Lamy Aion - Lamy’s New Nib

[@davidcostello7320]

One of my favorite pens. So comfortable and the minimalist design is timeless. The knock on the Aion has been the “spinning/rattling “ cap. Knowing that this is a feature of the pen so the cap cannot accidentally unscrew the main section rather than a flaw makes me appreciate and not be annoyed by the loose cap. I agree this is a very underrated and under appreciated pen.

[@ForTheLoveOfPens]

@@davidcostello7320 that is a great way to look at it

[@gabi.coroian]

Beautiful pen!!

[@ScarletCauldron]

Great review as always. I love the Aion. I have it in green, dark blue, and red. I find it so comfortable to write with! I usually swap the nib to the Z55 14k nib, which I find to be excellent and springy 😊 The nib costs more than the pen, but it is a joy to use them together.

[@ForTheLoveOfPens]

@@ScarletCauldron sounds like a great collection, I love the Z55 as well!

[@kevinu.k.7042]

A great review - very detailed. Thank you. The Aion nib, as in the video, has been around for a lot of years hasn't it? My experience of Lamy Z50 steel nibs is that they are very variable in their width and ink flow and many are scratchy. All easily fixed with a little bit of attention. I taught my self nib tuning using Z50 nibs because in those days their nibs were cheap. I worked through some twenty of them. Only one or two were not scratchy and all of them needed the tines opening up. The variation in nib breadth was very marked. Every Lamy All Star I have had dry out fairly quickly if left in the drawer. Such a shame, fitting a better seal would have been so easy, I imagine. Thanks for this review. Very well done and I liked hearing your thoughts. 👍 PS I seem to remember they got a designer in for this pen. Hence the new nib design.

[@ForTheLoveOfPens]

@@kevinu.k.7042 thank you! It’s a few years old but still their latest nib design. I’ve had good luck with the Z50s but I guess it ran out for this model. Very fixable but a little disappointing out of the box.

[@kevinu.k.7042]

@@ForTheLoveOfPens Thanks for coming back. Sorry, I wrote the post not having watched quite the whole review. I have since edited it. A very thorough and thoughtful review, as always. :)

[@kevinu.k.7042]

@@ForTheLoveOfPens Adding - Yes, it is very disappointing especially as it is an entry level pen. I was hoping to hear they had resolved this in your review. Sighs. Be well.

[@dillonbrown2739]

The Lamy Z53 nib in my experience has always been the consistent one. I could always trust a Z53 EF over a Z50 EF, as the quality control drops off for Lamy in the Finer sizes. I also think from a design standpoint the Aion is really big, so they needed to put a more substantial looking nib on it so the proportion looked correct. Personally I wish they shipped the Z53 as an option with other pens like the safari and cp1, as I think it's overall their better product outside of the gold nibs. I don't quite love the look of the Aion, but if someone has really large hands maybe the Aion makes more sense for them. It just seems... well... really bulky to me. Great video, never saw someone disassemble the converter before!

[@ForTheLoveOfPens]

@@dillonbrown2739 thank you! And thanks for the insight to your experience with the Z53. I have seen spare nibs available for sale, so I imagine if you wanted you could swap the Z53 into other models.

[@chi-towncalifornia5916]

I haven’t tried an Aion yet, but I’ve tried two Studios and a Safari in fine nibs, and I wasn’t happy with how they performed. Very scrapey and scratchy feeling. On the other hand, my Safari’s black PVD-coated EF nib writes like a dream, so I think it’s just Lamy being Lamy. My Al-Star’s M nib writes very well, with slight feedback. Side note, would you say 50 dollars is a good price to pay for a new Aion in black?

[@ForTheLoveOfPens]

@@chi-towncalifornia5916 Sorry to hear you had trouble with the Studio and Safari, I’ve found my Z50 Lamy pens write pretty consistently. But maybe I’ve been lucky…$50 is a good price for Aion. Most retails have them listed for $60-$70

[@elude3808]

New for you, right? Because the Lamy Aion with that nib released in 2017

[@ForTheLoveOfPens]

@@elude3808 new to me yes, but also their latest nib release

[@elude3808]

@ nice!

[@FountainPenScott]

Nice review of an under appreciated pen. For me, the Aion section is the most comfortable I have tried (with around 50 pens in my collection and up to about $800). I have one of each color and at least one of each nib size offered. I even replaced one of the nibs with a 14k EF. The cap is definitely the weak spot of this design, but worth it for me because of the comfortable section.

[@ForTheLoveOfPens]

@@FountainPenScott How do you like the other nibs? Do they have a lot of feedback and low ink flow? Sounds like a great collection, I really like this grip as well

[@santauxia]

Comparing it to the Studio, is it worth the extra money?

[@ForTheLoveOfPens]

@@santauxia personally I prefer my studio but I haven’t tried the other colors with the chrome plated grip sections.

[@paulmchugh1430]

Other than the clip, this peneooks similar to the Studio. Do you have that model?

[@ForTheLoveOfPens]

@@paulmchugh1430 I have the studio, personally I prefer that model with the exception of the clip

[@paulmchugh1430]

@ForTheLoveOfPens I just ordered a Studio from Amazon. It was only $3 more than the Aion!

[@ForTheLoveOfPens]

@ I hope you like it!

[@mischapotter]

What paper are you writing on? That Lamy fine looks really nice and fine (as you mentioned in the video)

[@ForTheLoveOfPens]

@@mischapotter thanks! Here I’m just using some fountain pen friendly copy paper.

[@mischapotter]

@ do you mind telling me what brand/model it is? I’ve been looking for some fountain pen friendly paper. I’ve heard that hp laserjet 32 lbs is good (if that’s the paper you’re using)

[@ForTheLoveOfPens]

@ I believe it’s this kind, but honestly it’s a bit hard to keep track. amzn.to/4g3y888

[@mischapotter]

@ thanks for the info!

[@lpanades]

Stamped production of cap and body, very nice.. The body is 'conical' for better extraction after stamping process. Very clever combination of pen design and production process. Would like to know if they unstress the metal after stamping of it is leave as it get of the stamping mold. If the pen writes fine why opening the channel to make the pen wetter is it has a mid point. It will just make the pen ink consuption higher and more prone to cause paper problems. On an Bold or double bold nib it would be desirable with shading inks. I see advantage of widening the channel if you use too much soft "absorvent" paper. This kind of old paper is not easy to find nowadays so it will have not much sense in general.

[@ForTheLoveOfPens]

The shape of the body and cap are most likely CNC’d from aluminum rods. Stamping to such a depth would be very challenging, requiring many intermediate stages. Regarding spreading the tines to increase ink flow, this is pretty common practice. Yes it would certainly cause you to use up ink quicker, but it also would prevent the nib from occasionally running dry (this is noticeable when crossing the T’s in my writing sample)

[@gowanfenley]

Surprised you made no mention of how the Aion feels when capping and uncapping the pen. Mine fees somewhat "crunchy" as the cap seal interacts with the lip on the end of the section. It is my least-liked attribute of the Aion. As far as the weight of my green version and the fact the cap spins freely when closed, I don't see these as problems. Nice job with the detailed comparisons with the Studio and Safari; folks will probably find that helpful.

[@ForTheLoveOfPens]

@@gowanfenley thank you! I haven’t found issues with the capping and uncapping process except that on occasion the front of the grip section gets caught on the cap liner. You may notice that happening a few times in this video. I considered mentioning it at the end, but also feel like it’s a bit of ‘user error’ for not having the pen and cap aligned.

[@Rgc571]

I find the section is very slippery.

[@ForTheLoveOfPens]

@@Rgc571 sorry to hear that