Jump to content

Aurora Optima Auroloide: new cap band design?


Stylo

Recommended Posts

I have noticed that the Optima cap band on the Aurora and Swisher sites has a new design. I have attached a couple of images showing the differences. Is this a relatively new redesign?

 

It seems like most vendors are nowadays selling the Optima Auroloides in the $450-500 range :yikes: It seems like just a couple of years ago that it was going for around $330-360 ,and I even had a price in the $270 from my favorite vendor.

post-32-1201640152_thumb.jpg

post-32-1201640351_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 17
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Stylo

    4

  • Susanna

    2

  • rhosygell

    2

  • FrankB

    1

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

I sort of like the new cap band.

 

I agree that Aurora prices are through the roof. I can barely believe it myself. I have several Optimas, all of them older models. I did not pay $500 even for my LE's. I am ever so grateful for the Optimas I have. But if I add any more to my collection they will almost certainly have to be used.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have the older black/chrome Optima, I like the design, not that there is anything wrong with the new...steep price but probably worth it, they are damn fine pens after all...

Lamy 2000-Lamy Vista-Visconti Van Gogh Maxi Tortoise Demonstrator-Pilot Vanishing Point Black Carbonesque-1947 Parker 51 Vacumatic Cedar Blue Double Jewel-Aurora Optima Black Chrome Cursive Italic-Waterman Hemisphere Metallic Blue-Sheaffer Targa-Conway Stewart CS475

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It seems like most vendors are nowadays selling the Optima Auroloides in the $450-500 range :yikes: It seems like just a couple of years ago that it was going for around $330-360 ,and I even had a price in the $270 from my favorite vendor.

That's almost entirely the difference in the Dollar vs. Euro between then and now.

 

360 / 1.25 * 1.48

=> 426.24

 

 

deirdre.net

"Heck we fed a thousand dollar pen to a chicken because we could." -- FarmBoy, about Pen Posse

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The 2008 Italian price is 425 Euro, that's approx 630 Dollars...

 

 

German retail price is 405 Euros :-)

 

 

I've only seen the new cap band on pictures; judging from those I like the old one better!

 

 

Cheers

 

Michael

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's almost entirely the difference in the Dollar vs. Euro between then and now.

 

360 / 1.25 * 1.48

=> 426.24

 

But using the higher end of the old price range, you are not even getting close to the lower end of the price range now.

 

Based on your exchange rate changes, places that used to sell it for $337 should be selling for about $400 now, but they are selling closer to $470. Joonpens was selling it for around $360, I think, and again, with your numbers, the new price should be around $426, but it is $500.

 

Then there is the fact that the exchange rate change applies only to the wholesale price retailers pay. I assume their markup is at least in the $150-$200 range. Once you subtract that from the retail price, the exchange rate change doesn't even come close to explaining the price hike.

 

I can't believe that I could have bought one at the LA show three years ago for $250 :headsmack:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not only the abysmal exchange rate. It's also the escalating price of gold. Add to those two primary factors the additional factor--which is not shared by all retailers--of building in a margin to absorb the reorder costs if those costs are anticipated to continue rising, as they are, and the result is exactly the price hike we're seeing. It might also be that Aurora wants to fly at a higher altitude, of course, but the point is that there is plenty of upward pressure on the prices even without that.

Then there is the fact that the exchange rate change applies only to the wholesale price retailers pay. I assume their markup is at least in the $150-$200 range. Once you subtract that from the retail price, the exchange rate change doesn't even come close to explaining the price hike.
Retail markups are almost never a dollar amount. They are a percentage of cost. In a perfect world the markups might be a constant number of dollars, but in our world they're a constant percentage of an increasing dollar amount. It seems likely that American retailers will be making more profit per European pen, but they might not be making more profit overall, since there would be buyers who would have been willing to drop $400 on a pen that they're not willing to drop $600 on.

 

JN

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like the old cap band a lot better and the new one looks to me like the result of a lawsuit or some silly copyright infringement. I've had countless people ask me about Hermes, or some other fashion brands when they looked at my Optima with the larger greek key (mind you Omas USED to have more or less the same).

 

Aurora looks like it's pricing itself out of the market. There's so much one can ask for a light plasticky (read: acrylic) pen w/o a snowflake on the top. Omas celluloids used to have a very different feel in the hand. The Optimas will soon reach MB LE territory if they go on! I've heard that Aurora has responded to decrease in sales by laying out some employees in 2006 and increasing its prices (and profit margins) on the same pens. I've heard they employ less than 80, from someone in a pen store in Bologna in 2006. I was pleasantly surprised when they came out with the Nobile last year, altough the price kind of betrayed their strategy.

 

I just hope Aurora will survive the price increases... and come out with more exceptional pens like the Nobile.

 

 

PS There are two auraloide Optimas selling for 220-225 on the Pentrace green board.

Edited by RedRob
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My blue Aurora Optima has the "newer" cap band (seen in the picture of the green pen) but I bought it used for half of its normal retail price. As much as I like the Aurora, I would not have bought it new or paid full price for it. I can't bring myself to break that $250+ price barrier yet.

Sometimes I write things (as of 2013

http://katesplace7.wordpress.com/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Susanna,

don't cry. The Italian IVA is 20%, the german "only" 19%.

It's the 2007 pricelist. In 2006 it was only 385 EUR. That's a reason to cry ! :crybaby:

Regards

Dirk

I search for all pens and informations made in Pforzheim, e.g. Sarastro, Fend

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
Aurora looks like it's pricing itself out of the market. There's so much one can ask for a light plasticky (read: acrylic) pen w/o a snowflake on the top....

 

For a while, Optima Auroloides were almost universally priced at $499 or $500 in the U.S. It seems like the prices are coming down a little into the mid four hundreds region. I don't know if there is a pending change of lineup or it is just an adjustment to market conditions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I paid less than $190.00 over a year ago for my Optima Sole' and with barrel replacement

by Kenro,that brought the price up to $225.00. Wonder if it matches the price of the new

ones now...............

 

...............I'm glad I bought it when I did.

 

 

John

Irony is not lost on INFJ's--in fact,they revel in it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have recently bought a red Auroloide Optima, BNIB with all papers for $330. It is the latest cap band design too. Worth every cent even at $450.

 

This might be inflammatory, but the plastics of the Aurora are significantly better in feel than those of MB as is the overall quality, judging by recent birdsplat specials I have examined.

Iechyd da pob Cymro

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A number of pen companies seem to be redesigning/updating the designs of some of their models, e.g., Omas, and in doing so it appears that they want to emphasize their brand. So you now see the Aurora or Omas name featured more prominently on the pen itself.

MikeW

 

"In the land of fountain pens, the one with the sweetest nib reigns supreme!"

 

Check out the London Pen Club.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have recently bought a red Auroloide Optima, BNIB with all papers for $330. It is the latest cap band design too.

Where from? Was it an ebay score?

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was probably an unwanted gift since it came from an individual not a shop on e-bay.

Iechyd da pob Cymro

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33501
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26627
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...