Aion -- First Impressions

[Brilliant Bill]

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

[inklord]

Thanks for your insights. I concur regarding the pen's style; with the exception of the Lamy 2000, the "Aion" is currently my favorite pen as far as design, decor (or absence thereof) and finish are concerned. My fine nib confirms your findings: these seem to be both wetter and smoother than the regular SS box-shaped nibs from Lamy. Different from your impression, I find the pen very comfortable to hold, in fact the most comfortable pen to hold, period. I also found that my "Aion" caps and uncaps cleanly, but that is most likely (by coincidence) rooted in my way of capping/uncapping. I also don't see any need to post the pen (which I like). Considering its almost behemoth size when uncapped, I was surprised how balanced and unobtrusive the pen feels. I enjoy the slight roughness of the barrel/cap texturing and the silky (for me 'just right') feel of the grip section (reminds me of fine-tooth stationery or drawing paper).

At the given price level, this pen is a new favorite to me. I might be a bit influenced by my being part of the Jasper Morrison/Bauhaus-influence/Vitra design fandom (...or more than a bit) but as a second to the Lamy 2000 Makrolon this pen is IT for me, for now. Having experienced many of Jasper's designs and read some of his writings, I was prepared for this, but it still feels good to actually touch and hold it!

I can't wait to see the varied responses (balanced, like yours; madly enthusiastic, like mine; dismissive?) to come forth: half the fun in a new design release lies in that, after all!

P.S: The "olivesilver" apparently refers to the silvery underside of olive leaves. Silly name for just another gray aluminum pen, though.

[techjunkie25]

Thanks for your insights. I concur regarding the pen's style; with the exception of the Lamy 2000, the "Aion" is currently my favorite pen as far as design, decor (or absence thereof) and finish are concerned. My fine nib confirms your findings: these seem to be both wetter and smoother than the regular SS box-shaped nibs from Lamy. Different from your impression, I find the pen very comfortable to hold, in fact the most comfortable pen to hold, period. I also found that my "Aion" caps and uncaps cleanly, but that is most likely (by coincidence) rooted in my way of capping/uncapping. I also don't see any need to post the pen (which I like). Considering its almost behemoth size when uncapped, I was surprised how balanced and unobtrusive the pen feels. I enjoy the slight roughness of the barrel/cap texturing and the silky (for me 'just right') feel of the grip section (reminds me of fine-tooth stationery or drawing paper).

At the given price level, this pen is a new favorite to me. I might be a bit influenced by my being part of the Jasper Morrison/Bauhaus-influence/Vitra design fandom (...or more than a bit) but as a second to the Lamy 2000 Makrolon this pen is IT for me, for now. Having experienced many of Jasper's designs and read some of his writings, I was prepared for this, but it still feels good to actually touch and hold it!

I can't wait to see the varied responses (balanced, like yours; madly enthusiastic, like mine; dismissive?) to come forth: half the fun in a new design release lies in that, after all!

P.S: The "olivesilver" apparently refers to the silvery underside of olive leaves. Silly name for just another gray aluminum pen, though.

Congrats on the new pen. I just picked up the same one, inked it up and it writes like a dream. Mine is going to be my daily use pen for a while, well, more like we’ll see how it goes lol.
My first Lamy and definitely not my last. Eyeing up the Lamy 2000 with gold nib..

Wonder if you could convert the Aion to an eye dropper?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[dapprman]

The cap closing issues, as well as the possibility to rattle it and spin it is down to the inner cap. Rather than full length it's just down to the end of the nib/start of the section. It does seal very well as I've had mine sitting for weeks with no ink loss, however it's easy to catch on capping the nib - making you have to retry (which can be annoying if you're not aware), and means the closed cap can pivot very slightly on it - hence the rattle if you shake a capped pen.

[Ahriman4891]

There is also at least one report that posting wears out the inner cap: https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/7xbjez/dont_post_your_lamy_aion_never/ -- of course, that would only affect the posters.

Seems like the pen has some growing pains.

[Tiggercat]

I have an Aion in Olivesilver, and it writes beautifully. That being said, I now have a mystery crease about .75" from the end of the pen; it looks like something fell on the pen and dented it. I am in no way suggesting this is Lamy's fault, but it does lead me to wish the walls of the pen were a bit thicker.