The Edison Beaumont is a pen that came out in August of 2012 in three colors (see my video introducing them here). Edison has recently added a new color, called Bordeaux Flake, to the lineup. It's a nice crimson red flecked material embedded in a pool of black to compliment the black accents of the grip and finial.
The Beaumont has been a very popular pen, and for good reason. It's small enough for those with smaller hands (like my darling wife), but large enough for brutes like me to hold comfortably. Normally a pen this size requires a small nib, but somehow Edison managed to jam a large #6 size stainless steel Jowo nib into it and still keep the pen a reasonable size. What's also cool is that Edison nibs are available separately from the pen, so you can get a whole collection and switch and swap extra-fine, fine, medium, broad, 1.1mm, or 1.5mm nibs to your heart's content.
So if you had your heart set on a Beaumont but couldn't decide what color you liked most, now your choice just got even harder. The Bordeaux Flake isn't an impulse buy at $149, but for those who know the Edison name, it's a pretty good deal.
Edison Beaumont top to bottom: Bordeaux Flake, Onyx Flake, Bedrock Flake, and Sapphire Flake.
If there was one color that I could have chosen for a Lamy Al-Star, it would have been this matte Black. It's awesome, with all black details. They did it right! While it's not yet available in the US (we're told late-May/early-June), it has been released in other parts of the world. I was originally told that it would be available later in 2013, but the date was pushed up for one reason or another, thank goodness! I'm so excited for these pens to come in, seriously. I did get my hands (temporarily) on a pre-production sample and I was able to squeeze out a video for you here. So here's what I cover:
Overview of the pen (1:58)
Comparing to the other Al-Star colors (2:38)
Comparison to the Charcoal Safari (3:17)
Changing a Lamy nib (4:20)
Choosing a converter (5:25)
What Limited Edition means for this pen (6:30)
Inking it up and writing with it (7:25)
Lamy Al-Star Matte Black, Limited Edition
Lamy Al-Star Black, Limited Edition, all black accents
The way that Lamy has been doing either Limited Edition pens these days is that instead of doing them for a set period of time (a year or so), they are instead a set production run. Sometimes it's one run, sometimes two, but we never really know how or when the pens will be gone. I'm not 100% sure why they are doing it this way, but what I can say is that the LE pens are not available as long as they used to be. So while I don't believe that these will be bust-open-the-doors-and-elbow-people-in-the-face-to-get-one limited, I would say you'll probably want to budget for this pen in the first month or two after it arrives (in the US that is, I can't speak for availability overseas).
If you're interested in being notified as soon as we have this pen in stock at Gouletpens.com, go here and sign up for the email notification list. This pen, though limited edition, will sell for the same price as the regular Al-Stars at $47 list ($37.60 at GPC).
So what do you think? I know I'm a total tease by showing you this weeks before I even have any to sell…I just want to know your thoughts! You can comment below, on YouTube, @Gouletpens on Twitter, and on Facebook.
Apica has always made decent paper, so when I heard they were coming out with a premium line, I just had to get my hopes up. Often, when I get my hopes up, it's easy to be disappointed....but not here. Seriously, this paper is awesome. It's not perfect, and I go over all that in the video, but it is seriously some paper worthy of the name "premium". Here's what I talk about:
Paper quality and dry time (0:50)
More writing samples and doodles (2:25)
Paper color/comparison to other brands (4:12)
Writing on the paper (5:39), Notebook sizes (7:55)
Cover colors and rulings (9:15)
Binding and cover quality (11:36)
There are 4 different sizes, with 3 different rulings. The rulings determine the cover color: lined = blue, blank = black, and graph = red. You can see the nitty-gritty details of all the different specific notebooks at GouletPens.com. Though Apica doesn't advertise the paper weight, it is my best guess that it's around 90g. It's consistent throughout the whole line, the paper does not change from one notebook to another. It's super-smooth, very ink resistant, and it's really tough to get any ink to bleed or feather, it really holds up.
All the notebook sizes come with 96 sheets, which is as thick as most bound journals. This is a pretty new line, so if you have any experience with it I'd love to hear your thoughts. It's not cheap stuff, it is a premium in every sense of the word (prices range from $12.60-$27.00 per notebook). But they are nicer, sturdier, and thicker than the regular Apica line, so the premium is justified in my eyes. Will it be for you? I can't say that for sure, but if you like the feel of Clairefontaine and Rhodia Premium, then you will probably like this paper a lot!
Apica Premium, available in 4 different sizes: A6, A5, B5, and A4. Colors correspond to their ruling: blue = lined, black = blank, and red = graph.
Apica Premium A6, the smallest of the bunch at 105mm x 148mm (4.13" x 5.82"). 96 sheets, in lined, blank, or graph.
Apica Premium A5 is 148mm x 210mm (5.82" x 8.27"), with 96 sheets in lined, blank, or graph.
Apica Premium B5, similar to the A5 but slightly larger at 182mm x 257mm (7.17" x 10.12"). 96 sheets, in lined, blank, or graph.
Apica Premium A4, biggest of the group at 210mm x 297mm (8.25" x 11.75"). 96 sheets, in lined, blank, or graph.
Apica Premium notebooks have stitched and glued bindings, better than the staplebound Apica CD in their normal line.
The lined notebooks have three different size rulings. A6 is 6.5mm, A5 and B5 is 7mm, and A4 is 8mm.
Apica Premium is thicker than most notebooks at 96 sheets, but still lies completely flat when open because of its excellent stitched and glued binding.
