Friday, February 4, 2011

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.

22 comments:

  1. I like this pen's pizazz. Another nice piece of industrial design. Thanks for show it!

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  2. Love the pink - and awesome photos!

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  3. The nib is the same for Safari?

    Thanks for share your review

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  4. @bleubug, @dowdyism: Thank you both for your comments!

    @Jorge L Blancarte M: Yes, it has the same nib as the Safaris, Al-Stars, Vista, and Joy. :)

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  5. Very nice looking pen but I bet it costs as much as the AL-Star. Too bad it's not available in the US. I like the fact that it comes with a converter (while the AL-Star doesn't) and the box is also very nice.

    However, I'd prefer a lower price and a cheap box than the other way around.

    My problem with LAMYs is that their nibs are very thick. That M nib looks like a Japanese B or BB. Compare that to my Pilot Prera M which I reviewed on my blog. I know about the differences between European and Japanese nib sizes but I still can't get over how thick these LAMYs write.

    On the other hand it's a good thing you can swap nibs and I'm planning to get a whole set of 1.1, 1.5 and 1.9 nibs for my AL-Star.

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  6. Lamy really did a nice job on presentation (and you on the detail in the review) for such an inexpensive pen. I've really been wanting to try one, but since I already own two safaris and two AL-Stars, I just couldn't justify . . . ah, what the heck, I think I'l head over to Jet Pens now!

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  7. @Peninkcillin: Perhaps a Fine or Extra Fine nib will work for you? I'm glad you're getting the calligraphy nib set. It's wonderful!

    @Note Booker, Esq: Go get one! Tell us how you find it.

    To both of you, thank you very much for reading my blog!

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  8. Archer, I do have an EF but it's still too thick. In fact I just posted a few minutes ago about my issues with the AL-Star.

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  9. @Peninkcillin: I'm sorry to know you had those issues with a Lamy nib. Firstly, I think you had a dry writing nib, which you used to write with highly saturated inks (Noodlers and Diamine are highly saturated inks). Here's a tip, though: you can pull out the feed from the section with the help of rubber grips, to soak it in water and remove any manufacturing residues (believe me, there are). I would have done the adjustments you did with the nib, and I will be happy with the results because I'm a medium-nib person. I can't write with fine nibs - my handwriting gets ugly. But you are not happy with the results now because you have a wet XF which probably writes like a Japanese medium already. Perhaps you can contact Jetpens and let them know about your predicament. Again, sorry to hear you had problems with the nib, I got more than 10 Lamy pens and all of them have excellent nibs.

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  10. Anonymous10:37 PM

    Love how it looks. Will have to try how it writes. :)

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  11. The feed tip is good. Until a couple of days ago I wasn't even aware that the feed could be removed, or I would have done it. Now though, the pen writes well, but thicker than my Pilot Prera M. I'm OK with that, I don't really care if the nib is EF or F or M as long as it lays down a nice wet line.

    After I finish the Diamine I'll try other inks with the converter to see if the nib really was the culprit. Oh and I also ordered the 1.1, 1.5 and 1.9 trio of nibs.

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  12. it's so pretty:D

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  13. Great post, and I use my lamy pens all the time.I've been buying Lamy fountain pens for a while now, and i'd have a hard time giving them up. I found great deals at boardroomproducts.com ,i've also included the link above.

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  14. Great pix! Thanks for the great review. I ended up at jetpens but got the M model with the metal clip. I have enjoyed every pen from Lamy that I have tried. Pretty much the same cost as a Safari with the same nib and feed but a whole new style. Sold!

    My 8yr old daughter will should love it since she has been borrowing my Safari more and more.

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  15. looks neat! and your handwriting! can easily be mistaken for a PC font. :)

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  16. @Raffy: It is! :)

    @Jamie: Lamy pens are great. I will always stand by their quality.

    @fogell: I hope your daughter likes it! I may get one in blue.

    @Faith: Thank you for your kind words and for visiting my blog.

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  17. Anonymous2:06 PM

    I tend to lose my pen lid. Can i put the lid on the back of the pen? Is the grip comfortable? Is it scatchy with the nib?
    Thanks

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  18. This blog is a great combination of suitable and useful information and well-written sentences that will certainly entice your sense and update you about new happening. Here I have found the information for which I was looking for long time.

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  19. Thanks for sharing such useful tips with us. I admire the valuable information you offer in your post. It helps me a lot to enhance my knowledge, I really like the way the writer presented his views.

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  20. You have beautiful penmanship! I just ordered the Lamy Nexx in PINK and I am sooooo excited! I have a few Safaris and I LOVE them but the Al Star I am afraid to damage at work so I will like the little loop for a lanyard so keep from losing. I like the medium nibs too as I have similar penmanship to yours but NOT nearly as pretty!! :)

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  21. I`ve seen the fountain pens of the Nexx series in a shop. I found them ugly at first, but somehow was curious how they would feel in the hand and write. So I grabbed several and tried one out. I liked how they felt in the hand and was very surprised to find a grip section made from silicone instead of ABS hard plastic like on the Safari. I then came across some Nexx M fountain pens that have a different cap than the Nexx. The clip on the cap is made from aluminium and makes them look a tad clumsier. Otherwise they are identical except for the price. The Nexx M costs a bit more than the Nexx. I found a Nexx M with an orange cap and bought it together with one of Lamy`s older black annodized xf nibs. At home I mounted the xf nib onto the fees and tried to write with it. It was surprisingly smooth for such a fine nib, but not smooth enough for me. So I carefully gave it a quick polish with the Dremel tool and a special polishing wheel that I use on nibs to make them write smooth as an old Montblanc one. The Lamy xf nib became that buttery smooth, too. The form-follows-function Design of the Lamy Nexx M has grown on me over time. It is a superb medium-wet writer which grip section makes it very comfortable to hold even for long writing sessions.

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