Lamy Accent 98 Gold Nib - Very Smooth

[wolf4]

I have just acquired the Lamy Accent 98 with briar wood, with F gold nib. Well, it is a steel nib but has a thin piece of gold running down the middle of the nib to the tip. I don't know if you call this therefore a two-tone nib.

 

My point here is that I was extremely surprised to find how wonderfully smooth the nib was. I have had some Lamy steel nibs before but this was very smooth and wonderful to write with - a new experience with Lamy. I have a Lamy Studio but this is the first time I purchased the Lamy Accent with a gold element in the nib.

 

The reason I went for the Lamy Accent was that I was sick and tired of Lamy always producing pens that were slippery to hold as in the Studio near the nib section. I know, they have the Lamy Studio that is steel on the body but the holding section near the nib being black is not steel, but after dipping it into ink, that black section starts to feel slightly sticky and spongy. At least with Safaris and Accents the sections are the usual solid plastic and are great to hold - it doesn't slip. But I wanted a Lamy that was slightly more office looking and elegant, not the one that looks like your carrying it around in a rucksack. So the Studio was out because of their slippery steel nib section and the stciky black section.

 

My question is, is this nib smooth because of the gold or is it because the Accent 98, being the more expensive pen, they take the extra care to have it smoothed out and checked over before dispatching, or was I just lucky? There is no hint of a scratch on that gold nib it is butter smooth and feels solid.

 

Is there such a big difference between Lamy gold nibs and Lamy steel nibs? If so, then what a pity one does not see more often spare Lamy gold nibs around. 'The Writing Desk' does not seem to sell any spare gold nibs nor does 'Online Pen Company', both of them in the U.K.

 

I bought the Lamy Accent 98 from 'The Writing Desk' in the U.K.

Edited January 21, 2012 by wolf4

[Bo Bo Olson]

Smoothness is the polish of the 'iridium' tip + or with what ever flex your nib has.

 

Springiness or flex can be made matching gold or steel.

 

I collect vintage pens, mostly German pre'66 nibs with some flex, and have grand steel and gold nibs.

A good steel nib can be as good as a good gold nib.

 

I don't have that Lamy.

I have a few Artus pens; a company Lamy had connections with before the war, and buying it up right after the war and keeping producing that pen. Mine are @ pre'55 from the style. Some of them nibs are nothing special. The one or two of the pens need a tad of repair, the other has my easy full flex Degussa nib on it.

 

It could be I know a bit more about nibs and how to smooth them since I put them in the repair box long ago. Those came in steel and gold nibs. Regular flex nibs.

 

I have a Lamy 27, papers say '58, it's a gold nail F. Relatively smooth. (could perhaps use a bit more brown paper bag smoothing, in it's an old pen, long unused.--- I just did three 15 second smoothing sets, and it smoothed up.) If your tines are aligned....IF. The brown paper bag trick is the least abrasive way of smoothing a nib. Write normally while rotating the nib a bit, in a 15 second set, four to six max sets. A set is writing circles left, right, squiggles up and down, and left and right. Then do figure 8's. 15 seconds.

If it still is scratchy you need micro mesh. Micro mesh requires great care in it can be and is be abrasive.

 

You need a 10-12X loupe to see if your tines are aligned, that is a once in a life time buy. It can be used to check hall marks of gold and silver, coins and stamps and such.

Often scratchiness is just a tad of not to be seen with the bare eye or a house magnifying glass misalignment of the tines.

That can be cured by gently bending one nib down, and the other up, using your thumb nails, a bit at a time, untill they are aligned again.

 

 

My Lamy Persona Black Titanium Oxide early '90's, pre-bump on the clip. 18 K nail...was a smooth OB, is now a nice Pendleton Point CI. (made from @ '90-2000)

 

My CP-1 is a smooth wet steel nail B nib. It is also from @ 2000.

My Lamy Joy 1.5 is smooth enough for a italic nib.

 

What inks did you use before?

A wet ink might make your other Lamy's write smoother.

Perhaps you have a dry writing pen.

 

You could also check in the thread 'tripod' in the advanced search section, in 'writing instruments, to see if you are holding the fountain pen properly instead of like a ball point. That often makes a fountain pen scratchy.

 

I don't have enough Lamy's from the pre'66 days to know if they under the Lamy name made nibs for the '27 & 99 with some flex or only nails. The 2000 I believe is a nail.

It could be that Lamy staked out the nail market in the German pen market. But I lack proof.

[wolf4]

Smoothness is the polish of the 'iridium' tip + or with what ever flex your nib has.

 

Springiness or flex can be made matching gold or steel.

 

I collect vintage pens, mostly German pre'66 nibs with some flex, and have grand steel and gold nibs.

A good steel nib can be as good as a good gold nib.

 

I don't have that Lamy.

I have a few Artus pens; a company Lamy had connections with before the war, and buying it up right after the war and keeping producing that pen. Mine are @ pre'55 from the style. Some of them nibs are nothing special. The one or two of the pens need a tad of repair, the other has my easy full flex Degussa nib on it.

 

It could be I know a bit more about nibs and how to smooth them since I put them in the repair box long ago. Those came in steel and gold nibs. Regular flex nibs.

 

I have a Lamy 27, papers say '58, it's a gold nail F. Relatively smooth. (could perhaps use a bit more brown paper bag smoothing, in it's an old pen, long unused.--- I just did three 15 second smoothing sets, and it smoothed up.) If your tines are aligned....IF. The brown paper bag trick is the least abrasive way of smoothing a nib. Write normally while rotating the nib a bit, in a 15 second set, four to six max sets. A set is writing circles left, right, squiggles up and down, and left and right. Then do figure 8's. 15 seconds.

If it still is scratchy you need micro mesh. Micro mesh requires great care in it can be and is be abrasive.

 

You need a 10-12X loupe to see if your tines are aligned, that is a once in a life time buy. It can be used to check hall marks of gold and silver, coins and stamps and such.

Often scratchiness is just a tad of not to be seen with the bare eye or a house magnifying glass misalignment of the tines.

That can be cured by gently bending one nib down, and the other up, using your thumb nails, a bit at a time, untill they are aligned again.

 

 

My Lamy Persona Black Titanium Oxide early '90's, pre-bump on the clip. 18 K nail...was a smooth OB, is now a nice Pendleton Point CI. (made from @ '90-2000)

 

My CP-1 is a smooth wet steel nail B nib. It is also from @ 2000.

My Lamy Joy 1.5 is smooth enough for a italic nib.

 

What inks did you use before?

A wet ink might make your other Lamy's write smoother.

Perhaps you have a dry writing pen.

 

You could also check in the thread 'tripod' in the advanced search section, in 'writing instruments, to see if you are holding the fountain pen properly instead of like a ball point. That often makes a fountain pen scratchy.

 

I don't have enough Lamy's from the pre'66 days to know if they under the Lamy name made nibs for the '27 & 99 with some flex or only nails. The 2000 I believe is a nail.

It could be that Lamy staked out the nail market in the German pen market. But I lack proof.

 

Thanks for your reply. I don't have any particular trouble worth pointing out with the other steel Lamy nibs. I have two Lamy Studios that use the normal Lamy Z50 nibs. I have about 8 spares of these Z50 nibs. When the Lamy Accent 98 with the gold nib arrived it was the smoothest I have ever experienced among Lamy nibs. That is all.

 

The focus shouldn't be on whether all my other ten or so Lamy steel nibs are out of alignment - they can't all be having the same problem - because they are not, but rather what was it they did to the gold nib that made it so smooth and special. The only thing I can think of is that they took extra care to check that it was very smooth just because it is a gold nib and that I paid more for the pen thus they are putting more thought, care and attention upon it.

Edited January 22, 2012 by wolf4

[Bo Bo Olson]

I do not have much in modern pens. Some of my vintage steel nibs are very good, as good as some of my very good vintage gold nibs.

 

It could be you need some micro-mesh.

[Kaweco]

Hi Wolf

Yes, Lamy goldnibs were made perfectly. Most of their writing equipment is worth the money and no high end article would leave the works without quality control from one of the engineers. Take care of the nib. A nib bent after falling down on the floor would never been 100.00% reversible to the original position. Most of the used and vintage nibs had suffored from these micro damages. Never try to treat a perfect nib, even with micro mesh!

Have fun with your Lamy

Thomas

[nicholasyeo]

Always wanted the Brilliant Black accent with the rings... Hmm...

I tried this pen before though, and it's two-tone but that can't

possibly have any effect. The whole thing is 14K anyway...

Edited January 22, 2012 by nicholasyeo

[Namo]

The nib is indeed 14k gold. It is is the same design as the steel ones, but as you noticed, it behaves very differently than the steel ones, smoother, with a little sring. I find that they write a bit larger too. This nib is, IMHO, one of the most underrated nib on the market of modern nibs - I have a M, and it is a joy to use; I used to have an EF too, and it was wonderful!

[wolf4]

The nib is indeed 14k gold. It is is the same design as the steel ones, but as you noticed, it behaves very differently than the steel ones, smoother, with a little sring. I find that they write a bit larger too. This nib is, IMHO, one of the most underrated nib on the market of modern nibs - I have a M, and it is a joy to use; I used to have an EF too, and it was wonderful!

Thanks for your reply. Also many thanks to Bo Bo Olson, Kaweco and nicholasleyo for their replies as well. I don't know why Bo Bo Olson keeps talking about all my other Lamy nibs as if they have a fault and that perhaps they need some micro mesh work done to them. I don't believe that the problem lies with the other Lamy nibs.

 

I believe that as you have mentioned yourself, the 14k gold Lamy nib just seem to behave differently and, as Kaweco pointed out, the gold nibs were made perfectly. I just get the feeling that the Lamy 14k gold nib is definitely made with greater care and attention and is probably superior to all the other Lamy steel nibs. I have used Lamy steel nibs many times and know in general how they feel, but when I tried out the Lamy 14 gold nib for the very first time, it was instantly different in feel to any other Lamy steel nib that I have been used to - the smoothness was unbelievable. I have never experienced that degree of smoothness from any of the other Lamy steel nibs. Where I disagree with Bo Bo Olson is that it is not that all of the Lamy steel nibs are being delivered to me with tines being out of alignment or that there is something seriously wrong with them, rather the focus of attention should be that the Lamy 14 gold nib is exceptionally so much better than the plain Lamy steel nibs. That is so far my experience.

 

By the way, tragedy struck with me and the Lamy Accent which I just purchased. The same tragedy happened with another FPN member at the following link:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/211195-tragedy-strikes-my-lamy-accent/

 

To be perfectly honest, I did not like the fact that with the Lamy Accent 98 it only took just an ever so slight turn on the screw cap and it is off. A design feature that I did not like at all. It felt insecure. What if something brushed against it and made the cap twist so that it would come off?

 

The only reason I went for the Lamy Accent 98 is because I was searching for a relatively smart looking Lamy office pen that had the grip section not made of slippery shiny steel! Yes it looks great but it is not practical - it is too slippery! Yes, there is the 'Lamy Studio Fountain Pen - Brushed Steel' which has a soft black grip section, but... after having it dipped into ink a few times that section begins to feel slightly sticky and/or spongy in feeling. Why couldn't they have used the usual tough plastic for the grip section for practicality so that at least we know it is not going to slip away from our fingers?

 

I have just decided to return again to the Lamy because I do prefer nibs with that more modern shape. I just get the feeling that that shape is slightly more robust and less prone to being damaged than the usual dainty elegant old fashioned shape of the fountain pen nib. Is it my imagination or is there some substance in that belief? Nibs designed to the shape like that of the Parker Urban or Lamy seem to feel more solid. I feel less worried if I accidently knock or brush the nib against something. Whereas if I was holding a Sailor 1911 nib in my hand - it feels too delicate. I definitely feel that I would have to pay more attention to it, taking extra care that I do not knock it against anything.

 

Normally I stay away from Lamy Safaris because I felt it looked like it was something you carry along in ones backpack. But a friend of mine showed me his cheap red Lamy Safari and to be honest it was extremely practical. It was solid, felt good in the hand and no need to worry abut it slipping between my fingers as in the more expensive Lamy pens that use shiny steel grips. Basically the Lamy Safari pen is a no nonsense that is highly practical. Now why oh why couldn't Lamy just produce some pens in the higher price range that stick to the basics in being practical to hold and use without resorting to impractical slippery steel grip sections? And look at that new silly design they made, the 'Lamy Dialog 3'! What on earth is that? I'm not going to say what that design reminds me of!

 

The joke of it all is after having experimented with some of the more expensive lines of Lamy pens I am going for their cheap models which happens to be the best in design for practicality and durability. For the very first time I have just made a purchase for the Safari model.

Edited January 23, 2012 by wolf4

[aliikizkaya]

@wolf4 "I don't know why Bo Bo Olson keeps talking about all my other Lamy nibs as if they have a fault and that perhaps they need some micro mesh work done to them. I don't believe that the problem lies with the other Lamy nibs. "

As you said I agree that alI my Lamy nibs are faulty and scratchy including Lamy 2000 Malacron and Lamy 2000 Stainless Steel Special Edition. All my 19 Lamy in various types are faulty. Ask them smoothing, adjustment and someones needs grinding. Because their point shapes are faulty. I believe no quality control or final point check in Lamy production line.

Edited October 27, 2013 by aliikizkaya

[frogbaby]

i really like my lamy steel nibs and have thought about getting a gold nib ..

 

am i correct in assuming that the gold nib that comes with the accent is the same nib available to purchase from lamy for $75 ?