The Lamy Safari is an extremely popular fountain pen. People rave about them, especially when we're talking about the special editions! Over the years we've pretty much seen every color or combination imaginable, except for one: purple. Especially during the last year or so, people were practically begging Lamy to do a purple safari, and the result is finally here...
To be honest, none of the previous special editions really spoke to me. Up until a week or two ago I only had one Safari FP, and I wasn't really planning on getting more. But oh boy, did things turn quickly! As soon as I saw leaked images of the rumoured 'next special edition', I decided that it was time to get another safari; the
Dark Lilac.
To put it in the -slightly adapted- words of Leonardo DiCaprio in
Django Unchained (One of my favourite movies btw):
"Lamy, you had my curiosity, but now you have my attention!"
Two things stand out with the Dark Lilac special edition: it has a matte finish, and black trims. The past couple of years, neither of those two things happened. The trend seemed to be making the LE's as bright and flashy as possible, which didn't really speak to me.
Where there's -as I mentioned- people that rave about the Safari, there's no denying that Lamy Safaris aren't exactly the pinnacle of design, some might even call them ugly. That being said, I really think the new color scheme helps in making it a more 'stylish pen'. The black accents on the dark purple body (dark 'lilac', I personally think it's more of a purple) make for a subdued, sleek pen. It's nothing like the 'girly' pen I expected when they first rumoured a purple safari.
I've recently read up on some posts and comments about how the Safari feels tacky. Well yes, it's a plastic pen, but all things considered, and given the entry-level price, I think it's a fairly solid choice in the 20-ish dollar price range. The matte finish on the Dark lilac does help in giving it a slightly more 'premium' look and feel -quite similar to how the 2000 feels in the hand (yet maybe not quite as substantial).
The Safari is a decent sized pen (14cm/ 5.5In closed), and due to the light plastic construction it's quite a comfortable fit. The shaped grip is not for everyone, which is why other starter pens, like the Metropolitan started to gain attention as 'best starter pen' recently. Wether the grip is good or bad I'll leave in the middle, but other than that it's still an excellent choice for everyday use.
As it goes with Lamy nibs, it lays down a nice and wet line, somewhat on the wider side (mine's a medium). The coated black nib writes smooth out of the box, it has that typical 'lamy feedback', just the right amount to let you know you're putting pen to paper. I've never had issues with Lamy nibs (and I've probably had over two dozen different Lamy's in my hands at this point), consistent flow, no stuttering or hard starts to speak of. The only gripe I can possibly find is that it tends to dry out quite fast when the cap is left off, something I've found on most Lamy pens.
The accompanying Dark Lilac ink is probably equally, if not more awesome than the pen itself. It's a really nice, dark shade of purple, with strong shading and a punchy base color. I wish I had a bottle of this stuff, but apparently Lamy doesn't like to provide bottles of their special edition inks in European countries (shame on you Lamy!).
If you ask me, Lamy clearly hit a homerun with this year's special edition Safari! It's a great color, but it remains subtle enough to not blind everyone around you when using it (I'm looking at you, Safari Neon pens!). As usual, these special editions tend to be quite -very- popular. Not surprising at all, because they offer a great way to get a 'limited edition' pen without breaking the bank. Prices range from 18.5 EUR here in the EU, to 29.5 USD in the US. Of course you can get a 10% discount when buying from
La Couronne Du Comte, or any other sponsor of this blog!
Note: This product was provided free of charge by La Couronne Du Comte, so I could write this review. I was in no way influenced in the making of this review, the opinions shared here are completely my own! This review does not contain any affilate links.
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