This is a Lamy Swift — the pen I’ve used since 1995 when I walked into a stationer’s on East 12th St. in NYC looking for a fine roller-ball. The clerk showed me a few pens, but the Swift was the winner, hands down.
I’m on my fourth pen today. The first two were pinched from my desk, the third got confiscated at airport security by an over zealous TSA security goon in the weeks following 9/11.
It’s heavy, it’s thick (which is good for fat hands), and it has a wickedly sharp point. The clip retracts flush with the barrel when it is in writing mode, and pops open when the point is retracted. It writes like a surgical instrument. Because my penmanship is befitting a victim of a head trauma, I print, in small precise letters, and this pen is great for detailed writing.
YOu should see my pen collection, including two pinched from the head Redmonian’s desk.
Jim
I have a bit of pen fetish, haven’t splurged on any nice or expensive pens yet though, maybe in China…I use a ZEBRA F-301 daily, have for about 10 years.
I love a good pen… this lamy swift writes almost as well as a Mont Blanc and is the only decent rollerball available w/ a clip, and the engineering behind this pen is unrivalled. My favorite pen hands down as well is the Swift! The pen tends to crack on me, but I just send it back and get another one for $7.50 shipping which comes with a new refill which typically runs $5.00/ea, so shipping is really more like $2.50.
Yes, the platinum version of the Lamy Swift does tend to crack by the clip, but for some reason the black and blue versions of the pen are much hardier. I twice had the platinum version crack… both times it took less than a week… the other versions I have had for about a year with no problems. Do not buy the platinum version… allthough it is more expensive, it is by no means better. It’s kinda frustrating when an $80 pen doesn’t last a week in one piece, but the black or blue versions have some really hard coating (seems to be similar to rhino lining) and this coating gives them the strength they need to hold up. This pen is constructed of paper thin brass which is a very soft material even when it isn’t paper thin. I must say there is no other pen for me…. this thing writes like a dream and is a great size and weight and gives very bold lines with the blackest black anywhere which makes a signature really look good! Another thing I have noticed with this pen is that you can’t write on anything that is wax coated like post-it notes or it starts to write like a crappy pen, and the refills are rather expensive, so I do not use this pen on post-it notes or other things that have a wax coat. This is also true with any high end rollerball, so I don’t hold this as a weekness. A great pen easily worth 30 or 40 bucks, so I’d rather buy these used because it’s hard to find them new for that. I would pay full price ($50) and have, but used is even better as you can send them in and get a new one should anything break.