A few months ago, our friend (and honourary VPCer) Glenn in Australia acquired two Lamy 'Al-Star' SEs (Special Editions) - the 50 Years of Design SE & 2018 Chinese Year of the Dog SE. A few weeks ago, he ordered the Lamy 'Al-Star' Gold fountain pen....
(all photos courtesy of Glenn ~ please click on images to enlarge)
Glenn: "This pen is a bit of a puzzle, given that it is described as a special
edition variously for European, Asian, UK and goodness knows what other
markets. It’s also a bit of a challenge to track down at a reasonable
price; several sellers from whom I sometimes buy Lamys don’t have it, and it’s
not clear if that’s because they never did or they are sold out. The
latest place I found it was at Cult Pens in the UK, where it appears to be a
newly stocked item, whereas I bought mine from the remaining stock at Appelboom
in the Netherlands. Blesket.com in Brampton, Ontario also carries it (link)"
"At first glance you could be forgiven for mistaking it for the equivalent
Lx model, but the resemblance is confined to the section, barrel and cap.
All the fittings are definitely down-market compared to the Lx, at the usual
Al-Star level... perfectly adequate, of course, but nothing fancy. I’ve
photographed it next to my gold Lx to show the similarity." (photo below)
(Top: Lamy Al-Star gold; Bottom: Lamy Lx gold)
"Some members of the Fountain Pen Network are scathing of it, saying it
looks cheap, but basically it’s a normal Al-Star, and I’m happy enough with
it. I’m just a bit surprised that it wasn’t ‘advertised’ in any of the pen
sellers’ emails I get."
Many thanks to Glenn for sharing the newest member of his Lamy 'Al-Star' family with us!
3 comments:
Hello,
Does the finial on cap on this 2020 special edition gold Al-star is the same, as on any other Al-star (cross-like? I saw in one place, that finial has a "minus" shape in it.
I sent an email to the person who did the review (and owns the pen). I'll post his reply to your question when he gets back to me, thanks!
~Maja
Ok, I just got a reply from Glenn in Australia (who did this review) and he says the finial on the cap is "(the) standard cross shape".
Cheers,
~Maja
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