Lamy 2000 Rollerball - Pen Review

I first want to thank my sweet wife for this one.  She isn't really "into pens" per se, but she is pretty understanding of the hobby (obsession) for the most part and sometimes even surprises me with a pen gift from time to time.  This may have been a pen that she was saving for Christmas, but out of the blue decided to spring it on me.  Let's just say I was very surprised. :)

Like most pen lovers, the Lamy 2000 usually ranks pretty high on your list of "pens to buy someday" because, let's face it, it is a classic and is considered by many to be one of the most iconic pen designs on the market (or ever).  I don't have the Holy Grail fountain pen version as of yet, but have the ballpoint and now the rollerball which will tide me over for a bit...

There are a lot of other reviews of the Lamy 2000 line in the pen blog world for you to read up about:

Lamy 2000 Fountain Pen -

Lamy 2000 Ballpoint -

Lamy 2000 Rollerball - continue reading...

Cool Lamy box...

The black/dark grey barreled "Makrolon" 2000 comes with a brushed finish that provides a bit of texture.  After doing some reading, the brushed finish has not always been a part of the 2000.  When the design was originally released over 50 years ago, the barrels were polished smooth which exposed more of the manufacturing scratches of the polycarbonate.  It being a "plastic" of sorts, the barrel is prone to scratches over time when posting the cap and through general use.  (To read more about Makrolon patented by Bayer, here is a link to their page)  

Being a composite material you would think the pen to be really light, but it carries a nice weight and feel.  I found that posting the cap while writing to be very comfortable.  The way Lamy designed the cap to stay on the barrel when the pen is closed is pretty cool.  There are "fingers" as some people call them that stick out just enough from the barrel to grab a ring from inside the cap.  

The fingers are actually a part of a spring tension ring that fits snugly inside the barrel.  Bravo on engineering for this one.  This means no threading in the grip section for your fingers to get caught on which is a feature many people love.  I don't find the fingers to be intrusive, but some might.

The tip of the pen is a brushed stainless steel which adds some nice weight to the front and is kind of cool to the touch when you start writing with it.  I love this design element of the pen as it adds a nice break in color and is such a striking contrast.  When gripping the pen to write it feels so solid and sturdy.  The pen just feels wonderfully made and is an experience to use.  

The clip, also stainless, is a modern monolithic style with sharp edges that taper out towards the top of the pen.  Against the dark barrel, it stands out so boldly and really is the most striking feature of the pen.  Sometimes the clip seems to be an afterthought in pen design or simply as a mere function, but with the 2000 it seemed to take center stage.  The clip needed to be as much a showcase as the pen itself.  It is a spring clip which provides some ease in pocketing.

This is a pen that you will find yourself admiring for its design elements as much as you will in writing.  If a pen does that, I'd say you often have a winner on your hands that you will enjoy for a long time.

One thing that astounds me in the 2000 line (including my ballpoint) are the break points in the barrel to insert the refill.  The break is integrated with the arc of the barrel shape and is so well concealed that you could easily miss it if you weren't looking for it.

Can you see it? (a little out of focus...)

I've shown these pens to some friends and each time I separate the barrel sections I get a "whoa".  Lamy very easily could have done as most pen manufacturers do by creating a threaded section between the grip and barrel to remove the refill from the tip but they did not.  The stainless steel grip section would be an ideal place to do so, but the break in the rollerball edition is actually in the end of the pen similar to where the piston mechanism is on the fountain pen version.  

If you are not quite into fountain pens (yet), but are still intrigued by the styling and design of the 2000, in my opinion the rollerball would be a great choice to add to your collection.  In looks, it is identical to the fountain pen less the nib and ink reservoir windows and would provide the Lamy 2000 "fix" you're looking for.  There isn't the fuss of a fountain pen, but you get the iconic looks to enjoy.

That being said, a recommendation I do have is to perhaps give the Lamy M63 rollerball refill a go if you can.  I personally enjoy the refill, but I've heard others give it a hit-and-miss review.  It lays down a nice dark line which is pretty broad.  I've not had a big issue with skipping or inconsistency but paper seems to make a difference.  The rollerball Safari takes the exact same refill and can be found for as cheap as $15 or $20 online.  With the 2000 rollerball normal retail price upwards of $120, this might be a good option to "try before you buy" as far as the refill is concerned.

Overall, this pen is a beauty and I enjoy having it.  I don't use it everyday, but when I do it definitely makes a statement (although not overly flashy) and is one I can't wait to get out of my pocket to write with.     

 

 

One Star Leather Goods - Leather Pen Sleeves - PART 1

My good friend Keegan over at One Star Leather Goods sent me a message a few weeks back that we was working on a simple pen sleeve to carry small pocket pens like the Kaweco Al Sport or the new craze going on with the Franklin-Christoph Model 40 (looks awesome).  He also decided to make an offering for a larger pen sleeve to fit your full sized pens.

Keegan was kind enough to send me one of each of these to put through their paces and I first wanted to post about my initial impressions BEFORE use.  Hence, Part 1 of the series.  There will be a Part 2 in the future once they've been shown some good use and breaking in.  These are very simple in design, but feel great and are extremely functional.  They were designed to be thrown in your pocket (with keys?!) or bag without worrying about scratching up your pens.

Larger Sleeve

Smaller Sleeve

First of all, the leather that Keegan from One Star uses on all his wares is excellent.  He didn't go cheap-o on the leather used for these sleeves and it is nice and thick.  His stitching is always so good and I know these will last for a very long time.

He sent me the Natural Chromexcel for the smaller one to match my Park Sloper Sr wallet/notebook holder and the larger one in a color he was excited about, Cognac.  Below is a shot I posted to Instagram of my small sleeve and Sloper Sr together holding a Kaweco AC Sport and Kaweco Liliput.  Breaking in nicely already!

Recent Instagram Post

My first impressions of these is really high and the quality is top notch.  For handmade leather goods, these are reasonably priced as well at only $25 for the smaller and $30 for the larger.  With the holidays coming up, I think small items like these would be a perfect stocking stuffer for the pen lover you know.

I'm excited to put these to good use and I'll make an update soon and discuss how they've worn, protected the pens, and what pens I've actually used them for.

Thanks, One Star Leather Goods!

Levenger Stealth L-Tech Fountain Pen - F Nib

About a month or so ago I received an email from Levenger asking if I'd be open to doing a review of one of their pens.  I had seen and been referred to Levenger products previously so I was excited about the idea and accepted.  Thank you Levenger for providing this sample for me to review.

I was given the choice of a couple of models, but decided upon the L-Tech Fountain Pen in the Stealth finish.  My love for this style of pen (metal with faceted barrel) added to my excitement to get my hands on it for review and I must admit that I've been pleased with it thus far.

The finish on this pen really is top notch.  The Stealth edition has a matte black barrel and cap, but a gloss black finish on the clip and ends of the pen.  Good show on this finish Levenger.  Usually with "stealth" type pens, everything is matte, but I really enjoy the contrast of the gloss against the matte.  It adds some visual "texture" so to speak to the pen.  The overall design has a very technical/engineering feel to it.

This pen is quite weighty coming in inked (with converter) at about 46 grams.  This isn't a "cheap feeling" weighty.  Coupled with the great finish, it adds a nice level of quality to the pen.  It is an all brass pen and feels solid and extremely sturdy in your hand and the barrel is about 1/2" in diameter.  The cap is threaded and has either triple or even quadruple threading which makes putting the cap on quick and easy.  One thing that is cool about the cap is that the threads, upon tightening, line up the facets of the barrel and cap pretty closely.  You can tighten it really tight which throws the alignment off a smidge, but an easy adjustment makes the pen look awesome just sitting on your desk or pad of paper.

From first glance you would think it was 6 sided, but the barrel actually has 7 sides meaning it is heptagonal.  New word of the day: heptagonal barreled pen.  This is an interesting choice.  One thing about it that is kind of nit picky on my part is that with an odd number of sides, the clip of the pen never sits parallel with your pad of paper if the pen is capped and at rest.  If laid on it's "back", the clip is always pointing in either the 2 o'clock or 11 o'clock position (depending on which side you set it on).  If you have tendencies to be OCD (as I sometimes do), this might bug you a bit.

Under the cap you'll find a knurled grip.  The knurling isn't very sharp so I wouldn't consider it to be extremely grippy.  Let's just say it looks grippier than it is, but I love the visual element it adds to the pen.  I'm pleased they went with this route rather than a smooth section as it pays homage to some earlier pen models (of which I am obsessed).

I requested an F nib on the pen and at first I was having trouble getting ink through it.  I initially tried inking it up by just popping in a cartridge, but wasn't getting ink to feed at all.  Even after a few good shakes, nothing.  I was starting to worry that the pen was going to have a problem (which technically this is).  After fussing with it for awhile, instead of trying to use the cartridge I decided to put in the converter.  I inked it up with the sample of Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-Peki that Mr. Ed Jelley sent me to try.  (Thanks Ed!  Now I have to buy a bottle...)  Once inked up through the converter, it was an entirely new experience.  I've been writing with it for days with rarely a skip or feed issue.  The line width on the F is nice and not too small.

**UPDATE - Upon further investigation I found that Levenger actually recommends "priming" the pen by slightly squeezing the cartridge once installed until ink starts to flow through the nib.  This likely would resolve the concern I initially had with the pen not writing.**

The cap posts nice and snug on the end, but adds too much length and weight for comfortable writing in my opinion.

The Design Inspiration:

Now, I have a thing for the rOtring brand; a lot.  There actually is a bit of history between Levenger and rOtring that I thought I'd share along with the review.  Back during the production of the rOtring 600, Levenger contracted to have some "Levenger" branded pens made.  I found this great image on fountainpennetwork.com posted by member FLJeepGuy of some branded 600s (I wish that I had this set!):

Eventually, either rOtring stopped making these for Levenger during the merger with Newell-Rubbermaid, at the discontinuation of the 600, or when Levenger decided to start making their own pens instead.  I'm not so sure of all the history, but would love to be educated further!

The L-Tech pays obvious homage to the rOtring line from whence it sprang which I think is awesome.  The rOtring brand is no longer making pens of this kind on their own and I'm glad someone is carrying the torch.  The fact that there is history between the two companies makes it even more comforting I suppose.  The L-Tech actually shares some of the design elements of both the 600 and Newton (first version) pens.  They maintained a knurled grip similar to the 600, but took the gloss black accents off of the Newton.  

The L-Tech is quite a bit larger than the 600 and Newton which some consider to be hefty pens, but I think Levenger did a good job on the sizing.  The pen is large, iconically striking, well made, and hefty in a good way.

At $80 I would say the L-Tech is a great choice.  The slow starting nib with the cartridge is a pretty strong concern (see update above), but the pen feels solid in your hand.  If you are a fan of vintage rOtrings then this pen is a great choice under the current pen market offerings to give you a similar experience.  Even without it's famous history, the L-Tech would hold its own as what I would consider to be a great pen.

Thanks again, Levenger, for the opportunity to review the L-Tech!