Fountain Pen Review: Lamy Nexx

Here comes a first in the blog: a pink fountain pen!!! Cool, isn't it? But yes, I have a brand new pink Lamy Nexx fountain pen to review, a gift from the Philippines' Times Trading Company and Charlene Ngo. This pink version of the Nexx is among Lamy's new offerings for 2011.

I was very surprised when I a delivery person came to my office and handed me a small package because I was not expecting any. When I saw the Lamy bag, I was ecstatic! Inside are two Lamy boxes, the bigger box contained an unfamiliar looking pen with a metallic barrel and a bright pink plastic cap. The smaller box had a pink Lamy Logo ballpoint pen. Pink pens!!! A few minutes later, Google revealed that the unfamiliar pen is a Lamy Nexx fountain pen.

As an avid collector of Lamy's Safari line of pens, I am happy to receive the Nexx, and write my very first Lamy fountain pen review.

Lamy took extra care in presenting the Nexx in a neat, well-packaged offering. It comes in two boxes: an outer box and an inner box. The outer box, photo below, is made of silver-colored board paper, printed with the Lamy logo on the lower right part. Very simple, very elegant.

The inner box, below, is made of gray plastic that splits open when the two sides are pulled apart, as indicated by the arrows.

The top sides are pushed under the bottom part of the box, and a clear plastic pen clamp that holds the Lamy Nexx fountain pen in place. Again, cool, isn't it? This packaging is waaaaay better than gray paper boxes that my other Lamy pens came with.

The pink Nexx is the newest and youngest member of its line. It was initially offered in blue, red, and lime. It measures 5.5 inches while capped, and 5 inches uncapped.

Below shows the deconstructed Lamy Nexx. From top to bottom: plastic pink cap, aluminum barrel, Z24 converter, section, feed, and medium polished steel nib. I just love shooting these deconstructed pens.

The cap of Lamy Nexx is made of thick plastic, and this is what gives the pen its happy, youthful look. I want to get one with a red cap next time.

The Lamy logo is neatly etched on the lower part of the pen's clip.

A rounded rectangular hole is on the upper part of the clip. Below that, printed in the traditional Lamy gray is the Nexx logo.

An eye on top of the pen's clip makes it easier to attach the cap to a lanyard.

Many people in the whole fountainpendom compare the Nexx to the Safaris and Al-Stars, but I would like to point out that there are also a number of differences among them, and one is this pen's section grip. The Nexx has a smooth, soft, contoured, non-slip rubber grip on its section, as opposed to the plastic section of other pens.

The Nexx can be inked either with Lamy's T10 cartridges, or through a Z24 converter (see deconstructed pen photo above). The converter has two nipples on either side that fit snugly into the small grooves in the upper part of the section.

This is how the converter fits into the section. It fits perfectly so that the converter, while inserted, will not easily turn or be accidentally pulled out.

This pen uses the same feed as those on other Lamy pens (Safari, Vista, Al-Star, Joy, and maybe the Studio). It can be pulled out of the section using rubber grips and this helps a lot in cleaning out deep-seated ink. Putting it back can be tricky because there are grooves in the feed and inside the section that need to fit.

Here is the medium polished steel nib on my pen. Writes wet and smoothly.

Here's the nib again, on the feed. 

Like the Lamy Al-Star, the Nexx has an aluminum barrel with a unique design. The barrel starts round at the grip, where it meets with the pen's section...

...and gradually tapers off into a triangular shape towards the end. The aluminum barrel is extremely strong, but is surprisingly light in the hand. This ensures comfort even for prolonged periods of writing. My only fear for this pen's aluminum barrel is it vulnerability to scratches. Like many fountain pen owners, I don't like chicken feet scratches on my pens, whether on the barrel, the cap, or anywhere else.

Finally, here is the writing sample of this cool pen. You can click on the photo for a larger image. The first three paragraphs read as:

Here is something new for the year: a pink fountain pen! This is my cool, pink Lamy Nexx fountain pen, and this is my very first Lamy fountain pen review.

The pink Nexx is a cute and cool pen, and though it looked unfamiliar to me straight out of the box, it was love at first sight.

Similar to its cousins, the Safaris and Al-Stars, the Nexx has received a mixed set of comments. Some frown at it for its school pen/kiddie pen look, some find it a poor design mix of the Safari (plastic) and Al-Star (aluminum), others just think it is downright ugly.

The pink Lamy Nexx next to a large Quo Vadis Habana journal. The ink I used is J. Herbin Rouille d'Ancré. The 1.9 mm italic nib is from my Lamy Joy set.

The last paragraph reads as:

My pink Nexx is the newest and youngest member of its line of fountain pens from Lamy. It is available in four other cap colors and has a polished steel nib. It has a plastic cap, an aluminum barrel, and a soft rubber grip on its section. It can be inked through cartridges or a cnverter. But what I like the most about this pen is its nib. Because it shares the same nib with many other Lamy pens, I can easily change its medium nib with, say, a fine or a 1.9 mm italic nib. What is that called? Ugly? No. It's called versatility.

I wrote the word 'versatility' using a 1.5 mm italic nib from my Lamy Joy set because I wanted to show this pen's, well, versatility. It is now fitted with a 1.1 mm italic, an all-time favorite nib.

The pink Nexx is a wonderful addition to Lamy's expanding line of fountain pens. The Nexx line has been manufactured to replace the formerly popular Lamy Smile pen, and is intended to be a bridging pen between the ABC, a beginners' favorite, and the more sleek adults' favorite Safari pen. I have more than a dozen Lamy pens in my collection now, mostly Safaris, but would I get another Nexx? You bet, I will! I want one of each in red, blue, and lime!

Lamy Nexx pens are widely available in reputable pen sellers worldwide. For a global search of Lamy sellers worldwide, follow this link. In the Philippines, it will be available in stores around March.