So Many Great Details - Lamy Aion Fountain Pen Review

[@pdexBigTeacher]

I got Aion's all over the place: Silver, black, red, and just ordered the deep blue. I really like Lamy's cursive italic. Very clean, and indeed writes wonderfully. Yeah, I reached for my black after at least a month, and it wrote great! You know Germans don't do fun! They do function! They ain't Benu! 😂

[@marctestarossa]

I mean they did come up with a completely new and fun design for the nib. It even has some curves. That's super fun.

[@HollywoodColt]

Lamy is what got me into fountain pens! And now I CAN'T STOP 😳😳😳

[@ilikepens]

I remember when we were getting all excited for you to reach 2000 subscribers. Now you’re over 10x that! Super happy for your success DB! Another great video!

[@Doodlebud]

Thanks buddy. This still makes no sense for me 😆I'm just some random guy who talks about pens on KZbin and for some reason people are interested in that 😂

[@ichirofakename]

That's one dowdy pen. All the other Lamy's are good-looking. Yay to Lamy for featuring non-threaded caps. Thanks for the show.

[@Doodlebud]

Hoping some laser zapping can make it spiffy

[@alessandrolorenzetto8397]

I got the racing sport green and I'm very happy with it. One of the few metal section pens I can use.

[@karlpmueller]

The Lamy Accent is threaded--uncaps in about half a turn, it's great. I bought the dark green Aion EF, that was also a finer nib than the regular Lamy EFs. Wanted something less fine for the Aion b/c it's biggish, so I swapped nibs my Studio, and I really like the look of the rounder nib in the Studio (more than on the Aion). You're right about the color thing.

[@archivist17]

The Heemskerck (named after a famous Dutch explorer and Admiral), and the Zeehaen were ships in Abel Tasman's antipodean expedition.

[@MrG0CE]

I LIKE THE LOOKING OF THE STUDIO AND THE 2K MORE.

[@davidsparling3505]

Agreed! I have the Studio in SS. Paid $55 brand new.

[@MrG0CE]

@@davidsparling3505 THAT'S A NICE DEAL ! I GOT THE ALL BLACK FOR $80.

[@haroldmarenger3435]

Thanks for another fun video. I liked the clip showing the production process. Always interesting to see how things are made! The Imporium has a threaded screw-on cap, and the Persona (no longer in production), has a threaded cap.

[@Doodlebud]

Yeah that video they did is fantastic! As yes the imporium, haven't had a chance to see that one yet

[@afongen]

Thanks for the review. As always, I appreciate attention to the little engineering details. You’ve inspired me to ink up my neglected Aion. I haven’t used it much because in the back of my head I remembered the grip section being just a trifle too big in my hand, but today that does not seem to be the case.

[@danlevene5478]

I have two, a silver green and blue, a f and a b. They are AWSOME! The complaints when it came out were to do wit a wobble of the cap - doesn’t bother me. Never dries, works first time every time, feels great in the hand …

[@kuaraba]

Its actually designed by a british designer named jasper morrison. He is one of the best and known for „simple“ or as he calls it „super normal“ design. I just love it

[@evayaaasantewaa448]

Looks good. I have the same aesthetic critique of the Faber Castell HEXO, and yet I love it. It's the writing for me.

[@MrAndrew1953]

I have one of these‘breadsticks’ with a Broad nib . Very smooth writer. Other colours green,blue,black,red.

[@geraldjahnke3998]

Hello Mr. Doodlebud! The Lamy accent has a screw-cap. Thank you for the wonderful video! Greetings from Germany, not too far away from Heidelberg.

[@XHobbiesPrime]

I have the red and blue Aions. Nice pens. I prefer them to my Studio. I wish they had like real endcaps and finials. But I really like them and I like their nibs. I bought a couple extra for my Scalas.

[@majajamie]

Great video! (the nib is a Z53, btw) I love my Aion -- it's comfy to hold, a nice length unposted, it has a nice feel to it and it's a reliable and smooth writer. As for its aesthetics- -- the Aion's designer (Jasper Morrison) is known for his minimalist, monochromatic designs, so there's little chance the pen would have a pattern or come in wild colours lol. (but I wouldn't mind an orange Aion 😁)

[@Doodlebud]

Even if they did some of "not too flashy" colors from the Lamy LX series, I think it would be great!

[@majajamie]

@@Doodlebud 💯 !

[@richardrhee57]

Thank you for detailed review:)

[@patriciomarcos1600]

I got one when they first came out and the only thing I don't like is the spinning barrel when capped. Also put a black nib to match the black pen.

[@davidholmes2858]

I bought my AIONs here in Spain when they first came out: olivesilver, royal blue, very sweet green and red. No black. I agree, they’re very good-to pens. The “deep-drawn” aluminum seems very sturdy. Largish pen, but weight just fine.

[@Rgc571]

I have the green one and often struggle with the shape of the section. But, I am learning to adapt. As you demonstrates it has a great nib. Thanks for the video.

[@Jason-pq5mq]

Waiting for this. Thank you for the review! Lamy is the last major manufacturer I’ve yet to try and metal grips are a no go. I waited because Lamy is one of the major manufacturers that doesn’t provide converters free in most pens. I have the Al-star and looking to upgrade but the nib selection is limited. I prefer broad as the “smallest” nib. The Lamy nibs are relatively inexpensive so purchasing a broad or stub replacement isn’t a problem. How do you feel about the Lamy gold nibs? Of course, they’re available on the Lamy 2000. However, buying a gold Lamy nib and replacing the Aion will save about $100.

[@sammiches6859]

I just bought my first decent fountain pen. I went with the green Lamy Aion EF with an extra "cursive" nib, Chou Kuro ink (to write my book with), Noodler's Manjiro sepia ink, Diamine Sherwood Green, and a sample of Herbin Perle Noir. All of that was a mere $217, and now I'm lost on finding a forest green ruled pocket book good for fountain pen ink. Leuchtturm1917 makes a great color, but it's like 5.5x8 inches. We'll see if I can make the Moleskin Classic work.

[@Doodlebud]

I just did a review on Muji paper and they have a forest green cover for their refillable notebooks. Here's the video kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5O8apavZbyBmqM

[@sammiches6859]

@@Doodlebud I deeply appreciate the recommendation, and I am impressed with those Muji products, but the green option they make in the pocket size seems to be a grid only and has just 24 pages. I was hoping to find something that could make for a good section of a handwritten novel that I can work on no matter where I am. I have a friend who would love the dotted book with the opening binding you featured though, so I appreciate that video.

[@captcrunch2580]

I recently found your channel and love your stuff. I swear you and AvE are the same person.

[@BO-kh1iz]

I love these pens. I have nicer, shinier and better ones but everytime I feel the urge to add another new pen to my collection I just grap one of my Aion´s to save me some money. I love the simple but classy design and for me they are very comfortable. They are not perfect and have some minor flaws but overall they are just great. Every year they introduce a new colour but I don´t think you can expect crazy colours from Lamy. The 2019 issue in red is cool. I don´t understand why Lamy doesn´t fix the issue with the wobbling cap though. A small strip of tape inside the cap solved it for me. If I can fix it that easily, I´m sure Lamy could do as well.

[@Doodlebud]

Probably wouldn't take much of an adjustment in the design of the cap liner to reduce the rotation in the cap. But they requires making new molds etc. A one-time cost that provides a permanent fix, but still a cost 🤔

[@petaks01]

Beautiful ink, I love to write with browns but have not found one like this. Will need to start searching for it and try to avoid customs and import taxes somehow.

[@ahalfkorean]

Great review! I have 3: silver, red, and green.

[@vasilis_k_97]

Lamy Persona from the 90's and the newer model ( Imperium ?) have a threaded cap

[@robsterTN]

So how would you rate this compared to the Lamy 2000? Is the latter worth the premium price or does the Aion deliver an equal experience at a much lower price?

[@beaconoflight3225]

Great question, I hope to see a reply. I have the 2000 and would need a compelling reason to add the Aion to my collection.

[@robsterTN]

@@beaconoflight3225I’m trying to justify the expense of a 2000, but would like something a bit more premium than my Vista and Al-Star.👍

[@schm4704]

I think the 2000 is pretty different from the Aion, since it's a piston filler, has a hooded gold nib and is made of Makrolon (or stainless steel). The 2000 is also a little more sleek, whereas the Aion feels much chunkier to me, particularly the section. The nibs on my 2000s are superbly smooth; with the regular Lamy nibs, it has been a lot more hit-ans-miss for me, The M ones are usually smooth, the F ones I usually tune a bit. With the Makrolon 2000, I am a little worried about durability. At a recent pen show, I saw a lot of cracked caps, which I assume is because of the cone shaped section and rear end, where you could easily jam the cap in too tightly.

[@RobertMaguire67]

Lamy 2000 is certainly a different feel in the hand and the nib has a sweet spot when writing or can be a bit sharp on the paper😢 . the Aion nib is more of a round tipped nib so more universally performing with a variety of writing positions in my humble opinion.😊

[@Opensidemorpheus]

I’ve got both and while the Aion is lovely, it doesn’t really compare. The clip came off my Aion, but biggest downside to the Aion as a steel nib cartridge/converter pen is the cap which swivels when on (not when posted, when capped). That may just be me!😂

[@JSGilbert]

A couple of years ago, I got a Lamy Studio and put an Aion medium nib in it. The two together are less than Aion, and in my opinion gives you the best of both worlds. Alternatively, the Aion nib (at around) $12US, can fit a bunch of other pen bodies, including some Jinhao and Wing Sung.

[@hooperdotdave]

I found the nib the only part of the Aion I don't like and swapped it for a normal lamy Z50. the Z53 is just far too stiff to be comfortable for me.

[@JSGilbert]

@@hooperdotdave I think it’s an okay nib. I tend to have a few pens I go to most of the time. I got a #8 titanium nib pen from Hinze at the SF Pen show and inked it up with this crazy sheening, shading Kiwi ink and I’ve been using that about 80% of the time. I probably haven’t touched any of my Lamy’s for over a year. But then again, I used to use my Visconti’s a lot and I probably haven’t used any of them for a year. And I plan on getting a monoc nib pen from Schodesgn next month and who knows… Too many pens and not enough time.

[@masonr1666]

I got my Aion about 2 years ago, and like it's form factor. It was around $80 (USD) when I got it. I took apart the converter to clean it, but didn't put it back together correctly. So, the pen has been sitting in my drawer ever since. I got an extra fine nib, my handwriting is quite small. However, with the TWSBI 580 around the same price point, or a bit cheaper, I received going with the TWSBI. Why? - as mentioned I had issues with Lamy's Converter - with TWSBI being a demonstrator you can see the ink level without having to take the pen apart. -the TWSBI is easy to replace/repair. Because Lamy has limited run colors, if you loose the pen, you are out of luck. The Lamy's nib excels in being a firmer, smooth nib. The TWSBI nibs I have received, I lover the smoothness of the nib, but the flow was a bit lacking in an Extra Fine, but that could have been the ink choice. Lamy Aion => classic pen. TWSBI => utilitarian pen.

[@markritchie7059]

Hey! Cool to see a positive review of a pen I know very little about; thanks:) Now, Re: Lamy snap caps vs screw-on caps: Lamy Imporium, a current model, has a screw-on cap. The imporium's predecessor, the Persona, no longer in production, has a screw-on cap. The Lamy Lady, no longer in production, has a screw-on cap. I have a couple of older Artus fountain pens, which became Lamy, with screw-on caps. Some Lamy 27 sub-models had a screw-on cap. I am thinking the Lamy Accent, a current model, has a screw-on cap. None of the "more popular" Lamy pens have a screw on cap. There are a bunch of other '50s, '60s, '70s Lamy models that I'd not be surprised to see a screw-on cap, but I'm much less familiar with them.

[@Doodlebud]

Thanks for the input on the previous Lamy models. The Imporium is pretty much the only Lamy I haven't tried out yet.

[@markritchie7059]

@@Doodlebud Ah - well the Z57 nib is quite something!

[@TheFribos]

There is the beautiful Persona that has threaded cap and i think some of their older pens too.

[@sajjadhusain4146]

I love the Aion a lot. I have the same silver one (F) and the gorgeous dark green (M). The pen somehow feels substantial in the hand without feeling overly weighty at all. The nib looks rather nice and writes splendidly. I do prefer the M over the F. The recurrent complaints about the freely rotating cap seem to me to be rather overdone. Unless one is compulsively paying around and rotating the cap, it’s a minor issue, really. There appears to be no problem with sealing - and the nib never seems to dry out and hard start. The only complaint I have is that the converters on both my pens don’t seem to sit perfectly on the section. I’ve had recurrent flow issues when using this pen with a converter. Switching to the Lamy cartridge instantly solved the problems. But I would prefer using the converter. The Aion’s design aesthetics are quite appealing and unostentatious. I much prefer the Aion over the almost same priced Studio. And the the Aion is still as overlooked and underrated as the Platinum Procyon. The Aion has competition at its price point, but I liked it enough to buy two of them.

[@mjl1958]

It's a Z53 nib. I have just bought one to switch over on my AL-Star and it is a much better writer now.

[@user-gl5ld9vm7i]

DB. How would you rate this compared to a Lamy Studio?

[@graceras2009]

Hello! Thank you for this! The triangular grip on the Safaris don’t work for me during long writing sessions but i like their nibs so am thinking this could be it! Just wanted to check a couple of things 1) Is the grip section potentially slippery? and 2) are the nibs same as the ones in the safaris? are they interchangeable?

[@999tinman]

I would have a hard time paying $100 for a typical plain Jane Lamy. There are other pens for that much, writes as well and is candy for the Eye.

[@BMT3691]

What’s going on with the lamy 2000. The nib and hood are different. Was it modified???

[@Doodlebud]

I ground the nib on my L2K. Here's the video on it kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4etY3uij8aenJY

[@pmccord9]

"Simplistic" and "simple" are different words because they mean different things. Other than that, I like your obsession with precision.

[@LawroraBorealisArtCh]

Sheen inks seem to depend heavily on the paper. I have some that give a little bit of sheen on some cheaper clairefontaine paper I have, but not on any of the other paper I have. Putting them in a wetter pen didn't really seem to help. I'll probably have to buy some Tomoe River if I really want to use them.

[@13noman1]

The Lamy Persona is a screw cap (or sorts, maybe 3/4 of a turn).

[@-----REDACTED-----]

The nib is the Z53

[@hexa-kun4654]

how does it feel compared to a safari/al star? is the grip bigger? i have small hands but my vista feels great for my hand

[@Doodlebud]

Its a very different grip to the safari type pens. Those are more narrow and of course have the slight triangular shape to them. This one is thicker and round

[@dm1523]

$100 seems a bit over priced to me.

[@hooperdotdave]

it's typically £59 in the UK but after a bit of hunting around I've got all my three (including the new one released this week) for about £40 each.

[@dm1523]

@@hooperdotdave That seems much more reasonable!

[@jasonmillar2953]

I picked mine up on a mad offer for about £25 which was a great bargain. But too often the launch price of these new pens is too high and so it rarely pays to buy these mass market releases early in the current market. £50 is about right.

[@vincentL.7]

​@@dm1523its 50€ in germany now

[@acdriisk]

What engineering degree do you have? I was just wondering because you always take such a great design approach and you sound like you know what you're talking about! Thank you so much for always producing such great content.

[@Doodlebud]

I studied coutwd hardware engineering but in my work most of my stuff was mechanical engineering. I made precision laser systems so it encompassed all the disciplines and required attention to the smallest of details when working at that level of precision

[@bluesplotch]

If you can get your hands on do a review of the lamy Ideos, I would like to know your thoughts on that interestingly shaped pen.

[@MrSanemon]

The Lamy accent is a Screw on cap, but in typical Lamy fashion it's not a normal one, the threads are after the section.

[@belphegor_dev]

How does the nib compare to the mkre standard Lamy steel nib?

[@sathishrao7926]

All Lamy pens will have many more takers if they’ll have ‘not so boring to look at’ variants !!

[@Doodlebud]

Yeah, they don't have to go crazy but some of their models need a little something extra to them

[@BO-kh1iz]

They are slaves to the Bauhaus design which attracts designers which are also slaves to the Bauhaus design, like Jesper Morrison in the case of the Aion. They will never get out of this hole I guess. Which is ok, could be much worse. You have to give them credit for not falling into Brutalism.... 😏

[@santauxia]

Gr8 review DB.

[@MaybachET22]

The plastic bit inside the barrel is there to help guide the cartridge - you can put the cartridge into the barrel, screw the section in and the cartridge is installed. It’s nicely visible in the Lamy Vista.

[@Lambrodor]

Great video! How does the girth of the grip section of the Aion compared to Lamy2000?

[@Doodlebud]

Grip section on the Aion is wider and less taper

[@SaeidKeshavarz-mc8yh]

Does the clip move left and right?

[@Doodlebud]

Mine doesn't, its stays put. Just opens like a normal clip does

[@adamleary3938]

How does the grip section compare to the studio? I find the studio grip section to be too slick/slippery. Is this about the same?

[@dickward1090]

did the gold bib come on the pen or added after the fact?

[@Doodlebud]

This pen doesnt have a gold nib, but you can put one one if you want. I just did a video about this last night so will be up soon

[@davidmcguigan5497]

With you until the barrel spun with the cap on and my peeve alarm sounded, peevo di tutti peevi. Otherwise it looks like a fine Lamy product. Thanks, DB!

[@ironmic9244]

Are you going to ionize like like you did the Ensso. Can you ionize and laser it?

[@Doodlebud]

This one is aluminum instead of titanium. I can anodize it but need more supplies and have to be able to remove some parts from the pen so they don;t get eaten away during the sulfuric acid bath. I can zap it with a laser thought and just might end up doing it

[@fountainpencollection8337]

I have a Lamy Aion fountain pen exactly the same color as the one you have with a m nib and I really like this pen, i honestly like natural colors or rather pens in the natural colors of the metals. Yes, the Lamy 2000, i have my eyes on one and for my birthday i want to give myself one, with a complete stainless steel body as a gift, but i don't really like the macrolon version, the only problem with the steel body Lamy 2000, would be the price which is around 350 euros, the nice part is that it is not necessary for me to pay all the money at once, i can pay over 4 months, so a maximum of about 85 euros per month.

[@Doodlebud]

I saw several questions of the Aion VS Studio VS L2K so I shot that video last night. I will be up once I get time to do the edit. Hope it helps folks out.

[@missk2876]

Hey Doodlebud, I have the same pen! And I have had it for a while - I love it, but my cap seems to have the tiniest clearance/ play and if you move the pen side to side you can feel a bit of a rattle. Have you noticed this on your Aion? (I have the green and the silver) quick side note: my ex fine nib needed a slight tine adjustment out of the box, the fine wrote smooth day 1. (I would buy the aion again, love this pen!)

[@BO-kh1iz]

They all have it, also the recently released deepdarkblue which I just bought. Apparenty they don´t see it as a problem or worth fixing. I fixed it with a tiny stripe of scotch tape within the cap. It´s a bit silly for an otherwise really great pen.

[@TheThrill007]

But the real question is Lamy Aion or Lamy Studio?

[@cynthiaalvarado8610]

I liked everything about the Aion except for how it fit my hand. Unfortunately , I had to let it go.

[@Doodlebud]

Sometimes that happens

[@gaurharighosh6042]

Price of lamy aion &availability centre

[@anrun]

A very German pen but, I believe, designed by an Englishman. Also, what exactly is "olive" about this color? I've never understood why they called it that.

[@oobie2142]

How do you think this compares to the studio?

[@schm4704]

It is much larger in the hand and feels less "dense". I don't have the weights on hand, but I have both and the Aion feels much lighter than the Studio, but that may be more about the density than the actual weight. Both have a little bit of wiggle in the closed caps, but that is much more pronounced in the Aion, at least the one I have.

The Lamy Accent has a threaded cap, unfortunately it's designed in such a way that it grips onto the pen section and after a while makes the section crack becoming unusable, it's a common problem in the accent model and in Mexico is cheaper to buy a new one than fixing that one, since you have to pay for the revision of a lousy design and after that accept the charges of transportation (back and forth, since their policy does not accept that you go to the Lamy office), and the cost of the review (even when you explain it) and the cost of the new section. I guess that this is the reason why they do not make any other threaded caps.

[@zeus52452]

My question to you is would it honestly be a Lamy if it was embellished the way you would like, and not somewhat of a minimalist design?? Nice review by the way.

[@livebyreason]

Question. Figboot noted some years ago that the cap rattles when capped. Has this been corrected? Perhaps the rattle is only present on some examples? I appreciated all responses!

[@davidsparling3505]

I paid approx $55 USD for a Lamy Studio in stainless steel…superb fountain pen against this. Thanks for review, however!

[@RayRangel]

I really like your reviews. They are very informative and I appreciate the engineering view point. However, I disagree with your assessment of the “plain-ness”. It is the epitome of Bauhous desi

[@Doodlebud]

It probably is the peak of Bauhous design. But it reminds me of a Bauhous chicken breast. Which would probably be: a skinless, soulest, seasonless, single chicken breast cooked in a non descript steamer. The steamer only has 1 button which when pressed, cooks the breast for the same time at the same temperature everytime. There is no chime when it's finished or digital display. Just a single click sound which is made my a mechanical balance calibrated to move at the precise moment the correct amount of water is evaporated. Impressive process, but it's kinda bland and even a little salt and pepper would make it taste better. 🤔🤣

[@RayRangel]

@@Doodlebud OMG, I splitting my sides reading your response. You sir, have the proverbial Gift of the Gab. Awesome!

[@rohan.chatterjee.m1000]

Lamy Imporium has screw on cap

[@petercoen]

Lamy Accent has a short turn not a snapcap

[@RobertMaguire67]

I do own one and rarely use it though, I feel it is a bit slippery.

[@siddhartham507]

Very costly, jinhao 35 I bought in 4 dollars. Looks similar almost. Also slimmer. Also jinhao's nib looks prettier like safari and logo engraved on it. Because wider nib from bottom.

[@Doodlebud]

The Jinhao 85 looks like this pen!? I hope you ordered a pair of glasses with along with your pen

[@siddhartham507]

@@Doodlebud m sorry it was jinhao 35 , edited