A Holiday Pen Gift Candidate: LAMY Ballpoints

It has been quite a common practice for a pen to be wrapped and gave away as a lovely holiday gift, even years after the burst of phablet and ultrabook. Besides the large executive-look rollerballs and exquisite (also expensive) fountain pens, there is an actually a sweet point offered by LAMY: its vast ballpoints collection. In this post, I would walk you through some of my favorite LAMY ballpoints, and most importantly, how does each of them SOUND!

To start, let me justify why ballpoints could be considered as a great gift. Though the Bic pens have given ballpoints almost an utility-like impression, everywhere, every day, there still would be a Wow moment once you try something with better-formulated ink in its refill—think about all the applause for Uniball Jetstream or Schmidt Easyflow. For these ballpoints that gave it a second thought about dealing with the typical ballpoint problems of smudging and skipping, you need to give them a second chance, too. It would certainly blow your gift receiver’s mind away for how good a ballpoint could be, while not forcing him or her to switch the writing habits.

As for LAMY’s ballpoint, they certainly deliver such an experience. Early day reviews rated the performance of LAMY refills much lower than the Jetstream, and decried for their proprietary refill standards. However, I found these less to be problematic. All my LAMY ballpoints’ refill writes effortless and smudge-free, with a consistent, non-stop line. For some reviewers, after trying newer stock or a newly launched model, their previous complaints dissipated. Mind you that those complaints are years old, so, your chance of getting a good one with newer production date and better ink formula is high. Also, for their proprietary refill standards, used by the M 16 or M 22, isn’t it a good thing that your recipient won’t get the inner of your hand-picked pen wrong at any time? These refills are easy to access at any big box stationery stores such as Staples. However, I guess that it would never run out thanks to the massive volume of the M 16, whose capacity is approx. 4,500 to 8,000 m of lines.

The last benefit is the fact that each LAMY ballpoint comes with a design in mind, sometimes even an acoustic one.

1, The noto

Designed by Naoto Fukasawa, whose clients include MUJI, Mobike, this LAMY noto was saved by me in the dustbin of my workstation when I was working for my ex-employer for the first day. The triangular barely and low-profile finish set it aside from other lousy and nasty trash, ironically. With some cleaning and a new M 16 refill, it has been served me for years. It has an ergonomically shaped barrel, a low-profile branding, and a click sound hard to notice during a work meeting.

Figure out the LAMY noto

 

2, The logo

Made out of shiny white and matte black plastic, the LAMY logo was an add-on item during an auction. The matte plastic push mechanism is integrated with the plastic clip, setting aside a black LAMY logo (actually). The glossy white barrel is seamless, sturdy and grippy. These two elements combined, it looks like a stormtrooper. But you must click the play button below to feel the force within its stealth look:

Feel the force of the LAMY logo

 

3, The 2000

Fountain pen community has been nuts about the Makrolon material along with the ageless design from a LAMY 2000 fountain pen. For its ballpoint variant, things are also promising. Enough words have been written about this one, so I will skip the arguments and give out my verdict: the only drawback for this pen when compared with its fountain pen cousin is that it doesn’t feature a semi-hooded…point?

This one has been on my wishlist for years, but for its hefty price tag when compared with other LAMY ballpoints I have, I did wait a long time. If someone gives it out as a gift, this thing would be a bombshell.

Listen to the confident LAMY 2000

 

4, The econ

I like this pen for its name: econ(omy), and I bought it economically, too, in the black Friday weekend, it was priced as low as $28.
I was shocked by the material quality of this mid-range one. The matte white finish has a skin-alike texture and has been evenly applied, even around the edges of its three slots, which were stamped out for the improved gripping. But that’s not enough, to better balance the long, metal body, a heavy block of chromed stainless steel was inserted and served as the end tip. These design tricks overall contribute to a weight that feels valuable (always in the case of gift pen) and fit the ballpoint character (more pressure).

Hitting a block of metal: the LAMY econ

 

5, The pico

Finally, the superstar in my ballpoints collection! I am buying this neon pink one to send out as a gift, while still deeply enamored by how LAMY could innovate the idea of a retractable pocket pen like this. Watch this video from PenChalet demonstrating the magic of its expandable click button.

 Besides its hot, glowing neon pink lacquer, my highlights of its design are the crispy flutes that the company has cut over the expandable part of the barrel, which rests this tiny pen on the edge of your palm.

As for the sound, the pico sounds a little bit wired, mostly because the majority of the music is given by the sliding of the flutes. But guess what, that’s a perfect point of novelty for a gift!

When a pico stands up

 

 

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PS:
Here is the sound of clicking a semi-plastic Parker Jotter, just for a reference.

 

Related Reading Lists:

[Most Improved: Lamy 2000 Ballpoint (Makrolon) | From the Pen Cup](https://fromthepencup.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/most-improved-lamy-2000-ballpoint-makrolon/)

[Lamy Pico Laser Orange Pocket Ballpoint Pen Review — The Pen Addict](https://www.penaddict.com/blog/2016/6/29/lamy-pico-laser-orange-pocket-ballpoint-pen-review)

[Lamy Econ Ballpoint – Pen Review — The Clicky Post](http://clickypost.com/blog/2013/9/30/lamy-econ-ballpoint-pen-review)

[Lamy 2000 Ballpoint Review — The Penman Post](http://www.penmanpost.com/blog/2016/8/8/lamy-2000-ballpoint-review)

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