CP1 black finish question

[Vasilis97]

Hi everyone,

This is the first midle priced pen I 've bought when I was stil at school (6-7 years ago) to replace my Parker Jotter Steel. I wanted a pen that whould be a good everyday writer and when I saw this slim matte black pen with modern look I had to get it. After 3-4 months of continuous use, the matte finish has disappeared, giving it's place to a shiny finish which started picking up some scratches. I didn't really minded back then, but as the years have pasted, and I watched some reviews on youtube, I haven't see anyone that had the same problem with me. So I wonder,

   - have I got a pen with defective finish?

   - or is it just the daily use that it has seen back in the day?

I expect that from the daily use it would acquire some scratches, but I find it dificult to believe that the matte finish would go away so easily.

 

[lucraak]

Ohw yeah it looks pretty used indeed. 
I have 2 pictures on my instagram feed that show similar development.

 

First my Rotring 600:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9sQsOnDsDJ/?igshid=7b34hgyd1ff1

if you look closely you also see the wearing of paint on the esges and the grip. This pen got about 7 years of super intense usage. 

And the shinyness also appeared with my Lamy Logo:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BteUuj4DO3z/?igshid=y01ekwhcdivp
The Logo is 20+ years old now. I don’t recall when the shine started to appear. 

 

[Vasilis97]

Hi @lucraak

I find the wear of the Rotring quite pleasing.

I can't actually say that about my CP1 or the Logo. They just don't look as good (to me).

If I buy a Lamy with metal body again I will definitely carry it in a case or I will choose a non painted model.

[Pen Engineer]

the early cp1 (until 1982) the body was made from brass with an electrochemical coating which came off relatively easy, started after 2 years, when used by people who have a more acidic perspiration after half a year.  Same with some metal spectacles.  

 

After that, the finish was change to titanium oxide plasma coating which lasts till eternity.  Now, titanium oxide is brilliant white.  Used in toothpaste and washing powder as whitener.  What's the question?

[txomsy]

On 2/23/2021 at 2:03 PM, Vasilis97 said:

If I buy a Lamy with metal body again I will definitely carry it in a case or I will choose a non painted model.

I always sorta heeded those words as wise. But thirty years using heavily an MB Slimline in matte black coating has convinced me that it needs not always  be the case.

Maybe the new ones are stronger.

Problem is, it can take 30 years of use to verify

[Vasilis97]

 Thanks for the info @PenEngineer!

 

 So my CP1 might be an early model? Is there any other characteristic of the pen that can help me find when it was made?

If it is of any significance, under the clip it is written only "GERMANY". I also have a Lamy Persona from that era that under the clip writes "Germany" but the included converter is engraved "W GERMANY".

[bonnie-scott]

On 11/10/2021 at 5:34 PM, Vasilis97 said:

So my CP1 might be an early model? Is there any other characteristic of the pen that can help me find when it was made?

There is a separate thread on the CP1 that has more information that might be able to help.  However as the clip has Germany written on it, it will be the latter 'fatter' model not the early 'thinner' model 

 

the thread can be found here (hopefully)

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/358837-lamy-cp1-time-table/?tab=comments#comment-4476320

 

Edited November 11, 2021 by bonnie-scott
typo

[Pen Engineer]

On 11/12/2021 at 8:50 AM, bonnie-scott said:

There is a separate thread on the CP1 that has more information that might be able to help.  However as the clip has Germany written on it, it will be the latter 'fatter' model not the early 'thinner' model 

 

the thread can be found here (hopefully)

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/358837-lamy-cp1-time-table/?tab=comments#comment-4476320

 

that's correct.  the later models, after 1984 are fatter and would have the harder finish

[Vasilis97]

thanks for the replies!

[Pen Engineer]

On 11/11/2021 at 3:34 AM, Vasilis97 said:

 So my CP1 might be an early model? Is there any other characteristic of the pen that can help me find when it was made?

Yes, the earlier models were smaller in diameter... 8.5mm or so.  After 1984 the cp1 contained the safari feed and had to be bigger... 9.5mm or so when it definitely had the titanium oxide coating.  There may have been a short time, between 1982 and 84, when a few smaller diameter cp1 slipped out with the titanium coating.

[Vasilis97]

Ok, I measured the pen and it has a diameter of 9.5mm, so it must be one of the later ones. But the ease that the black finish came off has me thinking it might be electrochemically coated. Maybe made in the period 1982-84 when the transition happened.