Posts filed under Lamy

Lamy 2000 Mechanical Pencil Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

The Lamy 2000 is a timeless, attractive design that we're all familiar with. The fountain pen is certainly the flagship version of this beautiful design, but there are several other variations to fit the needs of many people. In this case, we're looking at the Lamy 2000 mechanical pencil.

I'm not a connoisseur of mechanical pencils, but I understand if a pencil I'm using is well-made. With the Lamy 2000, it's a sturdy, dependable pencil worthy of the name. The copy I have is of the 0.5mm lead size, but they're also available in 0.7mm.

The lead advancement mechanism is pretty standard — just depress the top of the pen to advance the lead. Under the top, you'll find a small eraser, and beneath that you'll find access to the lead compartment, as well as a handy tool for cleaning out lead jams. Like most mechanical pencils, the eraser included on the pencil is only intended for dire circumstances. A proper eraser is something you should keep close by when using this pencil.

The clip, like all the other Lamy 2000 variations, has a spring and hinge that makes it easy to use. And when you're using the clip to store or transport the pencil, you also don't need to worry about the point damaging your clothes or cases. The Lamy 2000 pencil features a nice blunt cone at the tip that ensures it won't poke through any fabric.

The pencil (of course) has the unique nose cone that sets the Lamy 2000 apart. The rest of the material (Makrolon) has a warm, smooth touch and gives the pencil a distinctive look.

If you need to perform any maintenance, the pencil comes apart about a third of the way up from the tip, giving you access to the inner workings. From here, you can remove the entire pencil mechanism for inspection.

Even though the pencil looks almost identical to the fountain pen, it's a bit slimmer in diameter. Still, it's extremely comfortable to use and hold. It's very light when compared to other premium mechanical pencils since metal is a common material for the genre.

Overall, the Lamy 2000 mechanical pencil is a worthy cousin to the Lamy 2000 fountain pen. It takes a classic, successful design and morphs it into another useful tool. The price might turn some away, but at around $55 it will certainly entice many.

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Posted on November 29, 2017 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Lamy, Mechanical Pencil, Pencil Reviews.

Lamy Petrol Ink Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Every year, Lamy introduces new colors for their Safari and AL Star pens, along with corresponding ink colors. And, every year, they eventually sell out. In the case of Lamy Petrol, the rate at which the pens, ink bottles, and ink cartridges sold out was phenomenal. At this point, it's difficult to find a retailer that sells the ink, and there's slim pickings when it comes to the pen. Earlier this year, the Pacific Blue edition AL Star and ink and it had a similar effect. All that to say that people really love the Lamy special editions.

If you're in the market to pick up some Petrol ink from the used market or for samples, here's what you can expect. If you're familiar with Lamy Blue-Black, Petrol is nothing like it. Petrol is described as a dark teal, but it's really more of a teal-black. Unlike Lamy Blue-Black, Petrol actually lives up to the "teal-black" name I've given it. Saturation is dark and luscious, and there's not much shading at all. Light that falls on this ink hardly escapes. The light that does escape does so through the fairly high amount of sheen, which casts a red shade in the certain light. Overall, it's a fascinating ink and one that I wish Lamy would keep in stock.

Like all other Lamy inks, this one is well-behaved and predictable. I haven't had any issues with show-through, bleeding, feathering, or skipping. It's a balanced ink when it comes to lubrication and flow, and it suits any nib with similar results due to the dark saturation. As someone who enjoys lighter inks that shade profusely, Petrol is a bit out of my comfort zone...but in a very good way.

Dry time for Petrol can be a bit long. I've measured anywhere from 15 to 35 seconds using a fine nib. Results aren't much better in a smaller nib, and they're understandably worse in larger, wetter nibs. If quick-drying inks are your thing, this one won't hit the spot.

Like I mentioned a bit earlier, there's not much shading with this ink when writing. The only time I've noticed shading is when doing swabs. Even then, it's fairly mild. The surprise feature, however, is the sheen that pops off the page. It's really easy to see the red sheen when there's indirect light on the paper. Sheen always fascinates me because it makes the ink appear wet and also gives the illusion of a different color in the right light. It's a fun effect, and Petrol has gobs of it.

As far as color and darkness, I don't really have anything close that I can compare to. Both Franklin Christoph's Midnight Emerald and Oster's River of Fire are notably teal. Midnight Emerald is fairly dark, but it's very easy to distinguish the green and blue. Petrol, on the other hand, is incredibly easy to mistake as black.

Overall, Petrol is a pretty ink with some awesome sheen. I just wish it resembled the color of the pen more, which is the same color lightened up a bit. When I think of dark teal, I think of Midnight Emerald. With Petrol, we get a black with a bit of teal mixed in that sometimes pops up above the black surface.

(Goldspot provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Posted on November 1, 2017 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Lamy, Ink Reviews.

Lamy Joy 1.1 mm Calligraphy Fountain Pen: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

The Lamy Joy Calligraphy Fountain Pen is a black resin pen that comes in nib sizes of 1.1, 1.5, and 1.9.

The pen is packaged in a red cardboard box with a plastic sleeve. It comes with one blue Lamy ink cartridge.

The design is sleek with only the red stainless steel clip, the red finial, and the red tip on the bottom of the pen as accents. But, boy do those accents pop! Although there are two ink windows, they are embedded deeply in the barrel and the cartridge is so dark, it’s difficult to tell how much ink is left in the cartridge. The cap snaps on and off and can be posted.

Lamy is lightly enscribed near the bottom of the barrel. The barrel itself has two flat sides and two rounded sides. If you use the pen unposted, the flat sides of the barrel will keep the pen from rolling off your desk.

The pen is longer than average fountain pens, measuring 179mm capped, 169mm uncapped, and 176mm posted. But it is quite light, weighing only 11 grams unposted.

The Lamy Joy comes with one blue ink cartridge, but you can purchase a Lamy converter if you wish to use bottled ink.

Like Lamy Safari pens, the Joy has a triangular-shaped grip meant to keep your fingers in the proper position. Some people love this grip, others (like me) don’t. It’s a matter of personal preference.

This pen has the 1.1mm nib. It’s a stainless steel nib and, in typical Lamy minimalist fashion, it is unadorned. It bears only the nib size and the Lamy name.

So, how does it write? Well, I’m no calligrapher, but I do use italic nibs quite often, and this nib is, after all, a 1.1mm italic. I found it to be adequate in terms of wetness, though I like my nibs much juicier. However, it isn’t a smooth nib. I’m not sure if the tines are slightly misaligned or if there’s some tipping material causing the scratchiness, but it feels like the nib is digging into the paper on every stroke. In other words, my writing experience was not pleasant. Perhaps a bit of micromesh would fix the problem.

In any case, I wrote a couple of test pages, and the 1.1mm offered some line variation and shading with the Lamy blue ink.

For calligraphy, I would suggest choosing the 1.5 or 1.9 size nib since the 1.1 seems a bit narrow.

Neverthless, for everyday writing, the 1.1 nib is a good choice as you can see with the following writing sample.

You can purchase the Lamy Joy from Pen Chalet for $28.00. The converter is an additional $4.70.

At $28.00, the Lamy Joy is quite a bit more expensive than other plastic calligraphy pens, such as the Pilot Parallel ($8.00 at JetPens). Granted, the Lamy Joy looks much nicer than the Pilot Parallel. But if you’re wanting a decent calligraphy pen for a good price, the Pilot Parallel pens are excellent. I own the 1.5mm and the 2.4mm Pilot Parallels and both nibs are smooth.

Pros

The Lamy Joy is a sleek resin calligraphy pen. The red accents make the pen pop.
The pen is very light, so it is easy to work with during long writing sessions.
It sports a grip that many users find very comfortable.

Cons

I honestly think the Lamy Joy is overpriced at $28.00.
Although many people like the triangular grip, I find it inhibiting. I tend to rotate my pens a bit when writing, so I feel like I have to fight the grip on this pen.
The nibs on Lamys can be hit or miss. This steel 1.1mm nib was scratchy.

(Pen Chalet provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!