Lamy Pacific Blue Al-Star Pen And Ink Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Every year, Lamy release a limited edition color of their popular Al-Star line, along with a companion ink of the same color. This year, I'm especially excited for the limited edition color: Pacific Blue. I'm admittedly a huge fan of turquoise and teal, and this pen is a delicious, shiny color that fits my bill perfectly. Pair that with an equally gorgeous turquoise ink, and we're all set for a killer combo.

The Pacific Blue Al-Star

You might love the new color, or it might make you cringe. Either way, it's impossible to miss. This is a loud, shocking, electric blue with subtle green undertones that set it off. Obviously, the color is inspired from the Pacific Ocean, and it does a great job of factoring in all the factors of the sea. When looking at this pen, it somehow looks as if it might be partially liquid while it sits on the desk. For me, it's a color that makes me extremely happy, and I love the pen for that.

Since the only difference with this Al-Star is the color, I won't spend a lot of time on the details. Check out my review of the Charged Green Al-Star from 2016. Everything holds true for this copy as well!

The Lamy Al-Star is a solid fountain pen. It's not as affordable as the Safari line, and some people enjoy the Safari line more for many great reasons, but the Al-Star hits a nice balance of design, weight, feel, and awesome colors that set it apart from the Safari. If you haven't tried out an Al-Star (or a Safari...), then I highly recommend picking up this limited edition color.

The Lamy Al-Star in Pacific Blue is $36.00 and available with an EF, F, or M nib. Remember that Lamy nibs are easy to swap out with another size as well. Each Al-Star ships with a single blue cartridge, or you can purchase a cartridge-converter separately.

Lamy Pacific Blue ink

The other half of this year's Lamy special edition combo is the Pacific Blue ink. You might have heard, but it's no secret that Pacific Blue is, in fact, the same ink as Lamy Turquoise. I don't understand why Lamy released Turquoise under a limited edition moniker instead of formulating a unique ink, but that's not the point of this review. As such, keep that in mind if you already own Lamy Turquoise! You can safely skip this ink knowing that you already have it.

Lamy Pacific Blue is a beautiful turquoise ink that leans toward the lighter and blue spectrum. For example, I found that Kaweco Turquoise was a bit darker than the Lamy version. Iroshizuku ama-iro is actually very similar to Pacific Blue, but I think it has better shading qualities. Regardless, it's a gorgeous blue-green that radiates on the page! I love using this ink because of the color, and it's been difficult for me to switch back to Ama-iro over the past week. It's a great color.

Shading is great with this ink, which is something I haven't been very excited about with other Lamy inks. There isn't a massive range of variation, but it's tasteful. Again, it's intended to remind you of the Pacific ocean, so a degree of shading is expected. Lamy delivers this with high marks. The shading behavior is easy to notice in this medium nib, but it shows off a bit more in larger nibs. There's a minimal degree of shading in small nibs, but that shouldn't be a surprise.

The ink performs really well. I've not had any issues with skipping, starting, or clogging. Cleaning is a breeze, and lubrication is very balanced.

I haven't been able to detect any bleeding or feathering so far on my normal papers. There's a degree of feathering on cheap copy paper, but that is expected. Being on the light side, show-through isn't a problem in most cases. Using Rhodia paper, the opposite side of the page is completely usable after the top side is used.

Dry time is average compared to other fountain pen inks I use. It dries consistently by 15 seconds, while pooled areas take about 20 seconds to dry completely. Not bad, but not exceptional.

One unique feature with any Lamy bottled ink is the ink blotter included at the base of the bottle. This is convenient for cleaning the grip section and nib after you fill it with ink. These blotting strips do a great job and prevent you from using a tissue or paper towel to do the same job. Much less waste.

You can purchase Lamy Pacific blue in a 50ml bottle, or as a 5-pack of cartridges. Personally, I think the bottle is a better bargain. And remember — if you already own Lamy Turquoise, you don't need this!

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Shawn Newton Custom Sumpter in Le Tigre Cebloplast/Celluloid: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

I saw the Le Tigre cebloplast/celluloid (a vintage material) on Shawn Newton’s Instagram last summer. I immediately emailed him to see if I could have a pen made from the stuff. Initially he said he could only make a barrel from it since he only had a little of the material. But, fortunately, he found more hidden somewhere in his holy of holies of stock. I would get an entire pen made of Le Tigre. Rawr!

I placed my order July 7, and Shawn gave me an estimated ship date of March 2017. Jaw drop. Yes, Shawn’s work is mega-popular, and that means a wait of at least six months (my pen actually arrived the first week of February).

As always with Shawn Newton pens, the wait was worth it. My pen was shipped in a Newton-branded steel tumbler with a lovely pen wrap made by his wife.

Le Tigre cebloplast is outrageously gorgeous—green, yellow, and black striped with tons of chatoyance. The material has so much depth and color and is quite unique.

Shawn told me to be careful with this pen. The Le Tigre is a vintage material, and if I were to drop the pen on a hard floor, it would likely shatter.

The pen itself is light (cebloplast/celluloid is light material) and of medium length (148mm capped, 133mm uncapped, 177mm posted). On Shawn’s site this pen is listed as a small Sumpter. The Sumpter is a classic cigar-shaped pen with a screw-on cap and a plain steel clip.

It is a cartridge/converter (converter included).

I lucked out and got it with an 18K rhodium-plated fine nib etched with the Newton logo.

I’ve purchased three pens from Shawn, and this fine nib is the very best writer of the three. In fact, it’s one of the best writers of all my pens.

It writes so smoothly and with the perfect amount of wetness, and the nib has a wonderful bounce to it. I inked it with Sailor Jentle Epinard which matches the color of the cebloplast nicely. I used it today in my Women Writer’s class to take notes. I was writing as fast as I possibly could, and the nib and feed kept up without any problems.

Thus far, this is my favorite Shawn Newton custom pen. I love the unique, vintage material. The Sumpter shape is classic and uncomplicated. And this baby writes like a champ. Just don’t drop it, Susan. Do. Not. Drop.

Pros

• One of the best things about custom pen makers like Shawn is you can get a brand new pen in vintage material.
• The Sumpter is a classic, simple design that feels well balanced in the hand.
• The standard 18K fine nib I got with this pen is simply excellent—one of the best writers in my collection.
• I like cartridge/converter pens, so I’m happy with this system. But if you prefer piston fillers, you can have Shawn make your pen with a piston at additional cost.
• Shawn is so much fun to work with. He didn’t get to be super creative on this pen because the small amount of Le Tigre cebloplast limited our options. But you can have a pen made in any number of configurations with virtually any material. The only limits are your imagination and the size of your wallet.

Cons

• The Le Tigre material is vintage, and I don’t think Shawn has any more. Sorry (not sorry). I believe I got the last of it.
• The small Sumpter might be too small and light for people who like weighty, large pens. But, you can always ask Shawn to add metal rings and/or a metal barrel to a pen if you want more weight.
• The one bad thing about this vintage cebloplast is it’s super delicate, and I’m a klutz. Kid gloves with this pen, folks.

The Wink Pen: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

The Wink Pen is a unique concept, combining a glass nib with a converter and a demonstrator body.

The idea came about when the creator, Jessica Chan, decided to combine a writing instrument with sustainable, alternative liquids. Chan collaborated with Matthew Malone, an engineer, to create a prototype pen that could be used with wine, juice, and other liquids. They launched a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2015 (Source: booklet included with the Wink Pen).

The Wink Pen arrives in beautiful packaging. A sophisticated looking black cardboard and metal box opens to reveal the pen wrapped in a soft, satin-like cloth.

Included are the booklet that describes the history of Winkpens, a certificate of authenticity, and a cardboard sleeve that provides usage instructions.

The pen can be completely dissassembled, which is good since it is meant to be used with a variety of liquids. The pen is comprised of a glass nib, a coupler, a converter, a barrel cap, the pen cap, and the glass barrel.

The cap has a clip with the initials of the creator (J.C.) engraved near the top. The Winkpen logo is on the finial.

To use the pen, fill the converter with your desired liquid, insert it into the coupler, push the glass barrel and barrel cap on, and twist the barrel cap until liquid starts dripping from the nib.

The pen is designed to work with low viscosity liquids. I tried it first with coffee:

Then Cabernet Sauvignon wine:

Unfortunately, as excited as I was to try unusual liquids in the pen, it didn’t work very well. In order to write even a couple of letters with the coffee or wine, I had to twist the barrel knob to get a blob of liquid to come out. The converter couldn’t deliver enough liquid to the glass nib to write continuously. My conclusion: the pen doesn’t work well with low viscosity liquids. It would be easier just to use a dip pen.

I will say the paper you write on makes a difference. My first tests were on Maruman Septcouleur paper which is pretty slick and Moo Notebook paper (very high quality with little texture). When I wrote with wine on Maruman sketch paper I had much better results with color saturation. But I still had to wet the nib constantly.

The pen works just fine with fountain pen ink. I tested it with Callifolio Aurora and Bung Box Sweet Potato Purple. The Callifolio worked fairly well, though I had to turn the pen to keep the ink flowing.

The Bung Box Sweet Potato ink worked perfectly.

Although I love the original idea of using the Wink Pen with any liquid, my experiments were frustrating. The liquids I tried simply would not keep flowing from the converter. I found using the pen with coffee and wine to be messy and inconsistent. Therefore, I’m not sure what advantage the Wink Pen offers when compared with a regular glass dip pen.

However, the Wink Pen works quite well with regular ink. Those who enjoy the feel of a glass nib but prefer the convenience of a converter (less mess), will like the Wink Pen.

You can purchase a first edition Wink Pen from Winkpens for $65 (originally $129). I did not find any information on the website about forthcoming editions of the pen.

Pros

• The Wink Pen is an unusual combination of a glass nib with a converter-filled pen.
• The pen writes well with regular fountain pen ink.
• The pen is simple to assemble and dissassemble which makes it easy to clean—important if you choose to use wine or coffee as ink.
• The glass nib writes smoothly and is beautiful when inked with saturated colors.

Cons

• Unfortunately, writing with alternative liquids, which is the main intent of the Wink Pen, was frustrating. Coffee and wine were too wet and the flow too inconsistent to write more than a few letters.
• I found that I had to twist the barrel cap to force liquid out every few letters, which sort of defeats the purpose of having a converter-based glass-nibbed pen. This was not a problem with regular fountain pen ink.

(Wink Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)