Fountain Pens, Paper, and Ink
In this video I review the Lamy Hardcover Notebook in the A5 size. This notebook has excellent quality fountain pen friendly paper and a unique Lamy rule.
Lamy A5 Hardcover Notebook – https://amzn.to/3eeqqrR
This video is NOT sponsored.
Some product links are affiliate links which mean if you buy something I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.
———Cameras and Gear Used To Shoot This Video ——-
This is a review of the Lamy CP1 Fountain Pen. The CP1 is a slim fountain pen with a modern design. It is one of the best fountain pens for the office and one of my favorite fountain pens under $100.
Lamy CP1 https://amzn.to/2Nweaby
This video is NOT sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links which mean if you buy something I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Connect with Blake’s Broadcast on Social Media:
https://twitter.com/BlakesBroadcast https://www.instagram.com/blakesbroadcast/
———Cameras and Gear Used To Shoot Blake’s Broadcast ——-
https://kit.co/BlakesBroadcast/blake-s-broadcast-video-kit
If you read this blog regularly you will know that this pen is not my typical cup of tea but as I was traversing the Warsaw airport I couldn’t help but see sale signs on a large Montblanc display. The only pen that caught my eye was the Montblanc Meisterstück Solitaire Platinum-Plated Facet 146 (or LeGrand as they now call it). I was curious to know how much it was and after seeing the price I decided to go for it.
This pen is the typical Meisterstück design but in a faceted platinum plated stainless steel body instead of the usual “precious” resin. It really is quite a stunning pen to behold and has much more of a presence than its resin sister.
The facets create a tiled pattern. You will notice that the face of the tiles are a mirrored platinum finish while the edges are brushed; this is a particularly nice touch and a testament to the craftsmanship put into this pen.
This 146 came with a medium nib which was too fat for my tastes but Montblanc has a free nib exchange program than can be utilized within six months of purchase. At the Montblanc boutique in Berlin I was able to try their tester set and found that the OB nib offered the most line variation and the next morning I picked up my pen with the OB installed. That is exceptional service.
The 146 is a full size pen fitted with an 18kt gold nib, a piston filling mechanism and a striped ink view window. The standard resin 146 has a 14kt gold nib and when compared with the 18kt version I could not tell the difference.
The nib is noticeably soft and is a very nice to use. The ink flow is on the drier side but the smooth nib conceals this quite well. I have found that lubricating inks work best with this pen.
As is obvious in all of my pictures, this pen is a fingerprint magnet. If you cannot handle finger prints and patina this 146 is a not a good choice.
This pen retails for around $1,300 and even at over 50% off I don’t feel as though the price was a home run. It’s very well made and nice to look at but to me it is not as special as say a hand turned Japanese pen or a pen made of beautiful Italian celluloid (all of which can be hand for a similar price). If you want a flashy pen with the Montblanc brand cachet then this could make sense but otherwise at anywhere near retail I say forget it.
I have always been a fan of turquoise ink, it’s a fun and playful ink color that I enjoy using. Lamy Turquoise is a true turquoise that’s not too green and not too blue.
My go to turquoise has been Diamine Turquoise but this Lamy ink looks near as nice and behaves much better. No significant issues with bleeding and feathering as I experience with the Diamine. I find that the Lamy Turquoise has an average flow and saturation with good shading. Overall it’s a very well behaved ink that has become my new favorite Turquoise.
The Lamy ink bottle is very well designed. The glass vessel is shaped like a top and the plastic base is a ink blotting paper for cleaning your pen after filling.
Please note: this product was provided to me at no charge by JetPens for review purposes.
Here are some great reviews of Lamy Turquoise Ink:
(I have no affiliation with the sites linked below)
Ink of Me Fondly – Lamy Turquoise Bottle Ink
Lamy’s Dialog line features high end pens designed by prominent industrial designers. The Dialog 1 was designed by Richard Sapper, most famous for the Tizio Lamp by Artemide and the original IBM Thinkpad. The Dialog 1 features a metal triangular shaped body with a matte titanium finish. The pen weighs about 24 grams, which is pretty lightweight for a metal pen. The triangular shape of the body is comfortable to use. The bottom side of the pen is lightly rounded and has two little plastic feet to steady the pen on a flat surface. The Dialog 1 uses a push click mechanism and has a spring-loaded metal clip. Underneath the clip is the Lamy logo etched into the body.
The Dialog 1 only takes propriety Lamy M16 refills that come in black, blue, red with a fine, medium, or broad tip. They write well for a standard ballpoint and last a very long time. The ink is archival and states “for documents ISO 12757-2 HM DOC” on the body of the refill. The sample above is written with a red fine tip M16 refill. To change a refill you have to use the non-writing end of an M16 refill to poke the small dot on the black plastic portion near the tip of the pen; this releases the front section of the pen so that you may load the new refill. It is an interesting way to change a refill but necessary to keep the lines of the pen ultra clean. Also worth noting is that the matte titanium finish does attract fingerprints; I usually don’t like metal pens for this reason but the matte finish makes it more bearable.
The Dialog 1 retails for $130, that is a pretty big investment for a pen that uses a $5 refill. I bought the Dialog 1 because I love the beautiful utilitarian design and wanted a nice pen to travel with. The Dialog 1 is a real conversation starter without being flashy or over the top; I highly recommend it.