The LAMY Unic? Is this a model that a lot of people have heard of? I certainly knew nothing about the pen up until about 6 months ago. I do recollect seeing one on FPN awhile back where it was listed as a "rare model" and was quite pricey, but at the time I didn't really engage with it.
I was perusing the deep, dark corners of LAMY's website and stumbled upon a really neat page called the Design History. I don't believe it has every variation of every model (which would be awesome), but in a nutshell it is a sort of design timeline of LAMY pens which is super cool. In flipping through the timeline I stumbled upon the year 1984 where I saw this:
Image from LAMY website
Uhhhh.... cool? Why haven't I seen this before?! Oh. They are discontinued...
Upon reading the page about the LAMY Unic a bit further, one finds out that the designer of the pen is none other than Gerd A. Müller, the designer behind the LAMY 2000, their flagship product. This is one of four designs by Müller for LAMY: the 2000, cp1, st, and unic. The man has quite a legacy and it is a shame that this stunning beauty is tucked away in the corners of a timeline rather than gracing thousands of desks today.
The images in the post are from my Instagram feed.
The Gerd A. Müller Collection: 2000, cp1, st, and unics
As it usually does, when I am intrigued by a pen, particularly those that are difficult to find, I am instantly on the hunt. I scour forums, auction sites...all ends of the internet to see if I can track down more info, or even a pen for that matter.
My luck struck pretty quickly on eBay where I was first able to acquire a stainless steel Unic fountain pen. I was thrilled and couldn't wait to open the package when it arrived.
Unic with LAMY 585 gold nib
I have subsequently acquired three additional Unic pens: a black fountain pen and ballpoint as well as a stainless steel ballpoint, of course, to match the fountain pen. The black versions have a bit of a story as a friend on Instagram, Marcellix, was kind enough to work out a deal with me to get my hands on the fountain and ballpoint set.
The stainless ballpoint I purchased from an eBay type site called Martini Auctions which is out of Germany. I had never bought from them before, but a friend said he had so I felt more comfortable. They have a ton of pens, but the pricing can be really high. Although, I got this ballpoint for 55 Euros which isn't cheap, but compared to prices I've seen it was a steal (not steel...wow).
As you can tell, this post isn't really a "review", but more an awareness post for now. Actual reviews will be forthcoming in time, but I thought it interesting to share as I always love finding out about pens that are amazing, but for some reason have fallen out of production. Sounds a bit like the rOtring 600s and Pilot MYU/Murex?
Why do companies do this? It isn't like LAMY went through a restructure or merger. (or at least I think they didn't) It must boil down to either production costs or lack of popularity. I mean, LAMY sells a lot of pens and there are similar pens available like the Logo, st, or cp1, so why no Unic? If anyone knows someone that works for LAMY...