Maker: Lamy.
I have been somewhat hard set to do a write-up of the Aion, because it doesn’t seem to have much of a reason to be. It is very like the Studio in terms of looks and cost, and where it departs from the Studio it inclines toward the 2000. There are only two points where it departs from either of those pens.
The first is in size; it is not vastly longer than either of those other pens, but is it substantially broader in diameter than either. Whether this is a bowing to the modern trend toward big fat pens or a response to actual consumer demand is something I do not know.
The other point of distinction is the utter smoothness of the uncapped pen. Neither the Studio nor the 2000 are notably jagged in their profiles, but the former does have a small step at the joint, while the latter exhibits the cap-grabbing “ears” which give some users great trouble. The Aion has a flush joint between barrel and section, with nothing to catch on the fingers. This may, once again, be a response to customers begging for a pen without a substantial step somewhere along the barrel, or it may just be Lamy feeling the urge once again to produce a super-minimalist pen.
The minimalist nature of the pen does bring along a slightly nervous aspect to the cap. The Aion has essentially the same cap-gripping arrangement as the Studio, a tiny lip right at the front of the section. However, the small step on the Studio provides a little back-pressure on the cap, which the Aion lacks. The result is a cap which seems loose, held on my little more than faith. I do not say that it is any more likely to drop out of the cap into a pocket than is the Studio, but it rattles around a little as if it is thinking of doing so.
I am pleased to find that despite being the work of a specific industrial designer– Jasper Morrison is named on Lamy’s own page for this pen, as of early 2018– Lamy have not seized on an excuse to artificially inflate the cost of the Aion. It actually costs slightly less than the lower end of Studios. I find it interesting that this remains the case even though the point of the Aion is not the same as that used by pretty much every current Lamy other than the 2000, which one would expect to increase production costs. The difference lies in the shape of the point’s shoulders; it seems to have the same mounting, and thus the same sort of feed as everything else, and it certainly writes like a mainstream Lamy pen.
Production Run: 2017 to present.
Cost When New: MSRP $89.00.
Size: 14.4 cm long capped, 16.3 cm posted, 13.8 cm uncapped.
Point: Steel.
Body: Aluminum.
Filler: Cartridge, 1.0 ml. capacity, or converter of approx. 0.7 ml.
Lamy Aion– smooooth.
Would it be wrong to use “Brutalist” to describe something other than architecture?
If you are relying on the preceding information to win a bet or impress a teacher, you should read the site’s scholarly caveat. Remember, this is the internet, and it’s full of bad information.