Brilliant Bill
December 6th, 2017, 10:32 AM
My first impressions/opinion on the new Lamy Aion fountain pen. Just opinion.
The Lamy Aion is the "Seinfeld pen." It's a pen about nothing. It's Bauhaus to the nth. It's Shaker all over again. While an Amish farmer would be embarrassed by a Visconti Divina, he could happily slip a black Aion into his pocket without notice; it's plain. Plain, plain, plain. The silver colored clip might trigger a twinge of Amish guilt, but probably not much. Plain. I have to guess Lamy is harkening back to their much acclaimed Lamy 2000 pen with the Aion, yet without the $200+ price tag for the metal pen.
I like plain. So I've been looking forward to this new pen from Lamy. The availability date in the U.S. kept getting pushed back, so it became frustrating. I had notice requests in at several retailers. Last Friday afternoon Anderson Pens sent me an email; they had it in stock. They got the business, and the pen arrived Tuesday (yesterday). It comes in two versions -- black and what Lamy is calling "olivesilver." Pictures of the olivesilver look gray to me. So, let's say you can get the pen in either black or gray. Neither one is going to excite the rainbow acrylic crowd who treasure pens like those from Kanilea.
Lamy's marketing material goes overboard emphasizing the pens plainness. "Function alone determines form. With this design principle Lamy has won the hearts of many design enthusiasts throughout the world." Their copywriters went all in on this one: "The smooth deep-drawn aluminium body components are the first of their kind and give the series a unique, harmonious appearance. Brushed and blasted surfaces are refined with a brilliant silk-matt anodic coating finish, creating formal tension. The sturdy high gloss polished clip perfectly rounds off the overall design." They got themselves a high-end fancy pants designer who apparently specializes in simplicity to create the pen. Jasper Morrison is an English product designer known mostly for furniture. Keeping with the understatement theme, Lamy places their name discreetly on one side of the clip only (in contrast to the Lamy 2000 with Lamy on both sides of clip). Except for the nib, that's the only way you could tell what kind of pen it is.
I was glad to see the pen comes with a cartridge converter. After pondering what ink to use, I filled it with Bungu Box Silent Night for two reasons. First, the obvious holiday season. Second, the ink is virtually black. If you look very close, you may see a bluish undertone. For me, it's the slight blue you see in a dark, winter sky. The ink also flows well and obviously takes more of a function than style approach. The steel medium nib on my Aion is smoother than the medium nibs on the Safaris and Al-Stars I have. I believe the Aion nib is interchangeable with the Safaris and Al-Stars, but the Aion nib has a somewhat different shape. The Aion flows more generously than the others also.
Writing with the Aion reminded me of the Faber-Castell Loom. The grip section has no concave shape to it -- just a taper down from the barrel. It's also a lot smoother than the anodized and brushed aluminum barrel. It's not comfortable for me to hold, and it's slippery. I think the style won out over function in this important aspect. It also doesn't cap cleanly and easily. If it is not going into the cap perfectly straight it gets hung up on something. It posts deeply and securely, if that's something you do. It's long enough I can't imagine anyone would need to post it though.
Dimensions (mine, not official)
Overall length capped: 143mm (5.63 in.)
Nib point to barrel end length: 137mm (5.4 in.)
Grip section outside diameter: 13mm (.51 in.) at barrel to 9.9mm (.38 in.) at nib
Retail price is $89 USD. Most retailers selling it for around $70 USD
The Lamy Aion is the "Seinfeld pen." It's a pen about nothing. It's Bauhaus to the nth. It's Shaker all over again. While an Amish farmer would be embarrassed by a Visconti Divina, he could happily slip a black Aion into his pocket without notice; it's plain. Plain, plain, plain. The silver colored clip might trigger a twinge of Amish guilt, but probably not much. Plain. I have to guess Lamy is harkening back to their much acclaimed Lamy 2000 pen with the Aion, yet without the $200+ price tag for the metal pen.
I like plain. So I've been looking forward to this new pen from Lamy. The availability date in the U.S. kept getting pushed back, so it became frustrating. I had notice requests in at several retailers. Last Friday afternoon Anderson Pens sent me an email; they had it in stock. They got the business, and the pen arrived Tuesday (yesterday). It comes in two versions -- black and what Lamy is calling "olivesilver." Pictures of the olivesilver look gray to me. So, let's say you can get the pen in either black or gray. Neither one is going to excite the rainbow acrylic crowd who treasure pens like those from Kanilea.
Lamy's marketing material goes overboard emphasizing the pens plainness. "Function alone determines form. With this design principle Lamy has won the hearts of many design enthusiasts throughout the world." Their copywriters went all in on this one: "The smooth deep-drawn aluminium body components are the first of their kind and give the series a unique, harmonious appearance. Brushed and blasted surfaces are refined with a brilliant silk-matt anodic coating finish, creating formal tension. The sturdy high gloss polished clip perfectly rounds off the overall design." They got themselves a high-end fancy pants designer who apparently specializes in simplicity to create the pen. Jasper Morrison is an English product designer known mostly for furniture. Keeping with the understatement theme, Lamy places their name discreetly on one side of the clip only (in contrast to the Lamy 2000 with Lamy on both sides of clip). Except for the nib, that's the only way you could tell what kind of pen it is.
I was glad to see the pen comes with a cartridge converter. After pondering what ink to use, I filled it with Bungu Box Silent Night for two reasons. First, the obvious holiday season. Second, the ink is virtually black. If you look very close, you may see a bluish undertone. For me, it's the slight blue you see in a dark, winter sky. The ink also flows well and obviously takes more of a function than style approach. The steel medium nib on my Aion is smoother than the medium nibs on the Safaris and Al-Stars I have. I believe the Aion nib is interchangeable with the Safaris and Al-Stars, but the Aion nib has a somewhat different shape. The Aion flows more generously than the others also.
Writing with the Aion reminded me of the Faber-Castell Loom. The grip section has no concave shape to it -- just a taper down from the barrel. It's also a lot smoother than the anodized and brushed aluminum barrel. It's not comfortable for me to hold, and it's slippery. I think the style won out over function in this important aspect. It also doesn't cap cleanly and easily. If it is not going into the cap perfectly straight it gets hung up on something. It posts deeply and securely, if that's something you do. It's long enough I can't imagine anyone would need to post it though.
Dimensions (mine, not official)
Overall length capped: 143mm (5.63 in.)
Nib point to barrel end length: 137mm (5.4 in.)
Grip section outside diameter: 13mm (.51 in.) at barrel to 9.9mm (.38 in.) at nib
Retail price is $89 USD. Most retailers selling it for around $70 USD