I'm unabashedly a big fan of LAMY pens. I have 5 fountain pens (2 AL-star and 3 Safari) plus 2rollerballs. I have the 3 italic nibs on my Safari pens and use them for special lettering projects and I also like to use the 1.1 for plain writing as you get the variation of stroke width which is nice. My 2 AL-star have the 14k gold nibs in FINE and OM, and I love them... what can you say... German design and workmanship from Heidelberg! The triangular grip is perfect for making good penmanship easy. Now, I also have several HIGH end pens and truly enjoy those, but first and for most, the Lamys are my day to day go to pen and so I give them full marks, 5 stars and a firm recommendation to anyone. They are value and guality for the money. Good stuff!