Why Lamy?

[VertOlive]

Got my Vista. Put a Z26 converter in it so the red color of the Z24 doesn't drive me nuts. It's a happy thing!

[AtomicLeo]

My first fountain pen was a yellow Lamy Safari and it is still one of the best writers in my collection. I like that I can take them to the office, use them at home for journaling and pack them along on trips. None of them has cost more than $60. I love that I can collect different colors every year without spending 100s dollars. I can swap out nibs easily and the sizes range from EF up to a 1.9mm stub. With the exception of one Charcoal Safari, I haven't had any issues writing with any of them right out of the box. I can't say that about any other pen manufacture in my collection.

[johnus]

First: Not writing this to cause a controversy.
I have a Lamy safari and I also have a number of its clones. Most have been under 5$ delivered. At first the colors on the clones are what attracted me the most. And the prices allow me to have all their colors.
I be just started on the Hero Lamy clones. Photo:ImageUploadedByTapatalk1410040120.568111.jpg. These now have clips similar to the Lamy. Or could it be the Lamys are made by the same Chinese company????

[writingrav]

I think the Lamy 2000 is the most perfectly designed and dependable pen.I t has an elegance that never fades and is both comfortable and writes perfectly every time. I appreciate the Safaris and have about 10. Strangely I have never liked the al-star and don't have the studio,

[top pen]

I don't want to be party crasher but I have mixed feelings about Lamy as brand which I will expand on.

The Good
What I really like about Lamy is there bauhaus design philosophy Form and function in harmony. These days I find a lot of fountain pens are designed with a show off mentality that I don't particular like as it almost makes the user seem pretentious and to some degree materialistic. My favorite pen designs are more subtle such as the Parker 61, rotring 400, 700 etc.

I also like how Lamy has one of the larger ranges of products which are orientated to a wider range of budgets.

I also like how they have a continuous history and don't try and associate themselves with a defunct company from the hay day.

The Bad
I know others see this cross compatibility (I know the 2000 and Dialog 3 have different nibs but that's only 3) of the nibs as beneficial but I don't particularly as it gives me no reason to consider buying another Lamy once I own one that I like. To me writing experience is more important then design ultimately if a Nexx has the same nib as a scala what's the real point in buying an £80 when it's going to write like a £12 pen.

The QC on steel nibs could improve I've had one bad nib one good nib one OK nib so far. But I've seen on FPN someone bought a safari and there nib hadn't been slit.


Overall I consider a Lamy as a good brand however I'd like to see the QC improve and greater degree of differentiation between there products. I will probably one day look into a 2000.

[Ste_S]

Re The use of the Z50 nib across the Lamy range. I'd argue that the majority of stainless steel nibs are not going to have any noticeable differences between them.

With increased price your going to be paying for differences in barrel/cap materials and finishing, not for any noticeable differences in a stainless steel nib

The Visconti Van Gough costs 10x the cost of a Safari, yet they both have stainless steel nibs

[tinysnail]

My first fountain pen was a Lamy Safari (I am not counting the Varsities I'd had before that as my first fountain pen) and I've bought another Safari and an Al-Star since. They're wonderfully dependable and I feel comfortable using them as my school pens. None of them have ever had any problems with the inks I put in them. I'm happy with them! A Lamy 2000 may be in my future; I love the history and design of the pen.

Lamy has a pretty solid presence around here. They sell Lamy pens in my university's bookstore... I definitely remember the looks of longing I'd give the display before I was comfortable spending more than a few dollars on a pen (ahahaha.. ha.. oh boy). The Safari's design seems to be pretty polarizing, but I like it and it helps them to appear modern and function-oriented, which is important when they're marketing to students!

[velo]

Re The use of the Z50 nib across the Lamy range. I'd argue that the majority of stainless steel nibs are not going to have any noticeable differences between them.

With increased price your going to be paying for differences in barrel/cap materials and finishing, not for any noticeable differences in a stainless steel nib

The Visconti Van Gough costs 10x the cost of a Safari, yet they both have stainless steel nibs

This is something that gives me pause when looking at some of the brands at the $150+ range. From that point on you need to offer me a gold nib.

[Faustine]

I started with Lamy and have been using them for 7 years now. I love them for the same reason many posters have already mentioned: they are lightweight, affordable, durable workhorses that you won't break the bank if you (knock on wood) lose one. I love the nib switchability - I'm almost to the point now that I don't even keep the original nibs with my pens anymore. I have a huge stash of extra Lamy nibs now, and just swap them out as needed to whatever favorite color I'm using at the moment, so I've lost track for most of them what came with what. They always write well for me (with the exception of the problematic quality control on the EF nibs, which can be a toss up) - the F, M, B and italic nibs are wonderful writers (LOVE that italic 1.1!!). I like the triangular grip, and find it easier to use than traditional round barrels.

More importantly, I love color. BRIGHT COLOR. I HATE boring traditional black cigar style pens, no matter how high quality they may be, I'd never look at them twice (I'm well aware I'm in the minority about this). And the Lamy line has had the most colorful releases that I've seen since I started collecting. Pilot Preras of a few years ago came close, but that's about it. Just looking at these on my desk makes me really happy.

[FayeV]

Got my Vista. Put a Z26 converter in it so the red color of the Z24 doesn't drive me nuts. It's a happy thing!

I actually don't mind the red Z24 and black Z26 converters ... and I wish they came in more colors to help me "color code" my Vistas.
That way I can just glance at the pen and know which one it is without uncapping to check nib size or ink color.

Right now ...
My Vista with the red converter is the one with the 1.1 nib filled with Apache Sunset.
My Vista with the black converter is the one with the EF nib filled with Purple Heart.

Apache Sunset stands out inside the converter, however most of the time my inks are so dark that both would appear black and I wouldn't be able to tell them apart otherwise.

[Waski_the_Squirrel]

I have two Lamys wandering around. One is a Lamy ABC which is relegated to my desk at school: I use it to correct papers, but basically don't like it. I figure it has my name on it which may protect it, but it's no loss if I lose it.

I also have a Lamy Safari I recently dug up. I've been writing with it to decide if it belongs in the giveaway list. It's okay.

I will grant that Lamy is a bright pen, and I do like that. But, the writing isn't all that special with them. I don't see another Lamy anywhere even on the far horizon. I may purchase a 1.9mm nib for fun, but that's about it. Not bad pens, but not special either.

What I do think is that they have found a niche and do an excellent job filling that niche. They are good pens. I just don't happen to have much interest in that niche.

[jacksterp]

Only have three, but I really like them.

Guess that's all that matters...

[Chuasam]

Bauhaus design
Nothing flashy and ostentatious.
Reasonably priced and just beautiful

[Newjelan]

I have 3 Safaris, 3 Nexx, 1 Al-star, 2 Studios (1 with a Gold nib) and both versions of the 2000. I regularly read of QC problems but I must be lucky. All of mine have worked perfectly out of the box. I've come to realize that Lamy & Pilot are far and away my favorite brands.

[jks2014]

it looks cool ，good reputations & it's really affordable !

[rgperedo]

Originally I was in love with my yellow Safari (one of my first fp's). I have since gotten other pens that I can honestly say are much better and are much more comfortable.

With that being said I still use my yellow Safari, my charcoal Safari and my Vista. I use one to draw. I carry it everywhere and I'm not worried about beating it up, and the other two have a 1.1 and a 1.5 nib. I use them often for practicing calligraphy. I think that is one of the best reason to have these. They're inexpensive and can swap nibs easily.

I would not compare them however to the writing experience of any of my Pelikans or other "nicer" pens.

I personally don't need any more Safari pens. The only reason to get one more would be to put a larger calligraphy nib so I can play around. They're solid pens that you shouldn't mind beating up. You definitely get your money's worth. I have never had a problem with Lamy pens and I love my 2000, it is amazing.

I wouldn't collect any of the Safari pens, but I definitely like the photos and can appreciate people's collections.

[tandaina]

I bought some Lamy because I love German pens. The Safaris do nothing for me, the modern 2000 is nice but not standout. The old Lamy I have (60s era, gold nib OB) is wonderful!

[picautomaton]

The charcoal Safari I consider one of the first 'stealth' pens. Love the engineering and tough plastic.

Lamy 2000 is simply a brilliant pen, am I right in saying it's been around and still in production for half a century!

[stevekolt]

First: Not writing this to cause a controversy.
I have a Lamy safari and I also have a number of its clones. Most have been under 5$ delivered. At first the colors on the clones are what attracted me the most. And the prices allow me to have all their colors.
I be just started on the Hero Lamy clones. Photo:ImageUploadedByTapatalk1410040120.568111.jpg. These now have clips similar to the Lamy. Or could it be the Lamys are made by the same Chinese company????

I am admittedly a Lamy fan. I own a number of their pens from the 2000, to Al-Stars and Safaris. I personally would not buy a "Hero" clone, because it is a direct steal of Lamy's intellectual property and design. There is no originality whatsoever. I also would not buy a knock off of some very popular knives, because they are just stolen designs also. Just mho....and not knocking those that do buy them.

[Chuasam]

I'm a huge fan of the Bauhaus design. I have several Lamy pens. I don't have a safari because that's not my style but I have a CP1 and a 2000 as well as a few rollerball and ballpoint pens