Lamy
Encyclopedia
- See Lamy (disambiguation)Lamy (disambiguation)Lamy is a German fountain pen brand and producer.Lamy may also refer to:* Lamy, New Mexico, United States* Fort Lamy, former name of N'Djamena, Chad* Lamy , catalogue of Peruvian stamp cancellations...
for other meanings
Lamy (icon) is a producer of fountain pen
Fountain pen
A fountain pen is a nib pen that, unlike its predecessor the dip pen, contains an internal reservoir of water-based liquid ink. The pen draws ink from the reservoir through a feed to the nib and deposits it on paper via a combination of gravity and capillary action...
s in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The company is German-owned and its presence is particularly strong there. Josef Lamy, who was a sales representative for The Parker Pen Company in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, founded the business in 1930 by purchasing the Orthos pen manufacturer. Lamy was a pioneer in the use of moulded synthetic plastics to make their product. Lamy was run by Josef Lamy's son, Manfred Lamy, until his retirement in 2006. He was succeeded by Bernhard M. Rösner.
Product range
Like other writing instrument companies, each Lamy product has a descriptive and artistic name that evokes an idea related to the product; "Scribble", for example, is their mechanical pencil, which can take 3.15 mm graphite refills, the relatively large diameter pencil refill is useful for sketching. The company refers to their products by prefixing "Lamy" in front of the descriptive name, such as "Lamy Scribble" (to avoid repetition, here only the descriptive name is used).Many designs in Lamy's product range have won numerous awards, and many designs such as the design of the 2000 and the Safari mentioned below, amongst others, have been implemented continuously since their inception—for example the 2000 fountain pen was originally released in 1966 and is still in production today, with a large number of product variants such as multisystem pens and mechanical pencils, all with the 2000 design.
Dialog 3
The Lamy dialog 3 is Lamy's first foray into the retractable-nib fountain pen market. The pen is very similar in design to the Pilot Vanishing Point, except that the retraction method is twist action instead of click. The pen went on sale in October 2009.Studio
Lamy produces a number of fountain pens, the most recent of which is the Studio, designed by Hannes Wettstein.The Studio is a cartridge/converter fill pen, featuring a distinctive clip. It is available in matte black steel, polished steel and palladium
Palladium
Palladium is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pd and an atomic number of 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself named after the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, acquired...
finishes. The steel Studio pens come with steel nibs and the palladium Studio comes with a gold nib. The Studio design has won the Good Design Award
Good Design Award
The is Japanese comprehensive design evaluation and commendation system, operated by Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization . The system has its origins in the “Good Design Selection System” instituted by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Japan in 1957.The award system...
and the iF Design award
International Forum Design
iF International Forum Design GmbH is a Hanover-based organization providing design-related services. International Forum Design was launched in 2001 as the operative business arm of design promotion company iF Industrie Forum Design Hannover e.V....
in 2005.
Safari
The Safari is a noted design by Wolfgang Fabianand Bernt Spiegel of the Entwicklungsgruppe Mannheim
which remains in production from 1980. Another cartridge/converter fill pen, its body is ABS plastic, with moulded triangular grip section, and comes in primary colours of red, yellow, and blue.. The Safari's design is visible in AL-star line, which features aluminium and other aluminium-tinted plating and a clear plastic section, in the Joy pens which permit 1.1, 1.5, and 1.9 mm calligraphic italic nibs, and in the Vista which has an entirely clear plastic body and cap (a demonstrator pen
Demonstrator pen
Demonstrator pens are pens which are partially or mostly transparent.Demonstrator pens were originally furnished by manufacturers to dealers, so that the features of their products could be shown to potential buyers. The first demonstrators had openings cut in their barrels, and usually, their caps...
).
2000
Lamy's flagship fountain pen is the 2000. Designed by Gerd Alfred Müller and released in 1966, it remains in production today. The 2000 was innovative in its day for its use of a special fiberglassFiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...
resin produced by Bayer
Bayer
Bayer AG is a chemical and pharmaceutical company founded in Barmen , Germany in 1863. It is headquartered in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and well known for its original brand of aspirin.-History:...
, Makrolon, for the body of the pen. It is the only Lamy fountain pen that is a piston fill pen, so thus only takes bottled ink. It has a non- flexible14 carat gold
Carat (purity)
The karat or carat is a unit of purity for gold alloys.- Measure :Karat purity is measured as 24 times the purity by mass:where...
nib, though it is plated with platinum
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...
, which achieves a uniform colour scheme to the pen. The pen's design demonstrates the Bauhaus
Bauhaus
', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
influence on Lamy pens, and that of "form follows function". The classic design continues to be popular forty years after being introduced. Notable author Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
wrote his book American Gods
American Gods
American Gods is a Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novel by Neil Gaiman. The novel is a blend of Americana, fantasy, and various strands of ancient and modern mythology, all centering on a mysterious and taciturn protagonist, Shadow. It is Gaiman's fourth prose novel, being preceded by Good Omens ,...
with his Lamy 2000, which he refers to as his "novel writing pen". In addition to normal production mechanical pencil
Mechanical pencil
A mechanical pencil or a propelling pencil is a pencil with a replaceable and mechanically extendable solid pigment core called a lead . It is designed such that the lead can be extended as its point is worn away...
, ballpoint and four-color ballpoint versions, a commemorative fountain pen version was produced for the millennial
Millennial
Millennial may refer to:* Millennium * Millennialism* The Millennial Generation...
called the Edition 2000, which features an inverse design of the original: a stainless steel body with Makrolon ring and polished clip.
abc
Lamy's abc beginner's fountain pen was designed by Bernt Speigel to be used by children while learning to write. The body is made from maple wood and includes a name sticker in the cap to assist in identifying each student's pen.Ballpoints
Lamy produce ballpoint pens in different form-factors, including as pocket telescoping pens, triangular and titanium.The pico is a pocket telescoping ballpoint pen designed by Franco Clivio. It comes in chrome, red, blue, and black finishes. Like some other Lamy pens, the pico features a small protrusion to stop the pen from rolling
. Lamy also produces a leather carrying case uniquely for this pen. The pen has also won a red dot award for product design
Several noted designers have produced pen designs for Lamy, such as Richard Sapper
Richard Sapper
Richard Sapper, born 1932 in Munich, is a German industrial designer based in Milan, Italy. He is considered one of the most iconic designers of his generation, his products typically featuring a combination of technical innovation, simplicity of form and an element of wit and surprise...
, designer of the ThinkPad
ThinkPad
ThinkPad is line of laptop computers originally sold by IBM but now produced by Lenovo. They are known for their boxy black design, which was modeled after a traditional Japanese lunchbox...
, who designed the dialog1, a triangular ballpoint, coated in titanium.
Some fountain pen designs are also available in ballpoint form, such as the Studio, Safari, and 2000, which is available in a Makrolon ballpoint design that remains faithful to the fountain pen design, but also comes in special African blackwood
African Blackwood
Dalbergia melanoxylon is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to seasonally dry regions of Africa from Senegal east to Eritrea and south to the Transvaal in South Africa....
and taxus
Taxus
Taxus is a genus of yews, small coniferous trees or shrubs in the yew family Taxaceae. They are relatively slow-growing and can be very long-lived, and reach heights of 1-40 m, with trunk diameters of up to 4 m...
editions. The 2000 also comes in a four colour variant.
Rollerballs
Other designs such as the Safari and Studio come in rollerball form too, though certain designs such as the Swift are uniquely rollerball pens. The distinguishing design feature of the Swift is the retractable clip. When the point is extended, the Swift's clip retracts to be flush with the body of the pen, which helps the pen sit in the hand more comfortably, and also serves as a preventative reminder not to reinsert the pen into one's pocket with the point extended, which may cause staining.. Lamy is also one of the few pen manufacturers to produce a cartridge rollerball, the Balloon. It takes the ink cartridges for the fountain pens, but has a rollerball mechanism, and has an elastic clip. This is one of Lamy's newest products.Multisystem pens
Lamy produces a number of multisystem pens, which combine a ballpoint and another feature within the one pen, such as the Pickup, which integrates a ballpoint and a highlighter into one body. The highlighter is released from the body of the pen by depressing a button on the body of the pen, and can be reinserted into the body of the pen. A reinvented version with aluminium body, and spring action clip has been released as the Pickup Pro in 2006. The Pickup was also designed by Wolfgang Fabian, and has won the red dot award for product design.Mechanical pencils
Lamy produces a wide range of mechanical pencils. Some of the other Lamy designs exist in mechanical pencil form, such as the 2000 and the Safari. The Scribble, also designed by Hannes Wettstein, is a large-bodied pencil with triangular shapings on the body to help the grip. It comes in 0.7 and 3.15 mm lead variants. To make the pencil more comfortable when sketching, the clip on the pencil is removable. The 0.7 mm pencil comes with an integrated eraser and needle which is used if the pencil becomes clogged with broken fine pieces of graphite.Ink
Lamy produces ink in bottles and cartridges. Lamy provide the widest range of colours in what it designates as T10 cartridges, with black, blue, blue-black, red, green, turquoise, and violet. Lamy ink bottles are provided in two forms, the slender T51 bottles providing ink in blue, black, red, and turquoise, while the T52 bottles are larger, and have a greater colour selection providing ink in blue, black, red, turquoise, and blue-black. The T52 bottles also provide a roll of blotter tape used to clean the pen after filling, or to blot writing. Both bottles are specially shaped with a wide neck and a basin to collect ink to aid filling when close to empty.The bottled blue-black is an iron gall based ink. It is a modern formulation that is safe for use in fountain pens; however, many fountain pen users suggest taking precautions to avoid problems that may arise from the ink's mild acidity. These include: flushing regularly to avoid corrosion and not allowing an inked pen to remain capped and unused for long periods of time to avoid clogging. However, it should be noted that pens with gold nibs are less prone to corrosion.
Earlier designs
Earlier Lamy designs includes the Lady and the Persona; "vintage" designs are varied but have numerical suffixes instead of descriptive names. The Lady was a design intended to appeal to women; the Lady is manufactured out of painted, hardened, porcelain and does not feature a clip as it was thought that women do not normally make use of the clip—a small protrusion prevents the pen from rolling on a flat surface. The Lady was designed by Wolfgang Fabian and Sharon Jodjaja was responsible for the barrel designs. The Persona was designed by Mario BelliniMario Bellini
Mario Bellini is a world renowned Italian architect and designer.He graduated from the Milan Polytechnic - Faculty of Architecture in 1959 and began working as an architect himself in the early 1960s...
. It features concentric ribs on the grip and parallel ribs down the barrel, a retractable clip that retracts flush with the cap, and a small protrusion again to stop the pen from rolling.
Business history
External references dealing with Lamy's business history commence in 1984, where Lamy's export share increased to 33 percent of turnover. In 1986, Lamy, Montblanc, and Parker held between them 70–80 percent of the West German market, and export markets then consisted of the US, JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. Lamy then had hoped to expand that export share to 50 percent of turnover, which stood at approximately 40 million Deutschmark
German mark
The Deutsche Mark |mark]], abbreviated "DM") was the official currency of West Germany and Germany until the adoption of the euro in 2002. It is commonly called the "Deutschmark" in English but not in German. Germans often say "Mark" or "D-Mark"...
(DM) for 1985. Turnover for Lamy increased to 48 million DM for 1987, then employing 350 people, increasing to 54 million DM in 1988 and a corresponding increase in staff to nearly 400.
In 1989, turnover increased to approximately 62 million DM, and Lamy had begun taking on employees as sleeping partners. The result was approximately one third of the then 400 workforce becoming sleeping partners. In that year, Lamy established contacts with East Germany and planned to do business there as well as in West Germany. 1991 held an increase in staff and turnover again, this time to 85 million DM and five hundred staff. Lamy invested in their "innovation workshop" in Heidelberg, in 1996, along with approximate expected turnover being 113 million DM. 1999 showed Lamy reporting stable turnover of approximately 120 million DM, though domestic demand has fallen.