The seed for this article started several months ago, when I first tried LAMY's gold nibs for a piece I was writing about the LAMY dialog 3 and dialog cc pens. I was impressed by the smooth, pleasantly precise, and slightly bouncy Extra Fine nib, but soon realized that comparing all the nibs would take a lot more time than I had available, so I put my nib experimentation on hold. At the time, I had only a vague concept of just how surprising and complex LAMY's full lineup of nib options would turn out to be.
LAMY actually has seven different nib models--Z50, Z52, Z53, Z55, Z56, Z57 (recently discontinued), and Z58--that are designed to easily slide on and off grooves on either side of the pens' feeds, and all of these nibs are interchangeable between every LAMY fountain pen, with the single exception of the LAMY 2000. (The LAMY 2000 has a hooded nib which is different from all the others and is not meant to be removed or replaced by the end user. It doesn't have a special Z name!) LAMY currently has sixteen different fountain pen models, so that's a lot of pens with compatible nibs.
Each nib model is available in a variety of writing tips, which control the line width (or widths) produced by the nib. LAMY refers to these designations are "nib grades." Nib grade options range from Extra Fine (EF), Fine (F), Medium (M), and Broad (B) line widths, to a special "A" tip for beginners, a tip designed for left-handers (LH), Oblique Medium (OM) and Oblique Broad (OB) tips designed to be used at an angle, and calligraphy stubs in 1.1 mm, 1.5 mm, and 1.9 mm widths, which produce varied line width. I will discuss these options in more detail later.
Not every nib model is available with every writing tip option, and there are a few nibs that aren't sold separately, but, the point is, LAMY has over forty different interchangeable nib possibilities if you count up all the different models, colors, and tips! That's crazy!
You're probably wondering if I tried every single one of those nib possibilities for this article. No. I'm human, after all. But, I did try every nib model and tip that that writes differently. When speaking with our very helpful Lamy representative, Paul Brusser, I learned that the Z50, Z52, and Z53 steel nibs each give you a slightly different writing experience, while the Z55, Z56, Z57, and Z58 gold nib models, although unique cosmetically, all write exactly the same. And there is no Z54, but no one knows why. Read on, and I'll share what I discovered!
Z50: the Nib You Already Know
LAMY's familiar Z50 stainless steel nib, featured on the beloved LAMY safari, abc, and AL-star, is many fountain pen users' first nib. It comes in polished steel or black-plated steel, and is available in Extra Fine (EF), Fine (F), Medium (M), Broad (B), Left Hand (LH), and Beginner (A) nib tip options. The A tip, found on the abc and nexx pens designed for children, comes only in polished steel, not black.
[Pictured: Z50 in Broad, on the LAMY AL-star in Ocean Blue.]
The Z50 isn't confined to just those few pen models, though. This nib is found on abc, AL-star, cp1, nexx, safari, scala, studio, vista, and the retired accent, logo, and pur fountain pens. It is also available for purchase separately, so you can easily replace your pen's nib if it is lost or damaged, or if you decide you want to switch to a different writing tip. The nibs aren't intended to be switched back and forth regularly, and most people will simply buy a second pen if they want to have more than one nib tip active at the same time, but you do have that option. I will explain later in this article how to swap your nibs. It's pretty simple!
I had never tried the Beginner (A) nib before writing this article, and actually didn't even know it existed. "A" is an abbreviation for "Anfänger," German for "beginner," and Pelikan offers this nib on its beginner pens as well. It has a more rounded tip that allows the pen to write consistently even if you don't hold it at an ideal angle. I couldn't really see the difference when looking at the nib with my naked eye, but it does seem weirdly easier to use and has a more smooth and rounded feel!
The line width looks about the same as a Medium, but it produces a little more shading and just feels subtly different... less precise, but more fun. It's hard to describe! The abc and nexx pens that feature this nib are also easier for small hands to hold, and nexx comes in some friendly colors and designs, like the recent Harry Potter collection.
[Pictured: the abc fountain pen with Anfänger nib for children. The LAMY abc is also available as a mechanical pencil.]
LAMY's Left Hand (LH) nib is ground at a steeper angle than a typical nib, allowing easier push movements. It also writes better than a typical nib does if you hold it at a high angle, like I did in the handwriting sample below.
The LH nib width is the equivalent of a standard LAMY Medium nib. Some lefties notice no difference, or think the line width is too thick for their preferred writing style, while others say it is the only nib they have tried that doesn't feel scratchy to them. If you are left-handed and struggling to find a nib that feels comfortable to you, it's worth a try! But, if you are a left-hander, don't assume you have to get a left handed nib. A standard nib might work just fine for you. You can read more about lefty nibs in the article I wrote for International Left Handers Day.
[Pictured: polished stainless steel and black stainless steel versions of the Z50 nib, both with LH writing tips designed for left-handers.]
A slightly different version of the Z50 is known as the LAMY Joy Calligraphy Nib. It has the same Z50 designation, but has no breather hole, and comes in 1.1 mm, 1.5 mm, and 1.9 mm stub options, in polished steel only. A stub or italic nib gives your writing line variation because it features a blunted, squared-off tip that produces wide vertical strokes and narrow horizontal strokes. The 1.9 mm nib is typically only used for ornamental calligraphy, as it's a little thick for everyday use, but the 1.1 mm and 1.5 mm widths can be used to give your normal handwriting more flair. These nibs are featured on the LAMY joy calligraphy pens, but are also available for purchase separately, so you can turn any LAMY (except 2000) into a stub nib pen!
[Pictured: LAMY joy AL calligraphy pen with 1.9 mm writing tip, pictured with Midori "1 Day/1 Page" Diary.]
I was very surprised how much I enjoyed writing with all three calligraphy nibs when I tried them for this article. Because I tend to rotate my hand slightly outward while writing, maintaining good contact with the paper when I use stub nibs can be challenging and frustrating for me, and I have only found a few that work well for me. I didn't have a problem with any of the LAMY calligraphy nibs, though! They were all fun and easy to use and made my handwriting look cool. I think the contoured grip section of the safari that I used to try the nibs helped me hold the pen properly. I was able to write quite quickly, with no skipping. I want to get one, now!
Most pens that feature the Z50 offer you a choice of an Extra Fine (EF), Fine (F), or Medium (M) nib out of the box, and many also offer Broad (B) and Left Hand (LH) versions. Because we also sell all the Z50 nibs separately, we can usually swap them out for you when you purchase a pen, if a nib tip you want isn't available on the particular version you are buying. That way you don't have to buy a second nib. If you don't see the nib tip you want as an option, ask us, and we will do our best to accommodate!
I personally like LAMY's standard Z50 steel nibs, except for the fact that it's very hard to read the nib tip designations on the polished silver ones, which drove me bonkers when I was switching between different nibs to test them for this article!
I usually recommend a Fine or Medium nib for new fountain pen users, depending on the size of their handwriting, and I own an AL-star in Extra Fine, which I love for its precision. The Broad is the smoothest, and fun to write with and show your ink a little more. My left handed coworker, Pierce, really likes the LH nib, but says the other nibs work fine for him, too. The pens with the A nib would be great for young kids, and the calligraphy nibs are fantastic for trying something more expressive at a low cost and low risk. All of the line widths are thicker than the equivalent nib size in a Japanese pen like a Pilot or Sailor, and more comparable to other European brands.
Z52: the Lx Nib
The LAMY Lx, which looks like a premium version of the familiar aluminum AL-star, features an anodised aluminium cap and body, with precious metal accents in bronze, rose gold, ruthenium or palladium. There is also a retired gold version. The Lx also features its own special steel nib, different from the Z50.
Unlike the black version of the Z50 nib, the Lx Z52 nib gets its black color from a PVD coating, which is protective, anti-corrosive, and makes the nib stronger. PVD, short for Physical Vapor Deposition, is a technique used for creating extremely hard and very thin coatings of a few thousandths of a millimeter. The process uses a vacuum chamber to vaporise a solid material and deposit it onto a target substrate atom by atom. It's used extensively by NASA for high-performance applications.
Paul told me that the PVD-coated steel nib is supposed to write smoother, and that most people can feel a difference between the Z50 and Z52 nibs, although some can't. Some people prefer it, while others dislike it. The Z52 comes in Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, and Broad.
I had never tried the Z52 before writing this article, and I loved it right away! When I compared an Extra Fine Z50 and Z52, I immediately felt a difference. To me, it is noticeably smoother than the standard Z50 stainless steel nib. I tried Extra Fine, Fine, and Medium, and loved them all, but Extra Fine was my personal favorite because it was slightly more precise but very smooth, without being too smooth.
Now I want a pen with the Z52 nib! It feels great to me, and looks cool. I like that it's smooth but gives me a feeling of control, with a little bit of pencil-like feedback. Unfortunately, we don't sell this nib separately.
You can find the special Z52 nib featured on one additional pen: the studio Lx All Black Special Edition. It's my favorite studio because I like the ergonomic grip section.
[Pictured: three of my favorite LAMY studio editions, each with a different kind of nib--the Piano Red with Z55 gold nib, Lx All Black Special Edition with Z52 nib, and Imperial Blue with Z50 stainless steel nib. I love the studio's twisted clip, inspired by an airplane propellor! The notebook is the Studio Spotlight Heart in Hand Profolio from Oasis.]
Z53: the Curvy Steel Nib
Z53 is unique to one current pen, the aion, which was designed by the famous British industrial designer Jasper Morrison. The award-winning aion's anodised aluminium body merges seamlessly into the grip, creating a streamlined statement that is complemented by the specially designed curved Z53 nib. Not only does the Z53 offer a different look for LAMY's polished stainless steel nib, but it also provides a different writing experience.
[Pictured: Z53 nib on a black aion.]
The Z53 nib was later also used in the limited run ideos pen, which is teardrop shaped rather than round. (The avant-garde ideos is now retired, although we do still have a few left.) I find its asymmetrical shape fascinating and comfortable to hold!
I compared the Z53 nib to the standard Z50 nib and the Lx's Z52 nib, and each one definitely does give you a different writing experience. The Z53 writes with a finer line width than the others nibs do, and is extra smooth, with less feedback. It is a little harder for me to control than LAMY's other nibs. It is very quiet, and you don't feel the paper as much when you write with it. There is also less difference between the line widths produced by the different nib tips.
The Z53 nib is available for sale separately, so if you want to upgrade your steel nib LAMY to this cool nib, you can swap out the Z50 and change up the look. It comes in Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, and Broad. It was only intended to match the aion and ideos, but it fits any LAMY except the 2000. If you like a very smooth nib with a slightly thinner line width, you might love it! I thought it was even smoother than LAMY's gold nibs, although less bouncy.
Z50 - Z55 Writing Sample Comparison
Here are all my steel nib writing samples together:
To my eye, from thinnest to thickest line:
Z53 EF ≃ Z53 F
Z50 EF ≃ Z52 EF ≃ Z52F ≃ Z53M
Z50 F ≃ Z52 M ≃ Z53 B
Z50 LH ≃ Z50 M ≃ Z50 A
Z50 B
(I didn't get to try a Z53 B)
This was only based on my own writing samples, though. Your handwriting may differ depending on the pressure and angle you use!
Z55: LAMY's Classic 14K Gold Nib
The Z55 is LAMY's classic 14 karat gold nib, found on the dialog 3 and premium versions of the scala and studio. It's a bicolor nib, with platinum plating to give it a silver color and a contrasting gold accent tracing the slit and breather hole. I love the sleek modern look of all LAMY's gold nibs.
[Pictured: Z55 nib on the Piano Red LAMY scala.]
You can find the Z55 on the Piano Black, Piano Red, and limited edition scala pens, and on the Palladium, Piano Black, Piano Red, and some special editions of the studio. Standard versions of the scala and studio use the regular stainless steel Z50 nib.
The Z55 comes in Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, and Broad, Oblique Medium, and Oblique Broad, and you can purchase it separately. All the gold nibs were smooth, but I didn't think they were smoother than the curved Z53 nib or the PVD-coated steel Z52 nib featured in the Lx. They, do, however, definitely have more bounce than the firmer steel nibs, and are fun to write with.
The gold nibs' EF, F, M, and B line widths are pretty similar to those produced by the standard Z50 stainless steel nib, but have more natural line width variation, due to the softer nib.
I had never tried the oblique nibs before, and they are pretty interesting! One side of the nib tip is slanted at approximately a 15-degree angle, for writers who naturally rotate their pen counter-clockwise. They provide very subtle line width variation, with slightly thicker downstrokes and thinner cross-strokes, but require you to hold them at an inwardly-rotated angle for good contact with the page.
I naturally rotate my hand to the right, not the left, so these nibs are not made for me, but still found them kind of cool, and didn't have as much trouble writing with them as I expected. The Oblique Medium has about the same line width as the regular Medium, and the Oblique Broad is similar to the regular Broad, but both oblique nibs gave my ink more shading and added some additional character to my handwriting. I found the Oblique Medium easier to use than the Oblique Broad. Here's a messy handwriting sample where I wrote quickly with the Oblique Medium.
Z56, Z57, and Z58: Sharp Looking 14K Gold Nibs
The Z56 is also a bicolor platinum and 14 karat gold, but with no breather hole and a squared-off, rather than curved, accent strip around the slit. It's featured on most versions of the art deco imporium. We don't have any pens with this nib in stock at the moment, but you can see it in the distance on the Titanium/Platinum imporium featured in my photo from the holiday season. I'll try to add a closeup later!
The Black/Gold imporium in the foreground features the Z57 nib, which looks just like the Z56, but it is plated with refined black PVD, rather than platinum, as its base color. This nib has been discontinued (as has the Black/Gold version of the imporium), but we still have it in stock, for now, on some all black imporium pens. It was also used on an all black dialog cc.
The Z58 is very similar to the Z56, but features platinum paired with rose gold rather than yellow gold. This nib is featured on the dialog cc. You can see the contrast in accent color and design (curved gold accent with breather hole vs. sharp-angled rose gold accent with no breather hole) between the Z55 and Z58 in my photo comparing the shiny white dialog 3 (top) and dialog cc (below) pens.
[Pictured: Z55 nib (top) and Z58 nib (bottom). Note the contrast in design, and how each nib echoes shapes from its respective pen. I love both versions!]
These nibs don't write any differently than the Z55, but were chosen for their respective pens for design reasons. The absence of a breather hole on these nibs is also for cosmetic reasons. Having no breather hole does look more harmonious when paired with the angular, rather than curved, accent piece!
The Z56 and Z57 come in Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, and Broad, Oblique Medium, and Oblique Broad, but Z58 leaves out the oblique tip options.
How to Swap Your Nibs
I had to swap nibs a lot while writing this article and I was surprised by how easy it was! I was taught to do it in the store by sticking a piece of tape (such as Scotch tape) onto the top of a dry nib and sliding the nib off the feed, then sliding the new nib onto the feed's rails. The advantage of using tape is that it's easier to get a grip on the nib, and you also can't lose the loose nib as easily, because it's stuck to a piece of tape.
However, I swapped all the nibs for this article without the use of any tape. All I did was pinch the nib between my thumb and index finger, with one on either side, and slide it straight off the feed, set it aside, and slide a different nib on. Tape doesn't work when your nib is inky, because it's too slippery for the tape to stick, so being comfortable doing it with my bare fingers was important when I was switching between a lot of different inky nibs. I didn't have any problems at all!
Just be careful to grab the nibs from the widest part of their sides and pull them on and off evenly, not at an angle. Don't grab the feed itself, or you risk pulling it out. If you are having trouble getting hold of a nib, or it isn't coming out easily, try the tape trick.
By the way, one thing to be aware of when you get a brand new LAMY is that the nib and feed may have a small amount of blue ink on them right out of the box. This is because LAMY dip tests all their pens at the factory before shipping them. You can see it on the underside of the new nib in my photo above. If you are going to be filling your LAMY with an ink color other than blue or black, you should rinse out your new pen's nib and feed before using it. It's actually always a good idea to clean any new fountain pen before filling it, as some pens come with protectant oils on the nibs, lubricants from the manufacturing process, or this residual ink from being tested in the factory. Cleaning before using isn't crucial for LAMY pens, but it doesn't hurt.
Last Thoughts
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I was pretty surprised by some of the things I learned while writing this! I hadn't realized there were so many LAMY nibs with distinct differences in writing feel. I also loved trying the A nib, the calligraphy nibs, and the oblique nibs. I was already familiar with the Left Hand nib from writing my lefty article, but I enjoyed revisiting it and comparing it to LAMY's other nibs.
Our rep, Paul, has been with LAMY for 21 years, and I really appreciated his knowledge and insights. He was kind enough to speak with me on the phone for almost an hour about nibs. He also told me that he has visited the LAMY factory in Germany several times, and was always amazed by how "consistently consistent" their quality control is. "It is so apparent when you go to the factory." All of LAMY's nibs are polished by hand and tested before being sent out into the world, and they have a reputation for being reliable, easy to use, and especially good for beginners.
After trying twenty-two different nibs for this article, my fingers are stained Petrol blue, I'm even more fond of the color petrol, and I am now in love with LAMY's calligraphy nibs and Z52 Lx nib, so I'm probably going to be buying a calligraphy nib and obsessing over the Lx pens now. I always assumed the LAMY Lx pens just looked more luxurious, but they are actually made from more premium materials, and the black PVD treatment on the nib not only makes it look cool, it also makes it more durable and feels nicer to write with. I might have penabled myself again.
By the way, I didn't include the late lamented Z59 Cursive nib in this article because it was discontinued over a year ago and is extremely hard to find. If you come across one, snag it! I love the Cursive nib, and you can read about it in an article I wrote back in 2022 when it first came out.
Remember, which nibs and pens will appeal to you most is highly subjective, and there is really no "better" or "worse." Fountain pen preferences are very personal, and are a combination of your hand size, the pressure you use, the way you hold your pen, your handwriting, your life experiences, your sense of style, and more. My favorites may not be yours, but I hope this article was helpful and informative!
-Laura P.
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