Fountain pen that writes well (Lamy Joy)

I am very happy to offer you my experience with this inexpensive fountain pen that works and writes consistently well. This is my personal experience that I share with you in the hope that it can help you in your choice or can at least fill a little bit of perplexity in the choice of your fountain pen.

Also remember that if you have any questions about my experience with this fantastic and affordable fountain pen, you can write a comment. Let’s get started!

I think I’ve always had a passion for fountain pens, perhaps even partly inherited from my ancestors who had a good number of them. The fountain pen, when it works, can offer a lot of satisfaction and is even essential for those like me who need to write a lot by hand.

Unlike ballpoint pens, which work well anyway, I’ve always found myself better off with fountain pens because I also have a slight arthritis that annoys me quite a bit when I have to press the ball too hard on the paper.

Also, I have always been annoyed by the fact that I have to throw away and buy back the whole pen, I think it is much cheaper and more useful from an environmental point of view to use refills and a good fountain pen.

Unfortunately, I have always had great difficulty using fountain pens in everyday life. They are pens that normally force us to keep them on the desk and when we need them, perhaps to take an emergency note, they never write because the pen tends to dry out.

It took me a long time to find an inexpensive fountain pen that was as easy to use as a traditional pen and that didn’t have these kinds of issues.

So I’m very pleased to share with you the satisfaction this fountain pen made in Germany has given me.

Some purists of the expensive fountain pen, may turn their noses up at this article but for us who are mere mortals, the efficiency of a pen is far preferable to the quality and luxury of the materials with which it was built.

Unless you collect luxury fountain pens, it doesn’t make sense to spend a lot of money to buy a pen that doesn’t write the next day.

I bought this fountain pen on Amazon but it’s still available in some physical stores as well as the official online store which is only in German for now. It’s more convenient for me to shop online because I work a lot and when I finish work the physical stores are always closed.

I have to admit, also a little bit out of laziness. So you can buy the pen by clicking directly on the links in this article.

My goal was to buy a pen that wasn’t overly expensive and that allowed you to conveniently change the nib without necessarily changing the whole writing unit.

This fountain pen has the feature that it can be used with traditional original cartridges and Lamy converters to draw the relevant ink directly from the bottle.

I highly recommend using only original accessories and inks because they are designed to work well and our goal is to have a fountain pen that works almost all the time.

I chose the Lamy Joy 1.1 because I like the wider nib that allows me to write with the Italic style but this is not the only reason. The 1.1 nib is a good compromise between normal and calligraphic writing, the width of the stroke allows a greater passage of ink and there are fewer chances to have problems with false starts or irregular strokes.

The nib is replaced with a disarming ease.

In this pen, I also got to appreciate the cartridge change. Simply place the cartridge in and twist to close. Since the dimensions are precise, the cartridge will fit into its insert automatically as you screw in the writing unit.

I bought the pen on amazon in prime mode to have the certainty and guarantees we all know for possibly defective products and whatnot. Below is a brief description of what I purchased and what you may need, for convenience under the images I have included the direct link to purchase the item.

Appearance of the Lamy Joy 1.1 fountain pen.

Including shipping, I paid just over 20 euros for the pen, the body was complete and contained a blue cartridge.

The pen looks sleek in several color combinations. I preferred the black version with red trim. As you can see from the picture, it’s quite long for a pen but fits comfortably in the fanny pack I always carry.

The actual dimensions are shown in the image as well as the proportions relative to an average sized hand. The quality of plastics is quite good, for the moment, after a month of use, I have not noticed particularly noticeable lines although I do not store it carefully in a protective case. As I said this is an everyday fountain pen.

The trim on the cap and the end of the body are plastic while the part that eventually serves to lock it in the pocket is metal. This allows it to have a longer duration during the stresses and the daily use of the flexible parts and at the same time a low weight.

In fact I found a weight of about 17 grams with the original cartridge. Basically the weight is comparable to a good rollerball pen. The low weight is a great thing for someone like me who tires his hand easily.

Although not very visible in the picture, there are two interesting details. The first one is an insert that exposes the cartridge to easily check its charging status. The second is related to two channels on the writing body where the thumb and index finger must be positioned.

In this way the inclination of the nib is always optimal and the grip is ergonomic. I think this is an advantage even for novice users who do not know how to hold a fountain pen.

From an aesthetic and functional point of view there are also other small things that can be noticed by an experienced eye but I will let you notice them yourself so that you can appreciate the study and the experience behind. Let’s focus on the essentials for now.

Lamy Joy 1.1 Fountain Pen Cartridges

The refills can be found conveniently for 4 euros and 50 cents including shipping. The original cartridges for the Lamy Joy are called Lamy T10 and are available in different colors. You can choose from mango, black, dark blue, blue, tourmaline, turquoise, green, red and purple.

Basically, even just with the original cartridges you can appreciate an impressive variety of colors.

The colors appear bright and of course, as is also the case with all other fountain pens, the initial stroke is darker than the steady stroke. This is perfectly understandable, and I’ve noticed that the steady-state stroke is never too pale or discolored anyway.

One thing that has always bothered me in fact of cheap fountain pens is the fact that after a while, when you write a lot and continuously, the stroke starts to fade. To tell the truth I have encountered this feature even with much more expensive fountain pens with which you need to write very slowly.

With this pen for the moment I have not encountered this issue and therefore, together with the fact that as soon as you put the cartridge starts writing without false starts, I personally believe that it can be used successfully even when you have to take notes quickly.

Set of nibs for Lamy Joy fountain pen

The complete set of original nibs costs only almost 12 euros and as I wrote before, the nibs can be replaced with a disarming simplicity without changing the writing body. Risible and cheap is the price of the complete set of nibs in excellent stainless steel.

The complete set consists of several nibs of different sizes: extra fine, fine, medium, wide, for left-handed writing, for oblique writing medium stroke, for oblique writing with wide stroke and finally also the calligraphy set 1.1, 1.5, 1.9 mm.

At this point it seems clear that Lamy Joy offers us the possibility to explore the world of fountain pens both from an everyday point of view and from a purely artistic and calligraphic one. The wide variety of colors and the availability of nibs really made a good impression on me.

My favorite stroke being ambidextrous is certainly the 1.1 mm but this is a personal preference and extremely subjective. As you can see there is something for all tastes and for all occasions. It is of fundamental importance that the replacement of nibs is done with extreme delicacy. If necessary, I can also write an article on how to replace nibs, if you want to write it in the comments.

You can believe me that I would have definitely saved a lot of money if I had known about this fountain pen much earlier. But as they say, you learn by making mistakes and this article is also to keep you from making the same mistakes I did.

Traditional inks Lamy Joy fountain pen

Of course, this is not the end of the story because you can also use dedicated inks. The ink for the Lamy Joy fountain pen is called T51 and can be found, including shipping costs for less than 8 euros. The number of cartridges that can be loaded with a bottle is not known to me.

It contains about 30 milliliters of ink. If we consider that usually on average a fountain pen refill contains from 0.4 to 0.8 ml of ink, the convenience is immediately apparent.

Personally, I prefer to use traditional refills because they are much more convenient, you do not stain your fingers, are calibrated exactly for that particular pen. Then the box of refills is easily stored in the bag and since they are closed, if not subjected to excessive stress, should not release ink.

The disadvantage of the traditional refills from an economic point of view is also due to the fact that in my city, as far as I know, there are no physical stores that sell original Lamy refills and therefore, buying them online, I have to take into account the shipping costs.

Currently I buy a large number of refills when I make the order so for me it is not a problem but the user who writes little should take into account this thing in my opinion.

Lamy Joy fountain pen converter

You may not have thought that Lamy has not planned to produce a proper converter that can replace conventional cartridges?

Actually, there are converters for almost all fountain pens. The fountain pen converter has the useful function of drawing in, holding and releasing the ink that is in the bottles. It can also be very useful to eventually purge the pen with simple warm distilled water.

I advise you to avoid the classic drop of dish soap because it has the tendency to break the superficial balances on which the internal parts of the writing body rely to release the right amount of ink.

Another very useful feature is that by simply rotating the red part slightly, if a pen doesn’t write right away, it forces a little bit of ink into the nib. The Lamy Joy fountain pen converter is called the Z28 and replaces the Z24. It can be found at a price just under 6 euros (including shipping).

I’m not aware of the amount of ink that can be sucked in, but nonetheless I recommend using the converter if we write with our fountain pen in a fixed location. The advantage of disposable cartridges of not staining is obvious and therefore carrying around a pen with a converter and a bottle of ink, may not be a very wise and convenient thing.

I also think it may be helpful to specify two things. The first thing is related to the fact that the converter must be the one that is compatible and designed for the fountain pen you are using it with. The second is that the converter must already be mounted on the writing body before you inhale the ink. You don’t suck the ink directly from the converter, it must be sucked from the nib. This is important, mind you.

Special and brilliant inks for Lamy Joy fountain pen

Since the Lamy Joy is a fountain pen oriented to calligraphy, special inks with bright and intense colors could certainly not be missing. Personally, I don’t think I’ll ever use them because I have a very bad handwriting but if anyone is interested, these specific inks are called T53 and are found at less than 14 euros.

The colors of these fountain pen inks should provide a really great graphic rendering. If you were interested there are also videos on youtube that describe them.

Also in this case, like disposable cartridges and traditional ink, there are many colors available and they have specific sophisticated names: ruby (code 220), rhodonite (code 260), beryl (code 270), azurite (code 360), benitoite recommended for documentary evidence (code 380), peridot (code 420).

But that’s not all because you can also find amazonite (code 470), topaz (code 500), obsidian (code 660) and agate (660). So, for example, if I were to look for a bottle of obsidian ink, I would have to write Lamy T53 660.

The preciousness of these inks is clearly underlined by the names that bring to mind the minerals, in some cases precious. However, it is not clear to me whether the manufacturing process is related to the use of these elements or not. Of course, these inks can be used with the Lamy Joy Z28 fountain pen converter.

Let’s not forget that almost all Lamy inks should be compatible with any Lamy pen. Theoretically, they should also be compatible with other fountain pens but I wouldn’t do this test if I were you.

Apart from any legitimate doubts that may arise in relation to the fact that I am not really an expert in fountain pens, I can assure you that I really enjoyed using this pen. I wouldn’t have taken the time to write such an extensive review (and that still remains my personal opinion) if I hadn’t experienced the practicality of this fountain pen first hand.

I currently use it on all types of traditional or recycled paper. Fountain pens normally write much better on specially designed papers but I have found no impediment in filling out any type of form.

Of course readjust that this is not a pen that can be used on carbon paper. For carbon paper you need to press that is a concept that is antithetical to the philosophy of fountain pens.

I’ve been using it for about a month, I write about twenty pages in my notebook of regular paper and with the intention of doing an accurate job I watched numerous videos on youtube, reviews on various sites and even feedback from users who have purchased them.

Aside from a few sporadic complaints that I believe are attributable to a few cases of defective merchandise, I think this is the right pen for everyday writing.

Although this site does not sell items directly, by clicking on the link you will visit the relevant Amazon page and for each eligible purchase a commission may be awarded to the webmaster. You can also ask questions regarding specific aspects of the items such as, shipping, purchasing and anything else directly on the amazon page and not on this one.

In order to give an adequate information service to those who come across this article, if your ideas were at odds with what I wrote, if there was someone more experienced or with longer experience, for all other possible questions or concerns regarding topics not related to the sale: feel free to leave a comment.