Review Of Lamy Aion

[RustyDarkMatter]

Greetings everyone, I ordinarily only do video reviews but I thought I would give a shot at writing out my feelings about my favorite pen.

 

I was able to purchase a Lamy Aion early because I live in Germany. I have owned my Lamy Aion since Mid August and it is my #1 choice for my EDC. I have broken down my major talking points that I have talked about my video (I will link at the bottom of my text review)

 

Looks (3/10): Overall the looks of the Lamy Aion are very boring. All one color (either black or olive...which is really like a metal color) except for the clip which is a shiny metal. Only subtly does the clip have a small Lamy logo on the side of it. Other than that there are no frills, lines, curves or anything to break up the minimalist looks of this pen. If it were anything that would make me reach for a different pen it would be the looks just because it doesn't inspire anything, it is simply the look of a tool that you are going to use.

 

Construction (10/10): The Aion is constructed of Aluminum. It feels solid in the hand. The aluminum has a brushed finish to it, but the "grooves" are fine enough where you won't feel it in your hands, but if you rub your fingernail from side to side you will be able to file down your nails with it. The body is very resistant to scratches and does not show any finger prints.

 

Cap (9/10): The cap also has the same brushed aluminum finish with no other flair or flashy things on it. This cap is a "pop-cap" and it is removed relatively easily and can easily be removed with one hand. Due to the abrasive nature of the body the cap cannot be "flicked" off with the thumb, but that is probably not the best practice to do anyway. One major flaw is when putting the cap back on; If the cap is not lined up perfectly the lip of the pen will make contact with a ridge inside the cap and completely prevent the pen from going inside the cap. Regardless of how much pressure you put on the misaligned pair neither will budge. While this is not a huge issue, it happens more often than I would care for (especially when trying to cap it while not looking).

 

Clip (10/10):As functional as a clip can get. there is a generous amount of space between the top of the clip and the body of the cap allowing for most clothing to slide underneath without extra effort or careful positioning. The other thing that makes this clip extra functional is there is extra material past the hinging point which allows you to position it between your finger when grabbing the cap to open the clip even further. This is very useful when putting the pen on a loose piece of clothing or on a lanyard or something similar.

 

Grip section (10/10): Both the most comfortable and functional grips that I've owned on a pen. It is fatter than some of my other pens which I really enjoy. I have found that too many pens go to too fine of a point in their grip sections which cramps my hands. I have found that the gradual taper of the Aion is exactly what I find most comfortable. In addition to the shape constructed slightly different than the rest of the body. Instead of it being brushed aluminum, the grip section is "rough" like sea-glass so it is less abrasive than the body and it is very comfortable to hold. It is also extremely grippy. As a daily work horse pen I cannot always control the environment that I use my pen in, sometimes it is hot and my fingers are sweaty or I might need to write something in the middle of me eating lunch. And in every situation even with greasy potato chip fingers I get a firm and confident grip with the Aion.

 

Nib (10/10): I know to some the standard Lamy steel nibs are a great and to some they are bad. To me I think the EF and the F are wonderful for daily writing. Yes, if you are looking for something with a lot of line variation during everyday writing these nibs will not suit your needs, but for a pen that is minimalist and just for function I think these nibs perform perfectly. My EF steel nib is smooth, with very little feed back, it has good flow and it never gives me any hard starts. Another thing about the nib that is great is that you can buy other nibs "cheaply" and swap them out in a matter of seconds, allowing this one pen to serve many functions as long as you don't mind having some inky fingers.

 

Price (9/10): I don't give this a perfect 10/10 not because I don't think the materials/R&D/construction are worth it, but rather it just seems that such a simple pen would likely be slightly cheaper. Or in a trade off have something more interesting about the pen, the pen retails for around USD $70 which is alittle steep especically when you consider it has the same nib as a USD $29 pen.

 

other things to note (not graded): one of the biggest disappointments about this pen is that Lamy did not make it include a self-filling system. When you unscrew the body of the pen the Converter looks so tiny, there is certainly enough room for them to work with to keep the same form and engineer a thin plastic sleeve(prevent it touching metal) with a plunger inside...so please please please if anybody from Lamy is reading this (unlikely, but I can still pray) make a Aion+ version that has an internal piston for greater ink capacity.

 

Conclusion (calculated 8.7/10 || Personal rating 9/10): After using this pen for a solid month, I can confidently say that this pen is my gold standard of what an everyday / work horse pen for rough and turbulent environents like work and school. It is reliable in everyway that you would want it to be. Honestly the only thing I change is add something that would break up mono-tone boring minimalist look. Even adding one fake "turning knob" on the base would add a nice chrome ring which might be nice. but in the end if performance, reliability, and durability is important to you than there really is no better option!

 

 

Link to my video so you can see the pen in action as well as see what i mean with the pen cap issue: https://youtu.be/NDqdK5Oal5E

 

 

[senzen]

Great, complete review. It's like after the super stylish Studio they made a 180 degree turn and went for a 100% utilitarian pen with a lot less style, although the section in the same colour as the body is a positive to my eyes. The nib looks tiny in comparison to the body. If I understand correctly, since there is space left in the barrel perhaps a new higher capacity converter would be a good selling point.

[LanceSaintPaul]

 

Nib (10/10): I know to some the standard Lamy steel nibs are a great and to some they are bad. To me I think the EF and the F are wonderful for daily writing. Yes, if you are looking for something with a lot of line variation during everyday writing these nibs will not suit your needs, but for a pen that is minimalist and just for function I think these nibs perform perfectly. My EF steel nib is smooth, with very little feed back, it has good flow and it never gives me any hard starts. Another thing about the nib that is great is that you can buy other nibs "cheaply" and swap them out in a matter of seconds, allowing this one pen to serve many functions as long as you don't mind having some inky fingers.

 

Price (9/10): I don't give this a perfect 10/10 not because I don't think the materials/R&D/construction are worth it, but rather it just seems that such a simple pen would likely be slightly cheaper. Or in a trade off have something more interesting about the pen, the pen retails for around USD $70 which is alittle steep especically when you consider it has the same nib as a USD $29 pen.

 

 

 

I'm not so sure about the nibs. Last week I read on someone's website (Goulet? can't remember for sure) that the nibs for these are not interchangeable with the standard LZ50 nibs and further Lamy MAY offer the Aion nibs for sale individually, as in May Not.

 

Do you have contradictory info or experience?

 

Thanks for the review. I keep wanting to not get this pen & get another 2K instead, but reviews such as yours are keeping this pen an option for me.

[RustyDarkMatter]

 

I'm not so sure about the nibs. Last week I read on someone's website (Goulet? can't remember for sure) that the nibs for these are not interchangeable with the standard LZ50 nibs and further Lamy MAY offer the Aion nibs for sale individually, as in May Not.

 

Do you have contradictory info or experience?

 

Thanks for the review. I keep wanting to not get this pen & get another 2K instead, but reviews such as yours are keeping this pen an option for me.

Yes, I purchased an EF nib for my Aion as seen in the video, but after the video i changed it to my black EF nib that i had purchased from goulet, it fits snug, no leaks for the last month and a half. the nib is slightly different but the area that it connects to the feed, (and the feed it self) are the same.

 

i made the change just for astetics i like the look of the black pen with the black nib.

Edited October 16, 2017 by RustyDarkMatter

[RustyDarkMatter]

Great, complete review. It's like after the super stylish Studio they made a 180 degree turn and went for a 100% utilitarian pen with a lot less style, although the section in the same colour as the body is a positive to my eyes. The nib looks tiny in comparison to the body. If I understand correctly, since there is space left in the barrel perhaps a new higher capacity converter would be a good selling point.

I wish i could put in a larger converter, however there is a plastic insert put in to the body of the pen which forms around a standard lamy converter, meaning a larger converter would not fit even though there logically "should be" space

[LanceSaintPaul]

Yes, I purchased an EF nib for my Aion as seen in the video, but after the video i changed it to my black EF nib that i had purchased from goulet, it fits snug, no leaks for the last month and a half. the nib is slightly different but the area that it connects to the feed, (and the feed it self) are the same.

 

i made the change just for astetics i like the look of the black pen with the black nib.

 

Good news. Yes, I too like the look of the black nibs.

[Fuellerfuehrerschein]

As an alternative for using a Lamy Z 27 (0,7 ml) converter I suggest (re)using Lamy T 10 (1.15 ml) ink cartridges. With the help of a syringe you can clean these cartridges and refill them with a bottled ink of your preference. Original Lamy T 10 cartridges are quite durable and can be refilled many times.

 

I prefer using a 50 ml syringe for cleaning/flushing and 1 or 2 ml ones for refilling ink. In Germany your local pharmacy probably sells syringes and needles.

[Venemo]

 

I'm not so sure about the nibs. Last week I read on someone's website (Goulet? can't remember for sure) that the nibs for these are not interchangeable with the standard LZ50 nibs and further Lamy MAY offer the Aion nibs for sale individually, as in May Not.

 

Do you have contradictory info or experience?

 

Several reviewers have already confirmed that the old Lamy nibs are indeed interchangeable with the Aion nib. The design is different of course, but they are compatible.

 

Nib (10/10): I know to some the standard Lamy steel nibs are a great and to some they are bad. To me I think the EF and the F are wonderful for daily writing. Yes, if you are looking for something with a lot of line variation during everyday writing these nibs will not suit your needs, but for a pen that is minimalist and just for function I think these nibs perform perfectly. My EF steel nib is smooth, with very little feed back, it has good flow and it never gives me any hard starts. Another thing about the nib that is great is that you can buy other nibs "cheaply" and swap them out in a matter of seconds, allowing this one pen to serve many functions as long as you don't mind having some inky fingers.

 

 

What do you think about the EF nib?

I have an Aion too which I ordered with an EF nib and I think it is not fine enough for me.

 

Btw, your youtube link points to a Carene review, not the Aion.

[s_t_e_v_e]

Jasper Morrison (born 1959) is an English product and furniture designer.

I mean no disrespect to the very accomplished designer but I'd rather put my money on a pen made by a pen designer/artisan who actually knows the ins and outs of a pen and it's actual purpose than on a pen that has primarily been made to add to the portfolio of the designer and charge more money. Feels like this pen has been designed for gullible people who don't know anything about fountain pens and would buy it for the label.

Nothing wrong with the concept but I don't think this pen is targeted at pen enthusiasts.

[hari317]

... Feels like this pen has been designed for gullible people who don't know anything about fountain pens and would buy it for the label.

Nothing wrong with the concept but I don't think this pen is targeted at pen enthusiasts.

Hi Steve, interesting comment, can you elaborate what puts you off about this pen?

[RustyDarkMatter]

 

Several reviewers have already confirmed that the old Lamy nibs are indeed interchangeable with the Aion nib. The design is different of course, but they are compatible.

 

 

What do you think about the EF nib?

I have an Aion too which I ordered with an EF nib and I think it is not fine enough for me.

 

Btw, your youtube link points to a Carene review, not the Aion.

I love the EF nib on the Aion, as well as the other Lamy EF nibs. I prefer a fine line with minimal feedback for taking notes because for the most part I need to just write and get the information on the page, but with fatter lines I need to make bigger letters to make sure it is readable as well as then I can fit less per page....but all of this is personal preference. I have a EF nib comparison video coming up where I compare TWSBI, Faber-Castell, and the Lamy EF nibs. a spoiler for that is the Lamy has the least amount of feedback but also has the fattest line of the three...not sure if that helps.

 

thank you for pointing out the link error, I don't know why that happened, it also appears that I cannot fix it...so the correct link is below

https://youtu.be/huTzvQ9Uzuo

 

 

 

 

Edited November 13, 2017 by RustyDarkMatter

[RustyDarkMatter]

I mean no disrespect to the very accomplished designer but I'd rather put my money on a pen made by a pen designer/artisan who actually knows the ins and outs of a pen and it's actual purpose than on a pen that has primarily been made to add to the portfolio of the designer and charge more money. Feels like this pen has been designed for gullible people who don't know anything about fountain pens and would buy it for the label.

Nothing wrong with the concept but I don't think this pen is targeted at pen enthusiasts.

I can agree it is not a pretty pen, but I would debate your use/definition of "enthusiast". I personally prefer to use a fountain pen rather than a ball point because I enjoy the feel of a nib on paper as well as having a pen I can refill indefinitely. I would say by that I am an "enthusiast" and I personally don't want to take a flashy pen to work. I want to write with it, I don't need to make a statement with a pen.

 

So there are different kinds of Fountain pen enthusiasts; ones who want and enjoy using them, and ones who like them as collectors items. People can be both kinds of enthusiasts, but one kind is no less enthusiastic about fountain pens than the other, just in a different way.

 

 

 

[s_t_e_v_e]

Hi Steve, interesting comment, can you elaborate what puts you off about this pen?

 

Hi Hari!! It's been a while! Honestly, the pen itself might just be good but the fact that they found it necessary to tie it to a furniture designer seems corny. They make it sound like it has something extra special because it has been designed by a popular designer, but this is probably the first time the guy has designed a pen.

 

Lamy already has some great designs like the 2000 and the Dialog 3. So my gripe is mainly with the marketing. I understand that many in the pen community like Lamy and I respect that. I'm only expressing my opinion about their marketing decisions with respect to this pen.

 

I can agree it is not a pretty pen, but I would debate your use/definition of "enthusiast". I personally prefer to use a fountain pen rather than a ball point because I enjoy the feel of a nib on paper as well as having a pen I can refill indefinitely. I would say by that I am an "enthusiast" and I personally don't want to take a flashy pen to work. I want to write with it, I don't need to make a statement with a pen.

 

So there are different kinds of Fountain pen enthusiasts; ones who want and enjoy using them, and ones who like them as collectors items. People can be both kinds of enthusiasts, but one kind is no less enthusiastic about fountain pens than the other, just in a different way.

 

 

 

 

The point I am trying to make is that Lamy found it necessary to append the designer's name possibly in order to appeal to people who don't really care much about writing instruments. I'm not really putting pen enthusiasts in a certain mold and I'm also not saying any one type you mentioned is less enthusiastic than the other. A pen enthusiast would mainly care about the pen itself and not necessarily the label attached to it. To an enthusiast, I think the Lamy brand speaks for itself. So a pen enthusiast, user or collector, would probably buy it for the Lamy name and quality and not for the designer's name. That is why I said Lamy's target market for this pen is people outside of the pen community who care about the designer more than the pen itself or for those who are familiar and interested in popular designer designed pens.

[RustyDarkMatter]

 

The point I am trying to make is that Lamy found it necessary to append the designer's name possibly in order to appeal to people who don't really care much about writing instruments.

 

I have not seen them add the name of the designer in any place in particular in their advertising. I have only seen 2 YouTube videos released by Lamy introducing the pen. On Lamy's website yes, the designer's name is on the page describing the pen but the name of every designer is on the page of every pen.

I would be interested to see some of the adverts that you are describing where Lamy unnecessarily displayed the designer's name, I just simply have not seen them. I saw the Lamy home page one day in August saying it would be released and got excited about the minimalistic design and picked one up next time I passed by my local pen shop, so I have not seen any advertisements.

 

[s_t_e_v_e]

https://www.lamy.com/microsites/aion/index_eng.html

[s_t_e_v_e]

https://www.lamy.com/microsites/aion/index_eng.html

 

 

I have not seen them add the name of the designer in any place in particular in their advertising. I have only seen 2 YouTube videos released by Lamy introducing the pen. On Lamy's website yes, the designer's name is on the page describing the pen but the name of every designer is on the page of every pen.

I would be interested to see some of the adverts that you are describing where Lamy unnecessarily displayed the designer's name, I just simply have not seen them. I saw the Lamy home page one day in August saying it would be released and got excited about the minimalistic design and picked one up next time I passed by my local pen shop, so I have not seen any advertisements.

 

 

https://www.lamy.com/microsites/aion/index_eng.html

 

Their facebook page has the designer's name in almost all posts related to this pen: https://www.facebook.com/LAMYInternational/

 

I don't see this detail for their other pens.

[RustyDarkMatter]

I guess i thought of their marketing for this pen more as an "industrial" "Modern" look which is why they were showing the design....never thought much of it. here are some screen caps of the Lamy.com website and each pen has their designer's name listed on the page of the pen, there also is a special page on the Lamy website for all of their designers.

 

Lamy Imporium

Lamy dialog

 

Lamy Designers page

 

i'm not trying to argue, i just never really thought much of it before, i suppose to me their marketing was trying to appeal to those who like "well machined" items because they were showing the CAD plans as well as the manufacturing to give it that kind of image.

[jchch1950]

Waiting for the pen in Thailand.

[IndigoBOB]

Thank you for the review. I am surprised how people say how comfortable it is and how it doesn't slip. I do want to try it out in the future, but would like to hear more feedback.

 

Reminds me a little of the Faber-Castell loom, which I couldn't hold long without cramping. Does the section add that much grip?

 

I am hesitant about convex shaped sections. I liked the Lamy 2000, but the convex shape and lack of anything else made it less comfortable for me. The Loom was similar and that was a chore for extended writing sessions for me.

 

It is a curious looking pen and surprisingly lovely as it is minimalist in its design. I don't know the designer, but maybe he really liked fountain pens lol. The reviews so far seem to say he knew what he was doing.

 

Still ridiculous they don't even include a converter, though. That's my gripe.

[s_t_e_v_e]

I guess i thought of their marketing for this pen more as an "industrial" "Modern" look which is why they were showing the design....never thought much of it. here are some screen caps of the Lamy.com website and each pen has their designer's name listed on the page of the pen, there also is a special page on the Lamy website for all of their designers.

 

Lamy Imporium

Lamy dialog

 

Lamy Designers page

 

i'm not trying to argue, i just never really thought much of it before, i suppose to me their marketing was trying to appeal to those who like "well machined" items because they were showing the CAD plans as well as the manufacturing to give it that kind of image.

 

 

Maybe you're right, I missed that page and got carried away with only the Aion's marketing material. Lamy has been doing this all along, it seems to have come strongly for the Aion due to the recent posts on facebook.

 

All this chat about Lamy's marketing and going over their website and facebook page has brought me dangerously close to getting a Lamy 2000, which I never thought I