Hello everyone,

The nibs on most Lamy fountain pens are interchangeable, and most are stainless steel. But I seem to recall that there are also some nibs of the same pattern, but made from 14k gold instead of stainless steel.

I'd like to get one for my Al-Star. Do these nibs even exist, and if they do, do they fit on a Safari/Vista/Al-Star, and where can I buy one?

They exist for the Palladium and Pearl White Lamy Studio. These nibs are heaven to write with, much better than the steel in my opinion. Since the Studio takes both the gold and the steel nibs, the steel being the very same nibs as the Safari/Al-Star/Joy, in theory it follows that the Safari should take the gold Studio nib. However, when I asked several B&M retailers whether it was, even in theory, possible to fit a Safari with a gold Studio nib, they clearly thought I was insane. So if you really want your Safari to have the gold nib, my suggestion would be to contact Lamy directly, buy just the gold nib, and install it instead of your steel.

However, a better suggestion, is to just buy the Palladium or Pearl White Studio, since the gold nib alone will cost you $50+. The Studio is a truly superior pen, with a better designed feed (and therefore, better ink flow), a more durable body, and fewer quality issues. In my experience, particularly the Al-Stars do not "deserve" gold nibs, as these pens get battered very easily. I say all this as an owner of 3 Safaris, 3 Al-Stars, 3 Joys, and 2 gold-nibbed Studios.

Actually, the feed on the Studio is the same feed as the Safari. I believe that the only Lamy pens to use a different nib & feed style in the past 20 years is the 2000 and the Persona.

And trust me, the ABS plastic on the Safari is much more durable than the lacquers on the Studio (still brings a tear to my eye thinking about it).

That is what I thought before I owned a Studio: that everything including the feed, is the same as the Safari, except for the materials used to make the body. But once I did get a Studio, my perception changed. I don't know how these pens can have the same feed design as the Safari, because they are a lot more tolerant of inks than the Safari and have much better flow. Nearly all of my Safaris have a problem with 60% Herbin inks, and a few Noodler's. The same inks work absolutely fine in the Studios. If something other than difference in feed design can explain this, I am open to that. But something is different. I was not predisposed to like the Studio, but I now think it is a far superior writer.




This was discussed in another thread that I can't find now. But first, please note that I was talking about the Al-Star (painted aluminum) vs the Lamy Studio, not the plastic Safari vs the Lamy Studio. I hate to say this, because I love these pens so much, but my 3 Lamy Al-Stars are absolutely the least durable pens I own, in a collection of 50+ pens. I love the way the Al-Stars look, but they are extremely scratch prone and dent prone. The finish on all three of mine has become severely worn around the edges in just over a year; they look pretty awful and beat up for pens that are meant for everyday use.

The textured, old-style plastic Safaris are a different story; they are incredibly durable and of high quality. Unfortunately, only the Charcoal Safari is currently made in this way. The others, which are the smooth plastic, are, in my experience far less durable and often plagued with quality defects, such as tiny cracks around the section, which have been reported by a number of people in other threads. This seems to be a bigger problem with the newest models.

The bottom line is this: I am all for freedom of expression, and if a person wants to outfit their Al-Star with a $50 gold Studio nib, that is their right; absolutely. But the decision they make should be an informed one, and they should be aware of the Al-Star's durability issues. If they do want to put a gold nib on it, I then suggest keeping in in a pen case at all times, and being careful with it in order to preserve the finish.

I had always wondered about a gold nib on a Safari, so please report back after you actually did it. I am really curious as to how it will turn out.

As far as I know, the Al-Star is anodized aluminum, not painted aluminum. It's that same stuff that Maglites are made from, and though I have seen some Maglites with large amounts of wear to their anodizing, I have yet to see one that's dented--even if it's twenty or more years old. Now, granted, the cylindrical shape of the light is stronger than the shape of the pen, and I think the Maglite uses thicker metal too, but the Al-Star strikes me as a durable object as well.

Where would I contact Lamy to get a gold nib? I haven't found any option to do so online--would I have to go to a B&M store?

Oh, these pens dent easily. I've had it happen to two. This is my biggest complaint with the Al -Star.
the nibs from the studio are interchangable with the Safaris and Al -Stars.
I did it a while back and the nib actually performed better on the Safari than it did the Studio.

The finish on the Al-Star rubs off quite easily... compared to my Maglite at least.

I can only speak from personal experience. And as I said, I have 3 Al-Stars, from 3 different sellers, and the finish is in pretty bad shape on all of them only a year later. No dents, but scuffs and scratches all over the surface. I admit that I wasn't careful with them, but I was not abusive either: just used them in the same way as I use my plastic Safaris.



Yes, I would go through a B&M shop and ask them to contact Lamy. If you ask specifically about putting it on the Al-Star, the shop may tell you that "it's not done," so just tell them you want to buy a gold nib from Lamy. I think that the blue Al-Star will actually look quite nice with the 2-tone gold nib, so good luck and have fun. Just treat it carefully and beware of the delicate finish.

Hmmm....

(1) Interesting. Have three Safari, so far they have flowed anything I have used in them. Noodlers, Quink, Skrip, PR...... Have not tried J. Herbin, but I am supprised that that would cause problems. Will have to give it a try some day.

responding to an other post....

(2) On the finish vs. Maglite flash lights. I believe greater effort is made to make the flashlight durable down to the finish as compared to the AL fountain pen. I have never heard of a fountain pen that was designed for rough field service.

For nearly a year I had thought that my Safaris worked with "everything", but that was before I began to experiment with lots and lots of inks. When "everything" consisted of several Noodler's colours and MB English Racing Green, the flow was indeed spectacular. But then I clogged 2 of my Safaris very badly with Noodler's Swishmix Burgundy, to the point that this ink literally got caked inside the feed after a week. And later, when I bough lots of Herbin, I was disappointed to discover that many of the colours do not flow well in the Safaris, at least those with the 1.1 italic nibs. The ones I've tried so far that don't flow are: Rouge Croubier, Ambre de Birmanie, Orange Indien (better than the other two, but still problematic), and Rouille d'Ancre. The ones that do flow are Poussiere de Lune and Cacao de Bresil. I decided to stop wasting ink, so I have not experimented with every Herbin colour I own, but a 4/6 "no go" rate is pretty bad in my book. All the problematic colours work fine in both of my Pearl White Studios.

If you do give Herbin inks a try in your Safaris, do let us know how it goes.

So just because the Safaris do not work with 1.1 nibs and Swishmix and Herbin inks makes them substandard writers? It's interesting, though, that they work in the Studios, which have the same feed as the Safari. Tell me, what kind of nib is on the Studios? If they're gold, it's known that gold wicks ink better than stainless steel, so if you put the gold nib on the Safari, perhaps that would solve your problem...

I do concede that the Maglite comparison durability-wise was a bit far-fetched. But consider it this way: The plastic will stand up to scratches and even mild to moderate impacts better than metal, but the metal will bend and dent under larger forces whereas plastic has a tendency to shatter.

Not that pens will generally be exposed to such impacts, though. Just my two cents.

I think the aluminum looks better anyway.

Well no, I did not say they are sub-standard writers, did I? I said that they do not work with some of my inks and that the aluminum models get damaged easily, that's all. I would not own 9 Safari/Al-Star/Joy pens if I did not like them. But it is also important, as a FP user, to know what are the benefits and the shortcomings of any given pen. I like my Safaris, but I no longer try to put Herbin in them; I like my Al-Stars, but the next one I get one, I will know to be very careful with the finish. .

The gold nib on the Studio is a 2-tone 14K with an unusual design. You can kind of see it in my review here:
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=56781

It is possible that the Safari would write better with the gold nib, but I have now converted almost all of mine to talic nibs of various sizes, for "illuminated manuscript" writing. I am fine with the steel nibs as they are, as long as I use them with inks they like. The Safari/Al-Star/Joy line are, ultimately, student-grade pens, so personally I feel that steel nibs are more suitable.

But let us know how your experiment goes and I hope you enjoy it.

QM2

Honestly, you're right about the 'student-grade' pen part. I'd just like the nicer nib, even if only to see how it compares, and I don't want to buy a whole new pen to (I haven't got the money.)

I also probably can't afford the gold nib right now either. But I will post on FPN if/when I get the nib and try it out.

That doesn't mean I don't want a studio, to be sure. They're pretty pens...