PALLADIUM M GOLD PEN LO68PDM

I found myself liking the look of the Studio, but wanted a gold nib. Fortunately, Lamy obliges with the Palladium. The nib is a wonderful gold and platinum affair that, despite it’s utilitarian looks typical of Lamy, writes like a dream. But lets not get ahead of ourselves…

Looks; The Lamy is determinedly minimalist, with a few flairs. The clip (which Lamy waxes nauseatingly rhapsodic about – I mean, come on. It’s a POCKET CLIP, not Bridget Bardots bust line) is attractive and functional. The pen is a brushed palladium color and basically looks like it is made of aluminum. The only break in the overall starkness of the pen is the discreetly placed, black imprinted Lamy name. It’s beautiful to my eye, but may be too plain for some.

Taking the cap off and posting gives you a streamlined instrument. Still good looking.

Feel; The pen is heavy for it’s size. It’s definitely not some flimsy plastic toy. We’re talking metal here. The pen feel robust in the hand. The metal warms quickly to the touch which is nice. The metal grip section is smooth but offers adequate grip. A little flare would have been welcome but would have spoiled the lines. The pen tapers into the nib nicely.

Writing; I chose and extra fine nib, and I’m glad I did. Typically of Lamy, the EF nib writes more like a fine. I loaded it with Diamine Sapphire Blue (of course) and it lays down a rich wet line. The pen glides over paper with no tooth to speak of – a very smooth writer indeed. The pen is just slightly top heavy when posted, but not uncomfortably so. The pen is made to be posted. There is a slight lip on the end of the barrel for the cap to snap on to when posted, so there should be no posting marks on your lovely metal skin. But either posted or not, it’s a comfortable writer.

The pen comes with a nice converter, although I wish it were a piston filler like the 2000. That’s OK though. The pen is overall a very satisfying instrument and seems like it ought to last a lifetime.

Pros; Good streamlined looks. Marvelous nib. Good weight and balanced, posted or not.

Cons; Somewhat slick grip section. Yet another C/C filler. I think it would have been marvelous as a lever or piston fill.