My Personal Ranking of the 2024 Lamy Safaris and AL-Stars

This year, Lamy released not one, but two rounds of special edition Safari and AL-Star pens. Because 2024 marked my first full year as a Lamy retailer carrying all of the special editions (plus now with a dedicated space to have them all easily accessible for comparison), I thought it might be fun to take a look at all of the fountain pens together and discuss my favorites from what seems like an especially busy year for Lamy.

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From left: Pink Cliff, Violet Blackberry, Piña Colada, and Cherry Blossom

Ranking My Favorite 2024 Lamy Safaris

The 2024 Lamy Safari releases kicked off with “Pink Cliff” and “Violet Blackberry” back in February. Featuring dark navy and violet barrels paired with pink and purple grip sections, these two pens marked something of a departure from the recent trend of more traditional releases. While I found the contrast refreshing, I’m sure it wasn’t for everyone. The more recent “Piña Colada” and “Cherry Blossom” hit stores in June, and once again featured two-toned pens but with a completely different look. I’d rank them as follows, in terms of personal preference:

1. Piña Colada. I love yellow pens, feel the color is drastically underutilized across the pen industry, and let it be known that I will buy any Safari with a yellow clip.

2. Pink Cliff. A blue-grey matte barrel offset with an eye-searing pink section? Somehow it works. The matte texture lifts this one over Violet Blackberry for me.

3. Violet Blackberry. Two different shades of purple makes for a great looking Safari, but if given the choice, I’m always going with matte texture over gloss.

4. Cherry Blossom. A really nice looking pink pen, and I definitely dig the red clip, but this shade of cherry blossom pink isn’t really my thing aesthetically. The new “Autumn Pink” AL-Star, on the other hand….

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Four AL-Star fountain pens from left: Fiery, Aquatic, Autumn Pink, and Sage Green.

Ranking My Favorite 2024 Lamy AL-Stars

1. Sage Green. This one’s simply beautiful. I love the transparent green section and the tone of the barrel goes well with the black clip and nib. There’s not much more to say here other than this pen looks really good.

2. Aquatic. Same as above. While the fountain pen is shown here for demonstrative purposes, I’ve been using the .5mm Aquatic AL-Star mechanical pencil, as I’ve tried to explore different formats of popular models that I’d previously only used as fountain pens.

3. Autumn Pink. I have a thing for muted pastel shades, and while the Sage Green is definitely my favorite, Autumn Pink is a somewhat unique take on a color (pink) that’s hard to pull off. I expect both of these particular AL-Star pens to do well.

4. Fiery. What? This is T.G.S. and the red pen with the black clip comes in last place? First of all, it’s really not last place since this was a darn good batch of AL-Stars. For me it comes down to the red being slightly too pink for my personal preference, and the muted pink of “Autumn Pink” being slightly more interesting to look at. But again, these are all great looking pens.

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The two winners, at least for me.

So What Are My Personal 2024 Favorites overall?

If I had to pick two pens from the 2024 releases, I would choose the Piña Colada Safari and the Sage Green AL-Star. I definitely felt a bit of a disconnect between the Pink Cliff/Violet Blackberry and Piña Colada/Cherry Blossom Safari releases - there really wasn’t a consistent theme other than all four pens feature contrasting sections and barrels - but at the end of the day the yellow on the Piña Colada pushed it over the top. Sage Green takes first place out of the AL-Star releases, as I really love this color. (Tom’s Studio uses a similar “Sage” aluminum in both their fountain pens and the Lumos series.) I had a more difficult time choosing, however, as I enjoyed most of this year’s AL-Star colors.

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Takeaways and Where to Buy

Every year I look forward to Lamy’s announcement of their special editions, and while I’m probably on “Team Safari” in terms of which pen shape/model I prefer to use on a regular basis, it’s close, and this time the AL-Star won the design battle. After years of different blue tones and very light neutral colors, Lamy built on the success of Lilac and Petrol and took the AL-Star in a different direction with brighter shades that work well in brushed aluminum. The matching clear sections and black trim look sharp, and I’ll likely choose one of each color to keep in a different format (i.e., a Sage Green fountain pen, Aquatic mechanical pencil, Fiery rollerball, and Autumn Pink ballpoint). Viewing the Fiery and Aquatic releases alongside Sage and Autumn Pink also makes me consider them differently, as I personally think they look better as part of a four-pen set than as a somewhat staid red/blue release.

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We have all of the Lamy Safaris and AL-Star’s in stock at our shop, along with curated selections from Lamy’s regular lineup. I was also pleased to see that Lamy decided to release a mechanical pencil in both the Sage Green and Autumn Pink this time around. You can check them out online or in person, as our physical store will be open this weekend!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges from the T.G.S. Patreon Program.

Exploring New Formats: Lamy AL-Star Rollerball and Mechanical Pencil

Over the years when evaluating the latest releases from Lamy (and most other brands), my default has been to review the fountain pen and, occasionally, the ballpoint. But what about the rollerball? As I was writing last week's review on the Tom's Studio Lumos fineliner, I was struck by the simplicity of writing with basic black ink, and the focus it allowed in terms of not being distracted by all the various elements that go into writing with a fountain pen. When I decided to do my initial review of the new Lamy AL-Star pens that arrived last week, I pulled one of the Fiery AL-Star Rollerballs and the Aquatic .5mm mechanical pencil - two formats that don't receive a lot of attention.

The Lamy AL-Star Rollerball: Taking a Second Look

We sell a fair number of Lamy AL-Star and Safari rollerball pens, but it's not a format I've personally used very much. It's only fair that I take one for a test drive, right? So far, the experience has been mostly positive, and largely consistent with the writing experience offered by other rollerball pens using a standard medium refill. The pen itself looks nearly identical to the AL-Star fountain pen, with the exception that there is no "cutout" in the barrel to allow you to view the ink level in the cartridge or converter. (This feature would serve no purpose in a rollerball pen, as you can't view the ink level in a metal refill, and it would look pretty ugly to see the silver peeking out, IMHO.) The grip is the same, as is the overall feel and balance of the pen.

Balance in the hand is very similar to the AL-Star fountain pen, posted or unposted.

With respect to the writing experience, it all comes down to whether you enjoy writing with a rollerball pen, which typically write a wetter line than a ballpoint or gel pen. The refills contain very dark pigmented liquid ink, and in a wider tip size, have a tendency to bleed through paper - even good paper such as the Lamy notebook in the photos below, or Tomoe River (!?!). That said, if you want a pen that writes a smooth, bold black/blue line, breaking out a rollerball can be quite satisfying. Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon outlining the main ideas for a legal brief on a legal pad, and while I had some show-through and feathering from the rollerball cartridge on the thinner paper, I would compare the experience to working with a marker on a whiteboard. There was no need for me to write small, as my primary goal was to get the "big ideas" on paper so that I could later organize them into a coherent rough draft. For this, the rollerball was perfect, especially since I didn’t plan to preserve this writing for posterity.

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Pro Tip: I hardly ever purchase rollerball cartridges in bulk. Over the years, I've noticed that they don't age well (across brands), and can become skippy and dry out quickly. For that reason I typically purchase rollerball refills in smaller batches, if not one at a time, as I need them.

Lamy AL-Star Mechanical Pencil: Rotate to Your Heart’s Content

One of the curious decisions Lamy made during this recent product cycle was to release the AL-Star .5mm mechanical pencil in the new "Aquatic" finish. Why do one color but not the other? Regardless, I'm enjoying this new pencil and somewhat disagree with critics of the design, particularly those who dislike the molded grip on the AL-Star and Safari mechanical pencils.

AL-Star and Safari Grip Sections are triangular, meaning that you can rotate them as needed (at least in the non-fountain pen versions).

The major gripe that I hear is that the molded grip supposedly prevents users from rotating the mechanical pencil as you write. Some - but not all - users rotate their pencil in order to prevent flat edges from forming on the lead and to maintain a sharp point. (Uni's Kuru-Toga pencils do this automatically, which is their key selling point.)

The AL-Star Grip Section, viewed sideways.

I don't consider that critique entirely on-point for a couple of reasons. First, the molded grip on both the Safari and AL-Star is symmetrical and triangular, so rotating the pencil shouldn't affect your grip too much as long as you are someone who can actually use the AL-Star or Safari. (The molded section just doesn’t work for some people given issues of comfort and how they hold the pen/pencil.) If you rotate the pencil, there will be three different angles at which the grip remains the same. I don't personally use the molded grip to guide finger placement, as Lamy intends, and have no issue resting my fingers on top of the triangular edges, so this has never been a problem for me as someone who does rotate their mechanical pencils as I write.

For my own purposes, I wanted to find out whether the weight of the pen would affect lead breakage in the .5mm size. The AL-Star and Safari mechanical pencils are bigger pencils with a thicker diameter, and the AL-Star is metal. My concerns turned out to be unfounded. The pencil writes nicely, even with the thicker aluminum barrel. Those who sometimes find standard mechanical pencils too thin should definitely check this one out.

The fountain pen barrels in Aquatic and Fiery, for comparison purposes.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

A couple of years ago I reviewed the Lamy Safari ballpoint for the first time and (virtually) kicked myself for not testing one out sooner. The same goes for the rollerball and mechanical pencil versions of the AL-Star. I'm liking both of these and may even take a pass on the fountain pen versions of the new releases as I seek to diversify my personal collection.

The AL-Star ballpoint in Fiery and Aquatic, also for comparison purposes. I like the colored sections that complement the overall tone of the pen.

We currently stock the entire range of the Lamy AL-Star "Fiery" and "Aquatic" pens (and pencil), as well as remaining stock of other special and limited edition AL-Star finishes from recent years. Priced at $28 for the rollerball and $16 for the mechanical pencil, The Lamy AL-Star represents good value and should serve you well over the long-term, despite sitting at what many consider an entry-level price point. We also have all the refills you may need, should you wish to change ink color and tip size from the stock black medium rollerball refill, or swap out the stock HB mechanical pencil lead.

The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized retailer of Lamy. T.G.S. is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program.

New Arrivals: Lamy AL-Star "Fiery" and "Aquatic" Special Edition Pens Are Here!

While this year’s Lamy Safari special editions landed last month, members of Team AL-Star were waiting on this next release. Well, the wait is over and the pens are in stock and available to ship immediately! This year’s AL-Star pens come in two different finishes: “Fiery” (a cool metallic red) and “Aquatic” (a cool metallic blue). Lamy has paired each metal finish with a matching translucent grip section - red for the Fiery and blue for the Aquatic - as well as matching cap finials.

The Aquatic finish comes in a .5mm mechanical pencil version, which is what caught my fancy from this batch. I’m keeping one!

Since these pens feature black trim, the fountain pens pair perfectly with the Lamy Cursive nibs, which are now back in stock. Rollerball and ballpoint options are available in both the Fiery and Aquatic finishes, and Lamy has released a .5mm Aquatic mechanical pencil. As noted above, all of these pens, as well as the restocked 2024 Safari releases, are available to ship immediately!

The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized retailer of Lamy pens, and carries a selection of many different models. T.G.S. is supported entirely by purchases from The T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program.