Pen Review: Lamy Al-Star Purple-Black

Happy November! Today I will be reviewing another workhouse--the Lamy Al-Star. This design is identical to the Lamy Safari with a tripod grip and snap cap. The nibs are interchangable and the pen uses the same cartridges and converters as the Safari. The differences are minor--the Al-Star is heavier and weighs 22 g (0.8 oz) as it is made out of aluminum. Additionally, the grip is a dark translucent grey. For some reason, I find this grip to be less slippery than my Safari.

The Al-Star comes in a variety of colors as well as a yearly limited edition. I ended up choosing purple as I felt the color easily matched with my current collection. I like demure, muted purples over bright purple so this pen was a perfect match. Although this nib is a medium, I found that it writes similarly to the fine nib.

I won't bore you with the review details since my thoughts about this pen are the same as the Safari. But I will say that when my glass pen shattered, the Al-Star swabbed the remaining 100+ ink samples like a champ. This is an excellent, affordable pen that can survive my workload!

Similar line widths. Tomoe River Paper 68 gsm

Disclaimer: This pen was purchased by me and all opinions/photos are my own. This post was not sponsored.