is that it is a piston filler and that it is easy to take apart. I don't think you can go wrong with either one of them

[humsin]

I agree with the fact that the 2000 is much better for maintenance cos everything comes apart easily.

[zuku]

I have both and i could not tell which one is better -thats is why i have both. Fortunatelly the adquisition of this two pens was not the result of a inner 'Sophie' conflic. They just came in its tun. P51-F is finer than L2K-F, tho.

The pump on P51 is fun, I refurbished my P51 and got to discover I should not be afraid of wearing off the pump through its use: It is a wonder of design. It works perfectly fine, without any type of stress on the materials involved. Its design is just brilliant: creative, efficient, straightforward and economic. One can see the amount of thought invested on it "to perform the very difficult task or writing", as Binder's site consigns. That is in no way an exageration, neither it is to say those things were made to last. The only way for it to malfunction is by doing things to it on purpose. On regular use, it performs like day one even after 100 years (ok change diaphragm every 20 years, but only diaphragm). Other than letting ink dry or mistreating it (using easy-to-clean inks), i really cannot see a way for it to fail. It can't. The laws under the which it operates do not allow it to fail.

L2K is another philosophy entirely. The main aspect is aesthetic. The mechanism is mechanical, thus, can wear-off and breack with time. Although it takes a long time, the piston elements are made of plastic, and the design is more complicated. The piston knob on mine is a bit loose, but not to bother anybody. Actually that is contemplated on the way it operates. It sucks ink as fast as you can turn the knob, and the brilliant aspect of this one is it can be dissasembled to thorougly clean, so you can use stronger inks. More than modern, it is futuristic, and it is very difficult for it to malfunction due to the quality of its parts. Contrary to the previous one, here i am worried to get to wear off the mechanism with its use, which is not as straightforward as P51's.

So the best one can do it to have at least a couple of each, and be done with it.