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chojo
August 23rd, 2015, 08:09 AM
First I've heard of this one, apparently it's due out in September in Germany prices around €350. What do we think? It's seems to be a spin off from the Persona.

20961

Armstrong
August 23rd, 2015, 01:28 PM
Interesting pen, I like the look. Have to wonder how comfortable the section will be for long writing sessions.

inklord
August 23rd, 2015, 01:40 PM
This is great news! However, I wish they had revived the tubular nib of the Persona - but this will include it in the 'swappable nib' circle of Lamy pens. To me, the similarly ribbed grip section of the persona felt quite comfortable. I assume it will use the normal (and in my view utterly sub-standard) Lamy converter Z26. This is the one pen part that keeps me from fully embracing the 'upscale' Lamy C/C pens - one of the worst converters on the market! Thanks for reporting this!

inklord
August 23rd, 2015, 02:34 PM
It's not even on the Lamy Website!?!

Wile E Coyote
August 23rd, 2015, 03:09 PM
This is great news! However, I wish they had revived the tubular nib of the Persona - but this will include it in the 'swappable nib' circle of Lamy pens. To me, the similarly ribbed grip section of the persona felt quite comfortable. I assume it will use the normal (and in my view utterly sub-standard) Lamy converter Z26. This is the one pen part that keeps me from fully embracing the 'upscale' Lamy C/C pens - one of the worst converters on the market! Thanks for reporting this!

If it had the tubular nib, wouldn't it just be a Persona?

inklord
August 23rd, 2015, 04:10 PM
This is great news! However, I wish they had revived the tubular nib of the Persona - but this will include it in the 'swappable nib' circle of Lamy pens. To me, the similarly ribbed grip section of the persona felt quite comfortable. I assume it will use the normal (and in my view utterly sub-standard) Lamy converter Z26. This is the one pen part that keeps me from fully embracing the 'upscale' Lamy C/C pens - one of the worst converters on the market! Thanks for reporting this!

If it had the tubular nib, wouldn't it just be a Persona?
Yeah, I guess so...

chojo
August 24th, 2015, 01:32 PM
It's not even on the Lamy Website!?!

I noticed that myself, for some reason they're really not making a big thing of this one. At least not yet. I can't find any info as to when or if it will be available worldwide but at this price range it'll have to be good to take sales away from the L2k.

Jon Szanto
August 24th, 2015, 01:39 PM
Hmm. That is a remarkably unattractive pen.

inklord
August 24th, 2015, 04:20 PM
It's not even on the Lamy Website!?!

I noticed that myself, for some reason they're really not making a big thing of this one. At least not yet. I can't find any info as to when or if it will be available worldwide but at this price range it'll have to be good to take sales away from the L2k.
Well, the Price sure is quite hefty. As a pen, it will probably write like any gold-nibbed Studio, Dialog 3, Scala or CP1... so no surprises there; I'd guess the finish and built quality would have to be exceptional, at the given price point.

inklord
August 24th, 2015, 04:25 PM
Hmm. That is a remarkably unattractive pen.

Now you got me interested: could you elaborate where your 'unattractedness' comes from (just because I have always liked this design and hoped it would come back sometime; so naturally, I'd like to see my aesthetic bias challenged :) )

Jon Szanto
August 24th, 2015, 04:55 PM
Now you got me interested: could you elaborate where your 'unattractedness' comes from (just because I have always liked this design and hoped it would come back sometime; so naturally, I'd like to see my aesthetic bias challenged :) )

You really don't want that, do you? It was just a personal observation. I could delineate the components of the design that I find jarring, but I never meant my comment to sway another's aesthetic sense. I'd hate for all pens to look alike.

inklord
August 24th, 2015, 06:05 PM
Now you got me interested: could you elaborate where your 'unattractedness' comes from (just because I have always liked this design and hoped it would come back sometime; so naturally, I'd like to see my aesthetic bias challenged :) )

You really don't want that, do you? It was just a personal observation. I could delineate the components of the design that I find jarring, but I never meant my comment to sway another's aesthetic sense. I'd hate for all pens to look alike.
You bet - that would be boring! I don't think I'll give up my liking of the Lamy Persona/Imporium (by the way: isn't that an odd name?) but I am fascinated by the huge variance of human aesthetic perception, and by the roots of individual as well as collective aesthetics. Thanks,
Peter

Bogon07
August 24th, 2015, 11:23 PM
I like the overall look of the pens but think the ribbed section a little at odds with the barrel. Perhaps a smooth section could look better but maybe the ribbed section was necessary to stop your fingers slipping off that sharp angle of a smooth metal.
However you'd really need to see & hold the pens themselves.

erpe
August 25th, 2015, 02:19 AM
A different bodydesign, not entirely new but still build around the € 5 nib that comes with the first Safari. Not a bad nib at all and one of the most convenient quick-swap systems on the market today but one truly wonders where the the price-tag goes.

Bogon07
August 25th, 2015, 03:25 AM
A different bodydesign, not entirely new but still build around the € 5 nib that comes with the first Safari. Not a bad nib at all and one of the most convenient quick-swap systems on the market today but one truly wonders where the the price-tag goes.

The Emporium comes with a gold nib by the looks of the photos which would account for at least half the price. The nib appears to be a revision on the current gold 14k nibs.
The rest by the prices the Persona commands on eBay.

erpe
August 25th, 2015, 03:54 AM
The Emporium comes with a gold nib by the looks of the photos which would account for at least half the price. The nib appears to be a revision on the current gold 14k nibs.
The displayed goldnib is € 65 retail, far from half the the €350 price-tag. Don't get me wrong, they are great nibs but I really wonder what's in the body to make that difference.

Jon Szanto
August 25th, 2015, 10:40 AM
Don't get me wrong, they are great nibs but I really wonder what's in the body to make that difference.

Marketing.

inklord
August 25th, 2015, 05:21 PM
Don't get me wrong, they are great nibs but I really wonder what's in the body to make that difference.

Marketing.

Indeed - A Pilot Custom 823 retails for just around €500 in some European Countries, for $288 in the US; The Lamy 2000 can be had in a brick&mortar store here for $159, in Germany for €170. Back in '85 when I bought my Peli M400 for DM 150 (at that time equiv. to US$75), the L2k retailed in the same stationery store for DM 170 - incidentally exactly half what's being asked for it now, since 2 DM = 1€, but now the L2k is €170, the M400 is €295 - still in the same old store!! Prices of pens are regulated by whatever the target clientele is expected to be willing to pay... the gold value of common nibs lies usually between $10 and $30 - ever heard of such a low surcharge over a steel nib? When my Peli M600 fell apart, TWSBI-fashion, I was shocked at the poor quality assemblage of injection molded parts in this pricey pen. It's all in the eye of the beholder, or we'd be buying Lamy Safaris with 14 k nibs for about $60.

Ste_S
September 4th, 2015, 04:53 PM
If Lamy are charging €350 for a Gold Z50 C/C Pen I hope they aren't thinking of price bumping the rest of the range.

A Studio with a gold nib looks like a bargain in comparison currently

inklord
September 20th, 2015, 01:38 PM
The pen is now available from Lamy Germany. The nib is different from previous Lamy box nibs in that it has no breather hole. Apparently the body and cap are machined titanium, which explains the somewhat exorbitant price. It sure looks like a magnificent luxury pen, and discounting the fact that this is a Lamy, a brand usually associated with less expensive pens, I feel that in comparison with other top shelf pens, the Imporium really delivers, if you like its styling.

Frank
September 29th, 2015, 09:59 PM
It's not even on the Lamy Website!?!

Not on the US site, anyway. The distributor has informed that this pen is not being sold in the US market....

Frank

erpe
September 29th, 2015, 10:59 PM
Nice clip on the UK site http://www.lamy.com/microsites/imporium/index_eng.html
It looks cool in matte black 'n shiny gold. The nib seems not to be the € 65 Safari upgrade that I initially thought it would be, not sure it is even the swapable nib at all.

Pommel
September 30th, 2015, 10:37 AM
I have an original Persona, and I think that looks better than the new Imporium. I especially dislike the new nib design.

What I wonder about; AFAIK the Persona wasn't a very good seller for Lamy. So why then do they reintroduce it at this time?

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

Holsworth
September 30th, 2015, 12:51 PM
I was quite excited when I saw a hint of this pen on Instagram because I've been in love with the Persona since Julia at Choosing Keeping showed me hers a few months ago. But for that price I think I'll keep waiting for a titanium Persona to come up on eBay - the nib on the Imporium just doesn't look right compared to the rest of the pen to me.

inklord
September 30th, 2015, 07:51 PM
I have an original Persona, and I think that looks better than the new Imporium. I especially dislike the new nib design.

What I wonder about; AFAIK the Persona wasn't a very good seller for Lamy. So why then do they reintroduce it at this time?

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
Times have changed - the original Persona was introduced 25 years ago, right into the big void where only a few collectors and some alternative people were into FP's. Remember, even Pelikan Souveraen pens were priced as budget pens back then (the M400 was less expensive than a Lamy 2000, at least in Germany). And Montblanc was the only German competitor in the luxury market - now who would in that scenario have chosen a Persona over a Meisterstueck?

bluesea
October 7th, 2015, 04:44 PM
A Lamy 27 re-intro would have been sweet.