Lamy Roundup: Cp1 / St / Pur / Logo

May 11, 2013

Comparison of Lamy pens: cp1 / st / pur / logo

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1 all pens posted by Aidan Crusoe, on Flickr

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1 all pens capped by Aidan Crusoe, on Flickr

I recently picked up a few of the newer Lamy pens. I never fancied the Safari because of it’s weird triangular grip section but I like the modern design of the Lamys. If anyone’s thinking of buying one of these pens I thought I’d post some pics – I had trouble finding any good ones on the internet (apart from the stock photo they have on the Lamy website).

I won’t say much about the writing quality – they all write perfectly well and I haven’t noticed any difference between them. They all use the same z50 stainless steel nib found on all Lamy pens so I got a range of different ones to see which one(s) suited. Fwiw I’ve found myself using the Fine nib most often – it lays down enough ink to write smoothly but the line crisp enough for detailed notes. (Weirdly I found the F and M are *much* smoother writers than the B.... B nib needs quite a lot of pressure for the ink to flow nicely. Not comparable at all to my Waterman M, which is more like a B and is quite wet). There is quite a significant variation in line width depending on ink – some are very distinctly F/M/B, others are FM / B and others are F / MB (if that makes sense). So, I would go with F but of course ymmv.

1) cp1

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2 cp1 capped by Aidan Crusoe, on Flickr

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2 cp1 end and cap by Aidan Crusoe, on Flickr

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2 cp1 cap clip by Aidan Crusoe, on Flickr

This is my favourite of the batch. The finish is a beautiful matt black lacquer on an aluminium body - reminds me of the monolith in Kubrick’s 2001 (but that might just be me ) The feed/section is black plastic and is comfortable to write with. If the threads on the section ever get too worn down, it looks like it would be a cheap/straightforward replacement. The cap clicks on/off with a satisfying click; it posts firmly and doesn’t rotate/wobble. The clip looks like a solid block of aluminium (not a flat sheet folded into a clip shape) and is etched on the side with ‘LAMY’ logo (on the *underside* of the clip is stamped ‘Germany’. Easter egg?!) The pen is understated, classy and elegant. It feels good in the hand – it just feels very well made and solid. Definitely worth the money.

(Just oticed that the camera seems to have picked up a lot of specks/fluff/smears on the barrel. It looks a lot cleaner to the eye!)

2) st

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4 st posted by Aidan Crusoe, on Flickr

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4 st end and cap by Aidan Crusoe, on Flickr

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4 st cap clip by Aidan Crusoe, on Flickr

Solid aluminium body/cap. Website says ‘ring-spun aluminium’ or something like that – it’s not a matt/dull brushed aluminium (which I may try to DIY at some point), but it’s not too polished and shiny either. It does start picking up fingerprints but it’s actually a nicer finish than I was expecting from the website photo (it’s come out quite reflective in my photos too, which is not quite accurate). (I think the St is the same pen as the Linea-Herringbone and Linea-Stripes but with a cleaner finish; personally I prefer the plain metal look)

The clip and the top of the cap are shinier aluminium than the rest of the body. When capped, there is a *very very* tiny step between the cap and body (you have to be quite fussy to notice!) The cap posts with a firm click, but it’s slightly free to twist. More annoyingly if you shake your hand you can feel the cap shaking slightly – not a problem while writing (the wrist movement is not large enough) but very distracting when you’re just holding the pen and making bigger movements with your hand. I don’t post, so I don’t mind – if I did, I would certainly ask for a replacement (I assume they’re not all like this and the tolerance is slightly off). The feed is the same black plastic one as the cp1. Hmm... it looks somewhat harsh, but I really like this pen (though not as much as the cp1) – currently I’m mainly using the cp1 and st, and really enjoying them.

3) pur

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5 pur posted by Aidan Crusoe, on Flickr

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5 pur disassembled by Aidan Crusoe, on Flickr

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5 pur cap end by Aidan Crusoe, on Flickr

Although this is also aluminium, it looks and feels a bit plasticky; despite being the thickest of the 4 pens it feels the lightest. The cap clicks on/off very firmy and leaves a 2mm ring of black plastic visible (I quite like this) – the clip is quite unusual in that it overlaps the barrel by about 5mm. (The extended clip is a lot less jarring than it looks from the Lamy website – it sticks out, but not TOO much). The end of the body is a biggish black plastic block, which posts the cap firmly but looks a little bit cheap, almost like a Berol felt tip pen (http://tinyurl.com/cu567hz). However, the end of cap is a slightly concave matt plastic – I quite like this feature. On the inside, the feed is slightly longer than usual... and the screw threads in the barrel start about 2cm down, not at the top. In the pictures you can only see about half of the C/C – this might make it a bit harder to see the ink level; not sure why they haven’t kept the same feed as the cp1/st. Another mystery... So, there are things to like but a few quirks as well. It’s £13 on Amazon at the moment – worth it, but I wouldn’t pay more.

4) Logo

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3 logo end and cap by Aidan Crusoe, on Flickr

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3 logo capped by Aidan Crusoe, on Flickr

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3 logo cap clip barrel by Aidan Crusoe, on Flickr

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3 logo barrel by Aidan Crusoe, on Flickr

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3 logo barrel with cap by Aidan Crusoe, on Flickr

I really didn’t like the styling of this pen. Like the st, it is a ring-brushed aluminium finish (it goes in circles around the pen body rather than in long, straight brushed lines) – but is a bit shinier imo. Both ends of the pen are chunky/ugly black plastic which make the pen look cheap. The real bugbear (aesthetically) is the ribbed grip section – it’s not uncomfortable to write with, but the cap slides down halfway and clicks in, leaving half of the ribs exposed. Not quite one or the other..... either hide it or show it all! Plus points: I do like the clip and way it pivots in the cap. Another bonus is the whole body and grip section is made of aluminium. This pen will either outlive you or you will lose it. (Ironically, I also got the pencil version of the Logo and quite like it – there’s no cap to mess up the looks, and the plastic bits are red. So maybe I’m just a bit irrational??)

Final comments

All the pens are modern styled. They are all thin, tubular designs. The Pur is the thickest of the lot – similar girth to a Berol Handwriting pen. I have fairly small hands so they all feel quite comfortable.. They are all quite light (the St is the heaviest by a few grams). Overall champion is the CP1, by far; followed by the St (despite minor flaws). I am going to sell the Logo for sure, and maybe also the Pur. (If anyone is interested, PM me –otherwise its ebay)

May 11, 2013

i love lamy pens

i have 2 al-stars and a studio and would like to buy a couple more since i love their nibs

so thanks for that roundup, very helpful

May 12, 2013

Find the CP1 comfortable to use, fits into most day planners (Daytimer/Franklin/TimeDesign/FiloFax/Timemanager etc) pen loops which may be a bonus for some.

Understated, yet very difficult to find with the lights out

May 14, 2013

I've been thinking of getting a CP1 to use as a planner pen (I think that it would look great with my black Filofax). All my pens actually have 14K gold nibs, but I kind of miss a good ol' Lamy steel nib; they're really, really good in my opinion.

February 26, 2014

According the Lamy website, Lamy ST and Logo are made of stainless steel, not aluminium ...

March 2, 2014

Interesting and helpful review inca1991

I currently have 3 of your review sample:

CP1 - fantastic solid pen with a beautiful feel and elegant matt black looks, mines fitted with a 1.1mm italic..... lovely!

Pur - feels really different, because of the broader matt aluminium barrel, but also feel more... "precise" to write with, mines fitted with an excellent EF nib.

Logo - Highly underated design, imo, mine is a perfect workhorse pen, fitted with a juicy M nib and is really comfortable to use and surprisigly much more elegant when used posted! It has a much better "feel in the hand" than the brushed steel variant.

B2