Lamy has always seemed a relatively staid, conservative company to me. Lately, I have to question that. In the past few months...

1. I happened to read their "warranty" included with a new Safari Petrol pen. Here's what it says...

"Lamy Products warranties its writing instruments for the life of the product. If repair is required other than from abuse or misuse, then, for $9.50 handling and return postage charge, Lamy Products will repair, refurbish and return any Lamy instrument. If other parts have been abused, there will be a special charge. There are no labor or parts charges."

The price of a Safari is around $30. So, if they sell you a problem, it's $9.50 to make it right -- plus postage, and they want it sent "insured." I'd guess that comes to around $15 total. For half the price of the pen, they will correct the problem they created.

Last year I bought a Faber-Castell Loom with a broad nib. It was too broad and too wet for me so I decided to take advantage of the F-C nib swap program. You send them your pen, and they will tell you how much it will cost to change the nib. I sent them my pen. Next thing I heard from them was a week later when my pen arrived with the fine nib I had requested, no charge -- along with a nice letter from F-C, several of their pencils and a load of their promo materials. That's a classy company.

2. I not only got one Safari Petrol, I got two. As I sit here comparing them in good light, it is obvious they are two different colors. One leans toward a dark blue, the other more green. You could call either one teal, but it suggests a lack of manufacturing control. I'd take a picture, but given variations in monitors and viewing devices I doubt most people would see the difference in a picture. In the sunlight here, I'd call it a pronounced difference.

3. There is talk of Lamy discontinuing their extra-fine nibs. The Andersons, of Anderson Pens, recently said this is likely just a current production issue and would not be a permanent move. From my perspective, it's a who knows? I don't think I'd want rumors like that floating about if I were at Lamy.

And speaking of rumors...

Strange talk of new pens this year and next. The Aion is currently being shown on a German Lamy site. July 2017 is on the page, but anyone's guess what that means. Three others being talked about:

1. Tribe -- an entry into the sub-$10 market now dominated by Pilot Varsity and Platinum Preppy.

2. Guard Rail -- no info beyond the name. Sounds like a metal bodied pen.

3. Wasabi -- a big push into the booming Asian markets.

Whatever is going on in Heidelberg, they are keeping themselves in the news.