Fountain Pen Review: 2024 Lamy Safari Special Edition Pink Cliff and Violet Blackberry

2024 Lamy Safari Special Edition Pink Cliff and Violet Blackberry

In the latter part of 2023, people started talking about the special edition Lamy Safaris for 2024. Some hoped for colored clear Safaris, and others wished for more pens in textured matte finish. In early January, photos of the two Lamy Safari pens for 2024 began showing up. There were mixed reactions to the new pens. Some did not believe the pens were real, others thought they were fake, and many did not like the design. Even I thought they looked like Safari frankenpens!

When Lamy formally announced the release of the two new Safaris, the pens became mostly anticipated, and everyone—including me—waited to get their hands on Pink Cliff and Violet Blackberry, the 2024 Special Edition Lamy Safari pens.

Lamy Philippines promptly sent the fountain pens as soon as they received their stocks. Upon receiving the 2024 Safaris, I realized that they are beautiful and unique. It would be a huge loss not to include them in my collection. The two new fountain pens introduced this year have some unique features for the first time, such as different grip section colors, matching cap finials and section colors, matching inks, and labeled boxes!

Lamy Safari Pink Cliff in its pink-themed Lamy box.

Lamy Safari Violet Blackberry in the violet-themed Lamy box. Both fountain pens come with a Z28 Lamy ink converter and a T10 ink cartridge.

Lamy released the 2024 Special Edition Safari pair in packaging similar to that of previous years, such as Dark Lilac (2016), Petrol (2017), All Black (2018), Pastel (2019), Candy (2020), Origin (2021), and Strawberry and Cream (2022). The old, bulky plastic pen boxes are no longer used. Lamy now uses laminated cardboard boxes with the year's color theme, or a combination of gray and the pens' colors. The laminated pen box is enclosed in a plain white sleeve. This year, Lamy has added a small detail to the boxes that I really like — the boxes of the 2024 Safari pens are labeled with the pens' color models!

The 2024 Lamy Safari pen boxes are labeled! Neat! This helps a lot in organizing boxes and pens.

The Lamy Safari Pink Cliff and Violet Blackberry are available as fountain pens, rollerball pens, and ballpoint pens. The fountain pens have the following measurements and specifications:

• Colors: Pink Cliff and Violet Blackberry
• Material: ABS plastic
• Length, capped: 5.5 in | 14.6 cm
• Length, uncapped: 5 in | 13.2 cm
• Length, cap posted: 6.5 in | 16.5 cm
• Full pen weight: 15 g | 0.53 oz
• Cap: Snap-on, postable
• Clip material: Stainless steel
• Nib: Interchangeable nibs in Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, Broad, Kanji, or italics (1.1, 1.5, 1.9mm)
• Filling mechanism: Lamy T10 Giant ink cartridge or Lamy Z27 or Z28 ink converter

For the first time, the Special Edition Lamy Safari pens have different colors for the grip sections. Both sections have a textured matte finish.

The Lamy Safari is often considered a beginner or student fountain pen. The 2024 Special Edition includes two pens with different finishes. The Pink Cliff pen has a textured matte finish on the cap, section, and barrel, similar to the pens from 2020 (Violet, Aquamarine, and Mango), 2021 (Terra Red and Savannah Green), and 2022 (Strawberry and Cream). On the other hand, the Violet Blackberry pen has a glossy finish on the cap and barrel and a textured matte finish on the section. These pens are made from sturdy ABS plastic, which is the same material used in Lego blocks, keyboard keycaps, refrigerator walls, and the filament commonly used in 3D printers. The Lamy Safari was first introduced in the 1980 Frankfurt exhibition (read more in Lamy's Company History) and has been in regular production since then. Despite some fountain pen enthusiasts' low regard for this plastic pen, many fans around the world collect the Safari and its aluminum cousin, Lamy AL-star.

Pink Cliff and Violet Blackberry come with matching black nibs and spring-loaded, oversized clips. These pens are reliable, sturdy, and durable workhorses. They feature ergonomically shaped sections or grip areas to ensure comfortable writing over long periods. In addition, the Lamy Safari's unique ink window allows you to see how much ink is left in the cartridge or converter.

Lamy Safari's iconic spring-loaded clips. This year's pens have black clips. Lamy has not released a special edition pen with a chrome clip since 2020.

The Safari's triangular section is ergonomically designed to make writing easier — it helps users get a firm and secure grip on the pen. An anti-slipping brake near the end of the section prevents a user’s fingers from slipping onto the nib while writing. Some people find the section's design uncomfortable, but I find it very helpful. 

Lamy Safari fountain pens are fitted with sturdy, long-lasting stainless nibs. These nibs are interchangeable for the Safari and for other Lamy fountain pens, which are very useful. A Safari fountain pen has the same feed and nib as those on the Vista, Al-Star, Joy, Nexx, and Studio.

Lamy Safari fountain pens are filled with ink using a converter or a T10 ink cartridge. The proprietary piston-operated Z28 converters are used to fill Lamy fountain pens with ink from a bottle and included in the box.

The medium nibs on the Pink Cliff and Violet Blackberry wrote smoothly out of the box, and they are perfect for my thin-stick handwriting. 

I have been collecting Lamy Safari fountain pens for several years. Most special edition pens have the standard black textured matte cross finials, while the more unique ones have shiny dot-button finials (like the 2009 Pink and Creme Orange editions) or cross finials in the same colors as the pens (Aquamarine (2011), Green (2012), Pastel Collection (2019), and Candy (2020)). Some pens have finials that match the clip colors (Flame (2004), Blue and Red, a.k.a. the Superman Safari (2006), and Red Safari for China (2012)). However, the two pens for 2024 not only have different color sections, but their finials also match their grip sections.

The finials of Pink Cliff and Violet Blackberry match the pens' sections.

Pink Cliff and Violet Blackberry have matching colors for their sections and finials.

Lamy Pink Cliff has a textured matte blue-gray finish for the barrel and cap, with a matte pink for the section and cap finial. The nib and clip are black.

Lamy Violet Blackberry has a shiny dark purple finish for the barrel and cap and a light purple in matte finish for its section and cap finial. The nib and clip are black.

Pink and purple/violet Lamy Safaris and Al-stars, left to right: Powder Rose (2019), Light Rose (2023), Pink (2009), Vibrant Pink (2018), Black Purple (2009), Lilac (2023), Violet (2020), Dark Lilac (2016), Violet Blackberry (2024), Pink Cliff (2024), and Silver Blue (1997).

In previous years, Lamy has released inks to match their fountain pens. For most years, Lamy releases an ink to match a Safari and another one for the year's Al-star. This year, Lamy did something different by launching two matching ink colors for the Safari fountain pens for the first time. The Pink Cliff and Violet Blackberry fountain pens have matching inks with the same names.

Pink Cliff—despite its name, this ink is actually a deep navy blue ink with medium shading. It has no shimmer but exhibits some copper sheen. Pink Cliff is not a heavily saturated ink, and I like how it wrote with the medium nib on my Pink Cliff. 

Pink Cliff ink to match Pink Cliff Safari. This ink is available in a T52 50ml bottle or a 5-pack T10 cartridges.

Pink Cliff is a deep navy blue ink with medium shading and no shimmer, but has some copper sheen.

Violet Blackberry is one of Lamy's two new inks for 2024. It is a deep purple-black ink with some shading. Similar to Pink Cliff, this ink does not contain any shimmer, but it dries with a beautiful gold sheen. It is not highly saturated and has a slightly wet flow, which provides a smooth writing experience with the medium nib in my Violet Blackberry pen.

Violet Blackberry ink and pen. This ink is also available in 50ml bottles and 5-pack T10 cartridges.

Violet Blackberry is a deep purple ink with some shading and a beautiful gold sheen.

Lamy inks through the years. 

Pink Cliff and Violet Blackberry with beautiful copper and gold sheen.

This is my first fountain pen review in more than a year. I missed blogging and reviewing, but I couldn't do it for a long time while attending classes. In February, I underwent a scary medical procedure, and the love and care that my family and friends provided helped immensely in my healing and recovery. I am forever thankful to them, and I dedicate this comeback review to them. In my search for text to use in my writing sample, I focused on gratitude and came across this perfectly wonderful story of the two branches of gratitude.

What's good about the 2024 matching Lamy Safari and fountain pen inks? I didn't have to look hard for inks that would match the Safari fountain pens. The two Safaris wrote smoothly, without the nibs needing tuning or modifications. The Safaris are comfortable pens to use because they are made from lightweight material. I have not inked a Safari in a long time, and I'm glad I'm using them again. 

The two branches of gratitude—a beautiful story.

Pink Cliff and Violet Blackberry pens are special edition pens for 2024. When stocks run out, Lamy will likely not produce them again. But these pens are still widely available, so you can still get them for your collection!

Rants of the Archer thanks Times Trading and Lamy Philippines for providing the Lamy Safari Pink Cliff and Violet Blackberry fountain pens and inks for review purposes. Lamy Safari pens are widely available from reputable pen sellers worldwide. For a global search of Lamy sellers worldwide, follow this link. In the Philippines, Lamy pens, inks, and accessories are available from Times Trading Company, Lamy Philippines, the Lamy Concept Store in Makati, National Bookstore outlets, Scribe, and Everything Calligraphy.

For inquiries, visit the Lamy Philippines website (https://www.lamyphilippines.com/), email them at customerservice@lamyphillipines.com, or visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lamyph.