The ever popular and successful German brand ?

[Waltz For Zizi]

23 hours ago, arcfide said:

In general, I find Lamy's design perversely appealing, and my family tends to like them a lot (especially the Safaris) along with the Platinum pens. However, IMO, while a lot of people don't like the whole point of the pen, the CP1 is one of my favorites of the Lamy lineup. There, I think the brutal simplicity of Bauhaus actually works to best effect. And there's something oddly ergonomic about the pen. 

 

However, I often feel that their best designs are too practical, and I feel that desire for just a little more air of luxury when I use a Lamy for too long. 

I really like the CP1 too, but I am too stacked on black pens, and also blacks and browns are my least favorite finishes on pens, so I delayed getting one since forever. I do have an old one made from Sterling Silver. If they would only make special editions of the CP1 on various colors, like they do with the Safari...I really don't get it why they don't. Maybe it's not such a popular pen...

 

[txomsy]

Somehow, I prefer the Logo, perhaps because it is all steel. And yes, I do also love the streamlined, elegant, simple and functional design (and the details, like the spring-loaded clip).

[jmccarty3]

My only comment on the original post: There is a big difference between the sections of the Lamy Safari and the Parker 75--the nib on the 75 can be rotated, so whether you are left or right handed, under or overwriter, the nib on the 75 can be rotated to fit the way you hold your pen. With the Safari, OTOH, the nib is fixed, and with my lefthanded underwriting grip, my fingers end up on the ridges of the section rather than the indentions.

 

This feature of the 75 (and the Premier), along with the ease of nib switching, is a major reason why I still love my 75 that I received when I graduated from high school in 1967. The only design flaw is that the plastic section threads that screw into the metal barrel tend to strip.

[Lithium466]

4 hours ago, txomsy said:

Somehow, I prefer the Logo, perhaps because it is all steel. And yes, I do also love the streamlined, elegant, simple and functional design (and the details, like the spring-loaded clip).

I like the Logo too, but that's more for the all steel construction (minus the plastic extremities) than the design. It survived through years of high school and university, where many pens with plastic sections didn't.

 

I still have my old Logo, with a Z55 nib now, but it's rarely one I reach out for lately...I should try a Scala, which looks like a classier, fatter Logo! But as I just bought a Persona (with plastic section...), that will have to wait.

[Azulado]

1 hour ago, Lithium466 said:

I like the Logo too, but that's more for the all steel construction (minus the plastic extremities) than the design. It survived through years of high school and university, where many pens with plastic sections didn't.

What happens to the plastic and how does it break down?
My impression of the Lamy Safari is that its ABS plastic can last for many years. On YT I saw a review of a 14 year old Safari. I wanted to buy the CP1, but the plastic section left me with doubts.

[Astronymus]

4 minutes ago, Azulado said:

What happens to the plastic and how does it break down?
My impression of the Lamy Safari is that its ABS plastic can last for many years. On YT I saw a review of a 14 year old Safari. I wanted to buy the CP1, but the plastic section left me with doubts.

My first Safari lasted 30 years of school, training and work. And it's just the cap that has a small crack.

[Lithium466]

I don't have a Safari so I can't comment.

 

Plastic sections (and barrels) of various cheap/school pens that I brutalized by treating them without an ounce of respect as a kid, throwing them in my bag and then using said bag for various purposes, pillow, football ball, throwing at friends to play, etc  that weren't keen on plastic anything, tended to crack pretty quickly.

The Lamy Logo survived all that very well.

 

As for other pens that "feel"/"look" less sturdy, with plastic barrels, sections, caps, etc, when they are used as intended with only some reasonable travel home/office and around the house, I don't have any plastic cracking to report.

 

I do have a CP1 but it's only a few months old, and still in perfect shape. I also have various very cheap plastic Chinese pens, and they are all still in perfect condition.

[Azulado]

42 minutes ago, Astronymus said:

My first Safari lasted 30 years of school, training and work. And it's just the cap that has a small crack.

I know that the critical point of the Safari is the internal cap. In the Lamy Spain online shop they sold the replacement cap. People fix it with electrician's tape. In any case, not everyone gets cracks, and if they do, it's usually after many years of use.

[Azulado]

39 minutes ago, Lithium466 said:

I do have a CP1 but it's only a few months old, and still in perfect shape. I also have various very cheap plastic Chinese pens, and they are all still in perfect condition.

I am careful with pens. I bought a Platinum Preppy knowing that they crack easily and after a few months they are in perfect condition. They didn't seem so fragile to me, maybe it was the first series. 

[Waltz For Zizi]

2 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

I should try a Scala, which looks like a classier, fatter Logo!

As much as I like Lamy pens, the Scala is one of the least attractive pens I have ever seen, not just among Lamy pens but among all the pens. I just keep mine because the nib is amazing. I have the 50th anniversary glacier that comes with a gold nib, if it was steel I would have replaced it with another one and sold it a long time ago. I just cant get over how fugly the pen is (to me).

[Lithium466]

That's disappointing to hear. It looked "good enough" to me, but I never saw it in person.

[Paul-in-SF]

On 11/24/2022 at 4:34 PM, Glenn-SC said:

It is good to see all the differing opinions and the respect shown.

 

I agree. It appeared that the OP wanted a fight, and instead got a mostly civilized discussion. 

 

On 11/24/2022 at 4:34 PM, Glenn-SC said:

I so believe that the word choice of the OP indicates a troll.  The fact that they have not returned to their own thread to respond to other opinions supports that observation.

 

My personal suspicion is that the OP was surprised by the initial pushback on his posting style in this thread, since they had a couple of other threads that were similarly worded, on other topics, and they didn't get any negative feedback that I saw. I also suspect that OP is too young to know how to recover from a difficult beginning, so just threw this thread away as a bad job, waited a few days, and came back with a somewhat lighter touch. Just my personal guess. 

[mtcn77]

8 hours ago, Waltz For Zizi said:

As much as I like Lamy pens, the Scala is one of the least attractive pens I have ever seen, not just among Lamy pens but among all the pens. I just keep mine because the nib is amazing. I have the 50th anniversary glacier that comes with a gold nib, if it was steel I would have replaced it with another one and sold it a long time ago. I just cant get over how fugly the pen is (to me).

Well, the personal feelings aside the pen holds up in value. I have a thick section pen also, the Scala is much easier to use. At the time, my mindset was fixed on a flawed viewpoint - when I bought the thick section Emotion, I was expecting better ergonomics than the thin section Kaweco with BBS stock M nib. Once, I figured the pen does not have to start with so much pressure, I figured the Scala is just the right pen for me and the gold nib is truly out of this world.

[jmccarty3]

On 11/27/2022 at 10:03 AM, Waltz For Zizi said:

As much as I like Lamy pens, the Scala is one of the least attractive pens I have ever seen, not just among Lamy pens but among all the pens. I just keep mine because the nib is amazing. I have the 50th anniversary glacier that comes with a gold nib, if it was steel I would have replaced it with another one and sold it a long time ago. I just cant get over how fugly the pen is (to me).

 

De gustibus non disputandum est. I think the Scala in Glacier is a beautiful pen, and I looked all over to find one. I prefer it to the Safari/Al-Star, the Studio, and even the 2000, and the gold nib is terrific. By the way, I have a cat named Zizi. 😎

[Calabria]

Sounds like the OP started a chat group about favorite Lamy pens!

 

Lamy isn’t well known in countries where students have stopped using fountain pens. So it’s a latecomer to the US. It’s like Aurora the iconic Italian brand that all Italians are familiar with but that only recently had enjoyed some global success.

[channelsixtynine069]

I have the Safari Vista. I particularly like featureless, colorless demonstrators, rather than expensive, ostentatious colorful pens with ridiculous, useless decoration.

 

I don't need gold nibs, I seem to break nibs. Stainless steel is just fine for a left handed writer.

 

Don't care about its origins, either. If I wanted one, I'd go by a Parker.

 

Since I'm careless and tend to break or lose pens and mechanical pencils, the Safari is cheap so it doesn't matter and it writes well.

 

Seasons Greetings 😊

 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2022 by channelsixtynine069

[Estycollector]

I have two Lamy FP's, a 2017 Al-Star and the Vista and enjoyed learning about the Bauhaus concept of "form following function" which for me is well represented in both the Safari and Al-Star pens. 

[Chandon]

Lamy make great pens of all types, designs and at all price points. There is something for everyone, and the Safari and 2000 are only a small part of the total offering. Furthermore, all of their pens and pencils have always been refillable, and they commission new and innovative designs (Pico, Dialogs, Aion, Ideos and Xevo in the last few years alone). 

 

The fact that Lamy is still an independent, privately owned, solvent pen company says a lot about their success. They rank with Faber Castell and Caran d'Ache in this respect. Even Montblanc is is no longer a pure pen company and is now owned by Richemont. 

[Black Spot]

On 11/27/2022 at 3:50 PM, Astronymus said:

My first Safari lasted 30 years of school, training and work. And it's just the cap that has a small crack.

 

How much damage did the bulldozer take that you ran your Lamy over with ?

[Astronymus]

47 minutes ago, Black Spot said:

 

How much damage did the bulldozer take that you ran your Lamy over with ?

Fubar. They sold it as scrap metal.