In reply to Brett Douville.

Thanks for the info. You mentioned a key aspect of the more expensive pens I hadn’t considered, which is that they’re designed to last for decades and become heirlooms. My friend commented about inheriting one from his grandfather which had a ton of sentimental value attached since there was so much of his spirit in it.

Since I never got into them until recently, there’s little chance of getting that much of a sentimental attachment (although I do like using them). I’m probably more attached to my MacBook or iPad!

And I haven’t tried Kaweco, but I think part of what gave me a bad first impression of the Lamy Safari/Al-Star was the included blue ink cartridge. It just immediately made it feel like I was using an old ball point. I was happy to switch to black cartridges (and a bigger nib, which flows a little better).