Lamy Aion - Outrenoir Design

[Namo]

Hello fellows FPNers.

 

English not being my first (or second) language, please be kind to me.

 

I am partial to Lamys, and I think this is my third review of a Lamy pen (I’ve written about the Persona and the D3). I love the innovative designs and the fact that they still produce decently priced pens, although lately, Lamy seems to aim at a higher market (Lamy 2K steel and 2K anniversary, Imporium).

 

When the Aion came out, I was a bit skeptical. Sure, a bigger pen in the lineup was most welcome, but the pen looked goofy (can I say that?), the general design uninspired. I tried the pen in my favorite paper shop and was not convinced. The pen felt slightly unbalanced to me and I was still not in love with the way it looked.

So, why buy it? Well, I had a book about to be published, and wanted something to reward me. A pen was in order, and life being what it is, I didn’t have the money to treat myself with a nice, customized pen. So, an Aion.

I’ve been using the pen for several weeks now (three months) and I think I can say buying it was a go call. Here is why.

 

General considerations :

I seldom buy pen in B&M shops, although I try to support the two shops that are selling good papers (Nota Bene) and fountain pens (La Boutique du stylo, both in Montreal). But given that the pen was not really expensive and that I wanted to hold it in my hand as soon as possible, I went there and bought it. It was sold without a converter, but I have some spare home.

The Aion is a big pen, in range with my beloved Densho, made out aluminum. I bought the black one.

Here is how the love was born : for such a price, I am amazed to the attention to details and how the material is taken care of. The pen is black all right, but the textures are not the same for the section and for the body. I am not sure this has any practical use : it seems it simply organize the space of the object, indicating were the grip starts. But it’s more than that.

 

 

I just came back from Switzerland where I was lucky enough to see the retrospective exhibit about Pierre Soulages, famous for his black paintings, especially the series called « outrenoir ». Soulages’ all black paintings play with light, and doing so produces colors, lights, motion… life. There is a great dialectics in his work that speaks to me to the tears.

Well, the Aion produces something like that : the different textures play differently with light and, although being black, are different black. Once again : how can one not be amazed but details of this kind with a pen of this price niche?

 

Grip and barrel :

With experience, I’ve grown picky about grip sections. IMHO, this a consideration that does not receive enough attention from most pen designers. I didn’t buy the Visconti HS because of the ring just at the top of the section that comes in the way, and I am not convinced by the « baillonnette » closing system; and if I do find the pen interesting, I am horrified by the recent MB Homer’s section. On the other hand, I am impressed by pens like the Romillo Sil, a slip cap with no section at all, and some brands pay a lot of attention to the threads – my Danitrio Densho comes to mind. Lamy has a history about attention to grip section : one can see that in the Studio or the 2K, of course, and more recently, the Dialog 3 was an awesome design statement about that too. Some here have complained about the (relatively) loose cap of the Aion : this is all because the lip that maintain the cap close is down the grip and « click » down at he bottom of the cap. A flaw? Maybe. In a 500$ pen, I would possibly complain, but here we are talking about a 60$ pen… This allows for a slick grip section without any step or threads of any kind. The only identification is the different texture, a feature showing clearly what the design intent is. Definitely one of the most comfortable pen I have.

 

 

This a big pen, bigger than the Studio. This size suits me the best, and the pen is long enough so I don’t have to post, which is nice. The aluminum makes it a rather light pen, slightly off balance toward the front – this almost prevented me from buying it at first, but my hand got used to this quickly. I am not sure I have used the pen enough yet, but the material seems solid and I don’t have any scratches on the body yet. I am generally using a pen case (penvelop two or six), but this one sometimes goes directly in a Pocket in my bag; I very rarely take a pen in a shirt or pants pocket and never put it with keys or the like.

 

Nib and writing experience :

Nothing much to tell about the nib : it’s the regular generic Lamy steel nib, slightly reshaped for the Aion, being a bit more chubby. I have a B, and it puts down a nice, juicy line. I don’t feel any difference with the previous version of the nib.

The attention to detail and the excellent level of design make for a great writing experience. I feel the pen, but the pen does not come in the way of writing. The texture of the grip is a nice touch; I don’t if this is the reason why, but I experienced no slipping when writing, and the slight unbalance of the pen works nice : since it’s rather light, the weight of the front part allows for an easy grip and an easy driving of the nib.

One of the reasons I have too many pens is that I was looking for a comfortable and enjoyable pen for long writing sessions. I do quite a lot of writing : notes taking, journaling, writing articles, even books… so this was not just a fantasy, but the necessity to find a good tool, preventing from elbow/wrist problems I did develop several years ago. The One is the Danitrio Densho (some others are good too : Lamy 2K steel, Asa Nauka), and I don’t think I could ask for any better. But if I had put my hand on the Aion before, my quest could have stop with it. Yes, I do write with the Aion, and it is a pen I am not afraid to take everywhere with me.

 

The clip…

As everyone knows, there is always a thing with clips with Lamy. One can remember the Studio’s, the Safari’s of course, or the Dialog 3’s. Here, the clip is a clear reminder of the 2K’s. Spring loaded, it works quite well. The only draw back is that it’s not made of plain metal, but of folded metal. So the clip can get caught in the lip of your pocket or of the pen case you might be using. It’s a good clip, and this choice makes it light enough so the pen is not put off balance when posting, something that can be annoying with the makrolon 2K for example.

 

…and the cap

As said, the clap click from the bottom end of the grip. I really love this feature, esp. with a pen of this price. Will it wear of? Only time will tell. So far, so good. Some have complained that the cap moves when closed. It’s true, there is indeed a slight wobbling due to the fact that the cap click from the bottom of the section. Could Lamy have done better? Probably. Is it annoying? Not as far as I am concerned since there is no functional problem I can identity. The nib does not dry. The cap does not come off. The noise is not so loud that anyone could notice it when you are walking even in a very quite public library…

I don’t use the pen posted as it is long enough, but the cap does post quite securely; I didn’t use it enough that way to be sure it does not come off when writing for a longer moment.

 

Filling mechanism

The Aion is a c/c. Not something I like. I am using a cartridge that I am refilling with PR DCSSB. I do that because the converter is indeed wobbling when writing and that it does drive me kind of crazy. Since the pen was sold to me without a converter, maybe it’s the converter I’ve been using that is no fit to the pen (it was a threaded one, designed for the Accent and the Persona I guess); the other reason is that the nib is a generous B and that a converter would go empty before the end of a writing day. I really like Lamy cartridges, they have a good ink capacity, and one can use them with standard pens too. Here I am hoping for good news about the rumors of Lamy launching ten new inks soon…

 

Price

The price was about 90$can, taxes (15%) included. At the current exchange rate, that’s about 65us$. IMHO, this is an excellent price for what the pen is in term of design, attention to details, writing experience. To speak my heart, I think the Aion is the event of the year as far as fountain pens are concerned. The only question I have is : how well will the pen do through time? We all know that some very good pens do not face the challenge of time well. I really hope It will not be the case with the Aion, but some features might lead to be skeptical about that : the click cap is one, and related to that the very thin lip at the end of the section. But of course, time will tell.

 

[jchch1950]

Thanks for the review. The Aion will be a good carry around pen.

[catbert]

Interesting review and pointer to Pierre Soulages.

 

The difference in texture between section and barrel and the clean (uncapped) profile are probably my favourite things about the Aion. Initially, I found it too big — like a clumsier, more bulbous 2000 — but it has grown on me. I only wish I'd opted for a broader nib.

 

Still, you've prompted me to ink mine up again — so, thanks for that.

[Mech-for-i]

thanks for the review, now you've convinced me to take a second look at this pen .. I might need to goto a local store and check it out myself.

Edited August 2, 2018 by Mech-for-i

[Namo]

Thanks for the review. The Aion will be a good carry around pen.

 

It is. It's also my only "writer" pen I can use with cartridges and onetimes it's convenient.

 

thanks for the review, now you've convinced me to take a second look at this pen .. I might need to goto a local store and check it out myself.

 

Sorry about that...O:-)

 

 

Interesting review and pointer to Pierre Soulages.

 

The difference in texture between section and barrel and the clean (uncapped) profile are probably my favourite things about the Aion. Initially, I found it too big — like a clumsier, more bulbous 2000 — but it has grown on me. I only wish I'd opted for a broader nib.

 

Still, you've prompted me to ink mine up again — so, thanks for that.

The Soulages exhibition was quite sticking. I wish I could express it better. I worked about Soulages several years ago for a comic book scenario but never had a chance to actually aee the work. I am happy to have a pen that is a reminder

[adatse]

Thanks for sharing! I personally found the pen too heavy for long writing sessions. I very much liked the feel and minimalist aesthetic though. Wished it was lighter.

[Honeybadgers]

The more I see the aion, held against its price, with essentially a z50 nib... the more I think, why? It's so close to the low end of a lamy 2000 that the price just doesn't make sense. Want a simple, clean metal lamy? al-star, studio, logo, CP-1. Want a really nice gold nib and absurd fit and finish? the 2000.

[RLR]

If only the cap was not loose! I hated it at first. Then forced myself to use it because I do not have any EF nibs. Now, with purple Lamy ink, I am really enjoying it to take tight notes in FieldNote sized notebooks. Using unposted is wonderful. Now... if only the cap was not loose.

Edited August 7, 2018 by RLR

[Honeybadgers]

I think someone figured out how to fix that.

 

Yup, Mike Mattison figured out how to fix it. Still, what great design on such an expensive pen.

I kind of hate lamy these days. I love my 2000 to death and my CP-1 is very practical, but I just kind of really dislike the rest of the range, particularly at the price point.

 

Edited August 7, 2018 by Honeybadgers

[Namo]

The more I see the aion, held against its price, with essentially a z50 nib... the more I think, why? It's so close to the low end of a lamy 2000 that the price just doesn't make sense. Want a simple, clean metal lamy? al-star, studio, logo, CP-1. Want a really nice gold nib and absurd fit and finish? the 2000.

Totally different beast. The MSRP might be close to an excellent deal for a 2K, but it is more than half of the MRSP of the 2K. So, totally different niche too.

As for the price itself, one might consider it expensive, of course.

[Namo]

If only the cap was not loose! I hated it at first. Then forced myself to use it because I do not have any EF nibs. Now, with purple Lamy ink, I am really enjoying it to take tight notes in FieldNote sized notebooks. Using unposted is wonderful. Now... if only the cap was not loose.

Sorry to hear about that. I can understand, even of it doesn't bother me at all.

[Namo]

Thanks for sharing! I personally found the pen too heavy for long writing sessions. I very much liked the feel and minimalist aesthetic though. Wished it was lighter.

I am glad for a longer and bigger pen in Lamy lineup. The weight might be troublesome if the balance is not to your liking. And in this case, one can question the balance of the Aion.

[RLR]

Wow - works! And I used a piece of Post-It note for added stickiness. Perfect. Even stopped spinning. Thanks!

[amk]

That's a great review. Lovely reference to Soulages! Seriously thinking about adding an Aion to my Lamy 2000s.

[Namo]

That's a great review. Lovely reference to Soulages! Seriously thinking about adding an Aion to my Lamy 2000s.

Thanks for your kind words. I've been reading some other Aion reviews and was surprised by the harshness of some of them. Some states that the Studio is a better pen for about the same!e price: maybe, bit then again, only time will tell - and from experience I am not sure the Studio will stand that challenge.

[MomoShinChan]

I think the Lamy Aion is often considered to be the black sheep of their fountain pens family. Despite that, I have always maintained the opinion that the Aion is the perfect continuation of Lamy design language albeit adapt to modern and sleeker form to appeal contemporary customers.

[jchch1950]

I think the Lamy Aion is often considered to be the black sheep of their fountain pens family. Despite that, I have always maintained the opinion that the Aion is the perfect continuation of Lamy design language albeit adapt to modern and sleeker form to appeal contemporary customers.

+1

[markh]

This pen is a good example of how each persons experience is different. I purchased one - really liked the looks, construction, size, balance, etc....

But I can't use mine - it will be for sale on the show floor at the SF pen show this weekend. I find that I can't get a reliable grip on the section - even though it looks textured, I can't write with it - it slips around in my hand.

Instead I got a Lamy Accent (I know it's more expensive). Mine has a wood (burl) grip section, which I can get a strong hold on.

This isn't a criticism of the pen - everyone is different. Just doesn't work for me.

 

.