Aurora Black:

Color:
Aurora black is a deep black, and is not faded or washed out. This is a true black, and not a grey-black or a dary grey. If you are looking for a very deep black combined with good flow properties, then this is a good choice. The ink is NOT as black as certain artists or non-fountain pen inks I've seen, but is still very black and is one of the darkest black of the true fountain pen inks I've found.

Color Change:
Minimal- I've not seen proof of fading yet in any of the inks. Interestingly though when dabbed onto a paper towl the ink turns yellow in the center of the dot on the paper towl. On paper though, I've found it goes down black and stays black.

Flow:
This ink has, in my experience, a very rich flow. I found the Aurora black to be very free-flowing in all of my pens. In some pens it actually turned a fine into a medium-fine and medium fines into mediums. I don't mind this effect at all, as I am at home with nib widths anywhere from a true fine to a generous medium. If you like juicy writing with generous flow this is a nice choice. Also it might be a nice choice for a pen that is too dry writing. If you don't like generous flow or you have a pen that is too wet to begin with, this might be one to avoid.

Spread and Feather:
I found that this ink tends to spread a bit more than my Waterman Blue-Black, Florida Blue, or my Sheaffer Skrip inks. I also found that this ink does feather a bit more on cheap paper than the Waterman or Sheaffer offerings I have. However I would not be discouraged by this effect as it is minimal compared to the nice flow you get from the ink.

Lubricity:
This is one of the shining point of this ink. I found that this ink lubricates VERY nicely. I actually have had better lubricity from this ink than my Waterman or Sheaffer inks. If you are looking for ink for a pen that needs a little glide help- this is a good candidate. If you like a drier exerience or find glide inks to be too "greasy", then this may not be the best pick.

Drying:
The dry time is reasonable, but not spectacular. I've found my Waterman inks and Sheaffer inks dry faster than Aurora Black does. This was especially true on high quality Black 'N Red paper, which took a number of seconds to dry. On my standard notebook paper, the drying was faster, though more prone to feathering. If you must have a FAST drying ink, this is one to avoid. However if you can tolerate a mediocre dry time, then this is certainly not something to put you off.

Expense:
The ink is expensive for the quantity you get. Be sure to check the price and compare to others. While I found Aurora Black to be my new favorite black ink, I also was a bit put off by the price. If you go through a lot of ink and want to use this- beware of the price.

Clean up:
This ink is difficult to clean up and is stubborn to wash off your hands. I would imagine that the same property that gives it its deep color makes it a tough clean up.

Water:
On paper I found the ink did wash off to some extent, but that enough remained to keep the text legible.

The final word:
Aurora Black is a nice, strong black ink. The ink flows and lubricates nicely. The ink's dry time was a bit on the slow side- especially on certain papers, but I would not allow this to break the deal for you. Rather, if you want a strong and safe black ink that also behaves fairly well in the pen, then this is a good pick. The cost was a bit unsatisfactory, and the container only holds 45mL, so be aware of that. On the whole I recommend this ink to anyone looking for a deep black that flows and lubricates well.

Nice review of a very good ink!

Thanks for the comprehensive review. This is my favorite black, I've used it for a while and agree with what you say. It's is so free-flowing that in some very wet writers, I switch to Pelikan black to slow them down a bit.

Is there an equally black black with faster drying time?

Fred

My experience with the two is limited, since I just got them both ~ 1 week ago, but Noodler's Borealis Black looks close to identical and has a very fast, near instantaneous drying time.*

*Fine-Medium nib, Clairefontaine paper.

Just a GREAT black ink. In my Saturno...it's perfect!

Peter

I'll second that. Aurora has been one of my all-time favorite inks, and Borealis looks, behaves, and feels so much like Aurora that it's kind of spooky. Except that it dries twice as fast as Aurora. Seriously, I've timed it. Average four seconds for Borealis, eight seconds for Aurora.

Borealis makes me feel guilty, like I'm cheating on Aurora.

Several members have spoken favorably about Herbin's Perle Noir black ink. How does it compare to Aurora Black in terms of blackness, feathering, flow, and drying time?

Aurora Black is fast becoming my go-to black (that place of honour used to belong to MB Black).

Thank you for the review.