Lamy LX Palladium

I consider myself Lamy fan.

Sadly Lamy does everything they can to unmake me their fan.

Such is life.

Lamy 50th anniversary Lamy 2000 Amber was basically poor and outrageously overpriced addition to the line. I sort of collect Al-Stars so I can understand and forgive them for trying to milk this design as much as possible by introducing new colors and inks every year. That’s cool, I would do the same thing.

On the other hand Lamy built their brand on innovation and design novelties. I do realise innovations are expensive and good designers have high wages.Still I hope Lamy will surprise us all and introduce something fresh any time soon. I really do as my respect to the company has limits.

Lamy LX line is the best example of hardcore design milking. I’m not saying it’s ugly or anything like that. It’s good pen. However it’s also two times more expensive than Al-Star and it doesn’t give anything extra except for two metal screws, slightly modifies logo on the barrel and case I will have no use of. I realise that stationery market isn’t exactly thriving and every way to get some reasonable margin is worth trying. The thing is I expect more than cosmetics to justify doubling the price.

The selling points of the Lx (pronounced “Luxe” – shocking, I know) are upgraded anodized – barrel, clip, and finial as well as coated black steel nibs. There’s also a tube (made from anodized alluminium) that matches the color of the pen. I don;t like this pen and I’ll never use it. If you like it and carry one pen with you, it may turn out to be pretty useful though.

In the hand this pen feels totally like Al-Star. You won’t feel any difference. Sure, there are some visual differences but overall feel and performance didn’t change.

Differences between Lamy LX and Lamy Safari

Clip, both screws and case of the Lx are coloured the same as the body. The Lamy logo on the barrel of the Lx is polished and glossy while on the Al-Star, it is just an outline. Cap screws in LX are made of metal and not plastic.Cap screw and tail end are made of a shiny metal that color matches the pen. Nibs on both pens are made of stainless steel. Lamy LX nibs are coated black with a rose gold laser etching that outlines the slit and breather hole. This slit is longer than in the Al-Star. Al-Star nib doesn’t have a breather hole.

 

And thet’s pretty much all, folks. Translucent grey triangular grip section is the same as in Al-Star.

Nib

 

Fine nib I got in my LX is scratchy and dry. Usually I enjoy Lamy nibs but this one is pretty bad. It needs tuning to write properly. Happily the nib is swappable with other Lamy nibs and as I have way too many of them I use black Lamy broad nib that performs flawlessly.

Filling system

Lamy LX comes with an ink cartridge. So generous…If you want converter you have buy one. It’s not a secret that companies earn most on accessories so why would Lamy offer one in their new toy?

 Summary

If you like the colors and overall aesthetics of the pen and it’s enough to make you pay 56 $ for this pen, go ahead. It won’t dissapoint you. Especially if you fell in love with gold or rose gold finish that, so far, aren’t available in regular Al-Stars line.

My feelings? I’m disappointed. I simply expect more from Lamy but slowly I begin to loose hope.