Following the jokes last week on The Pen Addict podcast about trying to urushi a Lamy, I thought it best to share the untainted Lamy Al-Star Bronze before I possibly offer up my Lamy Al-Star to a possible attempt to urushi it, if that’s something that could be attempted. The 2019 Bronze Al-Star ($38) is the most recent in a long line of limited edition Al-Star models. It turns out that just four years ago, in 2015, Lamy released the CopperOrange which is not all that different than the new Bronze. The Bronze pen barrel is more of a light orange color and a darker, ruddier tone that I would think of as bronze.
When I think of bronze, I think of bronze statues that are darker, almost brown with a golden undertone. A Lamy AL-Star in deep chocolate brown metallic would be stunning.
The limited edition Bronze fountain pen ink ($12 for 50ml bottle) is not an exact match for the pen. The ink is more of a burnt orange than what I would think of as a bronze color.
I put the Bronze ink next to several other well-known orange inks for comparison. From top to bottom: Robert Oster Pen Addict Fire on Fire, Lamy Bronze, J. Herbin Orange Indien, Montblanc Lucky Indian, Noodler’s Apache Sunset, Sailor Jentle Apricot.
J. Herbin Indien Orange is closest in color with Apache Sunset being slightly redder and a little dirtier. Fire on Fire is much redder in comparison and both Apricot and Lucky Orange are more saturated and cleaner by contrast. If you’ve ever wanted an orange ink but didn’t want one that was too bright, Bronze might be a good option.
Since the Lamy limited edition inks are so reasonably priced, its hard to skip them, even when I’m just ho-hum about the colors. After several years of Lamy ink scarcity, it’s worth it to grab a bottle, just in case.
Tools:
- Pens: Midori bullet pencil modified dip nib holder with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack), Acrylic dip nib pen (Approx. $15)
- Swatches: Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
- Brush: Blick Synthetic Round #0
- Ink: Lamy Bronze ($12 for 50ml bottle)
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Vanness Pen Shop for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
Lamy Bronze does look a lot like J Herbin Orange Indien. I have that ink. Is the Lamy Bronze different enough to justify buying it? I like to see writing samples, as swabs look pretty but are, well, swabs.
I guess I’ll have to get the Bronze Al-Star.
Since the ink consistencies are different I’d recommend investing in Lamy Bronze if you like the color of the J. Herbin Orange Indien. I find Lamy inks to behave better overall than J. Herbin.