https://www.wired.com/story/lamy-2000-fountain-pen-rave/ Skip to main content Open Navigation Menu To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Close Alert WIRED To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Close Alert Sign In Search * Backchannel * Business * Culture * Gear * Ideas * Science * Security * Podcasts * Video * Artificial Intelligence * Climate * Games * Newsletters * Magazine * Events * Wired Insider * Jobs * Coupons Image may contain Text * A Waterproof Bag * A Casual, Low-Lift Game * At-Home Skincare Tools * MagSafe for Android Phones * A Modern Theremin * The Greatest Bag Ever Made * Portable Silverware With a Built-In Dishwasher * A Float for Pool Parties * A Luxe Fountain Pen * You Should Be Using More Lube * A Portable Record Player * More WIRED Gift Guides Parker Hall Gear Dec 6, 2022 8:00 AM A Good Fountain Pen Lets You Enjoy the Finer Things in Life For everything from journaling to writing my wedding vows, the iconic Lamy 2000 has become my favorite literary accessory. Lamy 2000 fountain pen on a light blue backdrop. 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A Portable Record Player * Image may contain Pattern Text and Symbol More WIRED Gift Guides Save Save There are very few tools most people think less about than pens. They seem to spring logoed and logoless from a kind of inexhaustible reserve in cups, drawers, and backpacks. Any of these pens--or most, given a bit of saliva--will do the job of inking up whatever you need. But when you consider your experience with a souvenir ballpoint from a web brand that may or may not have evaporated with the NFT market, you realize just how poor the pen really is. The ink is tacky and horrible, the struggle to roll across the page is palpable, and the tiny plastic shafts dig into your fingers and force your fingertips to slide. This all changed for me when I got my first cheap fountain pen--I realized I could actually have fun with the physical act of writing. The first time you put a wet nib to the page, it feels like you're in a Tolkien novel. Each occasion to use it became an event instead of a mundane chore. I felt like Bilbo Baggins, wrapping up There and Back Again in Bag-End, but instead of grand tales of adventure, I'd be writing a check to the IRS or addressing a letter to an accountant. I nabbed another fountain pen quickly after college and used it daily for a few years. But it was when I turned 30 that I found my pride and joy: the Lamy 2000. If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Inkredible Collage of photographs of the Lamy 2000 fountain pen and attachments. Photograph: Lamy Lamy 2000 $202 at Amazon $202 at Blick This black polycarbonate torpedo has been handmade in an identical fashion in Germany since the mid-1960s. A medium-tipped Lamy 2000 comes with a hooded, platinum-coated, 14-carat gold nib ground to the point that it surfs across the page, depositing gloriously thick lines of whatever ink you've sucked in via a perfectly hidden piston filler. Forget cartridges--this is a pen you put straight into the bottle. I pair it with this ink, and don't worry, it's never once leaked. I've used it to tackle to-do lists and journal my way through personal crises. I used it to write my wedding vows (which I admittedly then typed and printed for fear I'd be unable to read my own handwriting). It's hard to describe just how fun it is to write with a tool that's so well-engineered; I feel like Uma Thurman with the Hattori Hanzo katana from Kill Bill. It's that empowering. Closeup view of the Lamy 2000 fountain pen writing on paper. Photograph: Lamy Most Popular * The Best Laptop Backpacks for Work (and Life) Gear The Best Laptop Backpacks for Work (and Life) Medea Giordano * The Best Fitness Trackers and Watches for Everyone Gear The Best Fitness Trackers and Watches for Everyone Adrienne So * Save on Pots and Pans at All-Clad's Factory Seconds Sale Gear Save on Pots and Pans at All-Clad's Factory Seconds Sale Scott Gilbertson * The 17 Best (and Worst) Mattresses You Can Buy Online Gear The 17 Best (and Worst) Mattresses You Can Buy Online Martin Cizmar * The textured finish on a perfectly shaped barrel--innovations from German industrial designer Gerd A. Muller--means the pen fits great in my hand and provides perfect friction on my fingers, with a silvery metal section toward the nib that keeps them from slipping too low. There's even a slightly clear section on the pen's body, an easy way to tell if you need a refill. I love unscrewing the section at the top of the pen to suck in more ink with the piston-fill system. As I've gotten older and more neurotic about my own mortality and place in the world, practiced more and more mindfulness, listened to more self-help podcasts, and looked deeply and more honestly into what actually makes me happy, I've come to realize that it isn't the volume of experiences I have, but their quality. I endeavor to only ever use my Lamy 2000 to write. It's not that any other pen won't do the job, or that I needed a $200 piece of midcentury design to fill a void inside my soul. I just like that every day I get to work with something so thoughtfully made, so genuinely fun to hold, and so timeless that I might pass it on to my kids someday. I've sure spent a lot more money on things that have made me much less happy. The Lamy 2000 makes daily life just a bit more fun. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you'd like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day. Read next Alu Waterbased Lube by Dame 2 Read next You Should Be Using More Lube Get More From WIRED * Understand AI advances with our Fast Forward newsletter * Our new podcast wants you to Have a Nice Future * It's the Age of Ozempic. Do we still need WeightWatchers? * Inside 4chan's top-secret moderation machine * Why Hollywood really fears generative AI * Marc Andreessen is (mostly) wrong this time * ChatGPT is cutting non-English languages out of the AI revolution * Snap into spring with the Gear team's picks for the best camera bags, fun instant cameras, and mirrorless cameras [undefined] Parker Hall is an associate editor of product reviews at WIRED. He focuses on audiovisual and entertainment products. Hall is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he studied jazz percussion. After hours, he remains a professional musician in his hometown of Portland, Oregon. Writer and Reviewer * TopicsShoppingWIRED's Favorite Giftsrants and ravespens More from WIRED Save on Pots and Pans at All-Clad's Factory Seconds Sale Save on Pots and Pans at All-Clad's Factory Seconds Sale If you can handle minor blemishes on otherwise high-quality cookware, these deals are worth perusing. 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