Lamy has a new owner

[Opolar]

I just found out that Lamy has been bought by the Mitsubishi Pencil Company.
It will be interesting to see how this will progress in the future? For those who fear there will be changes on the Lamy products now is your chance to buy some Lamy pens and inks just in case of any possible future changes.

 

[Vikram]

reddit has gone crazy on this news.

My thoughts:

Consolidation in the stationary industry is required, especially with premium brands. In the west, most of the millennials and just about 90% of Gen Zs in white collar jobs don’t use pen and paper. And unfortunately in the rest, you would be lucky to find majority of the population having electricity let alone have white collar jobs. I don’t understand how Kaweco or many of the Italian brands are still operating.

Unlike Pelikan, Pilot and Platinum, Staedlier and Faber-Castell; Lamy does not have product offerings for the office stationary market. Their market is rather small and I doubt the margins are high enough to make sustainable profit on safari and AL-star. While Montblanc, Cartier and Dunhill are owned by Richmont Group (they also own some amazing watch brands as well). These luxary brands are well known to most civilians maybe not Dunhill. Parker and Waterman are owned by the same company.

Only fountain pen enthusiasts are willing to pay over $50 on a Lamy.

Mitsubishi has an amazing opportunity to make Lamy their luxury brand to compete with Montblanc, since Lamy produce every thing in their supply chain from the nib to rubbers. Having said that they don’t produce 18k gold nibs. Mitsubishi themselves produce some the best pencils for drawing as well as their fineliners among artists. So I have no concerns on any changes on the quality (Japanese quality + German quality, don’t know if such a group exists.)

Sailor, Waterman, Platinum and Aurora IMHO are up for grabs by Pental, LVMH and/or Kering if they want to get into the luxary pen market. Of course I will loose any respect for any those brands the moment they are bought by LVMH.

So agreed buy or stock up because most likely Lamy’s prices are going to go up.

 

[Doc Dan]

I really don't like Lamy pens. I hate the way they write so much that liking a design isn't enough to make me want to buy one. In my mind I have to ask why people buy a pen they know isn't going to be right from the factory. The nibs almost always need tuning and that is an extra expense. Duh! This new ownership might change that. We will have to see.

 

[silverlifter]

The nibs almost always need tuning and that is an extra expense.

Really? What's your sample size? Over the last two decades, I have probably bought a dozen of the cheaper ones (Safaris) new--either pens or replacement nibs, and three of the 2000s, and none have needed any work more than a clean*. My experience with the brand is that their nibs are just as good as the Japanese out of the gate. Kawecos, on the other hand...

* And every new mass produced pen, wherever it is from, can require cleaning to remove dust and particules from the line.

 

[Doc Dan]

Really? What's your sample size? Over the last two decades, I have probably bought a dozen of the cheaper ones (Safaris) new--either pens or replacement nibs, and three of the 2000s, and none have needed any work more than a clean*. My experience with the brand is that their nibs are just as good as the Japanese out of the gate. Kawecos, on the other hand...

* And every new mass produced pen, wherever it is from, can require cleaning to remove dust and particules from the line.

Admittedly, my sample size is only 4 or 5 scattered across a couple of years. I just finished cleaning a Safari for a friend. It never wrote well when new. Now, it is just awful. It is like writing with a stick. I think the nib and feed are both not good on it.

I love the design and have been repeatedly disappointed in the pens. Some get them and don't mind having to tweak them. Some get them and are happy the way they are. So far, Lamy is a no-go, sadly. I really want to like this brand.

 

[silverlifter]

It is like writing with a stick. I think the nib and feed are both not good on it.

The most common problem with mass produced pens is dust or oil in the nib and feed off the line. A good soak in warm soapy water, or water with a drop of ammonia in it, followed by repeated flushing with plain water is enough to get them going nicely.

Sometimes there is too much of a gap between nib and feed because it hasn't been seated correctly. That's an easy fix as well; water slightly off the boil.

Occassionally, the nib will be over polished and that will need more corrective action. You can test for that by tapping the nib on the paper repeatedly and seeing if it leaves consistent dots.

Finally, inspect the nib with a loupe and make sure the tines are aligned; the nib will be scratchy (especially on diagonal up strokes) or just write too dry if jammed up.

Good luck. Most nib issues are an easy fix, and as a straight razor shaver I know you'll enjoy tinkering...

 

[Opolar]

reddit has gone crazy on this news.

My thoughts:

Consolidation in the stationary industry is required, especially with premium brands. In the west, most of the millennials and just about 90% of Gen Zs in white collar jobs don’t use pen and paper. And unfortunately in the rest, you would be lucky to find majority of the population having electricity let alone have white collar jobs. I don’t understand how Kaweco or many of the Italian brands are still operating.

Unlike Pelikan, Pilot and Platinum, Staedlier and Faber-Castell; Lamy does not have product offerings for the office stationary market. Their market is rather small and I doubt the margins are high enough to make sustainable profit on safari and AL-star. While Montblanc, Cartier and Dunhill are owned by Richmont Group (they also own some amazing watch brands as well). These luxary brands are well known to most civilians maybe not Dunhill. Parker and Waterman are owned by the same company.

Only fountain pen enthusiasts are willing to pay over $50 on a Lamy.

Mitsubishi has an amazing opportunity to make Lamy their luxury brand to compete with Montblanc, since Lamy produce every thing in their supply chain from the nib to rubbers. Having said that they don’t produce 18k gold nibs. Mitsubishi themselves produce some the best pencils for drawing as well as their fineliners among artists. So I have no concerns on any changes on the quality (Japanese quality + German quality, don’t know if such a group exists.)

Sailor, Waterman, Platinum and Aurora IMHO are up for grabs by Pental, LVMH and/or Kering if they want to get into the luxary pen market. Of course I will loose any respect for any those brands the moment they are bought by LVMH.

So agreed buy or stock up because most likely Lamy’s prices are going to go up.

Well thought out writing. It is like wrist watches these days in that they rely on their smart phones for the time. Many people don`t wear watches just like many people don`t carry a writing instrument or paper any more.

 

[Doc Dan]

The most common problem with mass produced pens is dust or oil in the nib and feed off the line. A good soak in warm soapy water, or water with a drop of ammonia in it, followed by repeated flushing with plain water is enough to get them going nicely.

Sometimes there is too much of a gap between nib and feed because it hasn't been seated correctly. That's an easy fix as well; water slightly off the boil.

Occassionally, the nib will be over polished and that will need more corrective action. You can test for that by tapping the nib on the paper repeatedly and seeing if it leaves consistent dots.

Finally, inspect the nib with a loupe and make sure the tines are aligned; the nib will be scratchy (especially on diagonal up strokes) or just write too dry if jammed up.

Good luck. Most nib issues are an easy fix, and as a straight razor shaver I know you'll enjoy tinkering...

I have cleaned and cleaned. Looking at the loop, I think the tines are too close.

 

[nemo]

I just finished cleaning a Safari for a friend. It never wrote well when new. Now, it is just awful. It is like writing with a stick. I think the nib and feed are both not good on it.

What brand of ink was your friend using?
Pilot and Lamy feeds were being ruined by a certain brand of bulletproof ink a few years ago.

 

[Doc Dan]

I don't know. It was some water based blue ink that cleaned out quickly. I put some Diamine in it that normally writes wet, but it was difficult to get that pen to write well...it never did, but it is better. Maybe I am spoiled by what I consider to write well. I left the pen in my pen vase standing on the cap. By tomorrow, if it doesn't improve much, I will put it in the cleaning contraption that I bought and see if that helps. If not, I will send it back to the owner and forget about it.

I apologize for derailing this thread. It was just my aggravation showing.

 

[brucered]

What brand of ink was your friend using?
Pilot and Lamy feeds were being ruined by a certain brand of bulletproof ink a few years ago.

The price of your Lime Green Lamy on the BST just tripled in value!

 

[nemo]

The price of your Lime Green Lamy on the BST just tripled in value!

That's funny, I was thinking the same thing when I first saw this thread.

 

[Heron]

Between this and the slightly different color of the new batch of Dark Lilac, the sky is falling in the fountain pen world. At least it's a pause to the "breaking news!" of LE colors.

 

[Jut]

I hope the new owners don't jack with the L2K; a design for the ages IMHO!

 

[Marco63]

Saying that Lamy will be competing with Montblanc is preposterous. For as an historic brand Lamy is it can never be competing with MB. It is like saying that Ryanair will be competing with Lufthansa. They both fly, but quality offering and level of services offered are two different things.

 

[Vikram]

Saying that Lamy will be competing with Montblanc is preposterous. For as an historic brand Lamy is it can never be competing with MB. It is like saying that Ryanair will be competing with Lufthansa. They both fly, but quality offering and level of services offered are two different things.

Ouch … that is a bit harsh.

I believe that the business models of Ryanair and Lufthansa are quite different. Lufthansa is a full cost carrier and Ryanair is a low cost carrier (IMHO, it’s an ultra low cost carrier). In this example “you get what you pay for”. Even the CEO of Ryanair Michael O’Leary makes no bones about it.

What does MB provide? Quality? Pelikan once used MB’s nibs until they started producing their own and based on fountainpennetwork.com, overwhelmingly Pilot and Pelikan are the benchmark for the gold ones. Technology? As far as I am aware, only Sailor make 21k gold nibs.

Making a brand aspirational for a utilitarian item requires a change in the business model, a lot of marketing and give or take 5 years.

I may not buy a Lamy 2000 for the same price as a MB 149, nor would I buy AOS or Musgo Real creams at the current prices (15 years ago they were much reasonable). But those who are interested in buying a luxury fountain pen or getting into wet shaving will accept.