Hello!

I'm planning to buy my first italian pen in the near future and it's going to be an Aurora 88. I'd like ask you some questions though. Could you please explain the difference between the stub and italic nibs? Which one is more suitable for daily use? Is the italic nib more like cursive, or like crisp one. I checked the samples on nibs.com, but couldn't judge only by them. The next question is where to purchase the pen and what is a "good" price for it. Reading that some of the Aurora 88 nibs have ink flow problems, makes me think that it would be better to buy it form Mr. Mottishaw, who could adjust the nib before sending it. It will be cheaper for me to pay a bit higher in advance, than sending the pen to a nibmaister when/if I find a problem.
What do you think?

Thank you in advance!

Dimiter

I am sorry I did not see your thread sooner.

I have several Aurora FP's with the factory M italic nib. I think it is one of the best factory italics around. I would characterize the nib as a cursive italic with very good line variation. I use mine for everyday writing and I have had no issues at all. I do not have an Aurora stub nib, but, based on my experience with the italic nibs, I would guess the stubs are true stubs with nominal line variation. They probably feel great against paper.

My italic nibs all had a bit of tooth to them when they were new. I used a nib smoothing kit, ever so briefly, to smooth them down. That was a long time ago and they have been great writers since.

By the way, my 88 has been a durable, reliable writer for many years and I highly recommend one. I prefer the large or O/S model as it fits my hand better. For purchasing an 88, I would suggest Todd at isellpens or Swisher Pens. I think at both places the Nikargenta O/S 88 runs about $300 USD. I do not know if Pam Braun carries Aurora products, but it would be worth while to ask her.

Good luck.

Pam does have it and I think she charges $220.

Thank you both for the replies!

Frank, I'm glad to hear that the italic nib could be characterized as cursive and could be used daily. I'll probably go for the large version of 88. The thing that is confusing for me, is that you describe the nib as M sized. I don't have many italics, all of them are marked in metric system and all of them are cheap ones - Lamy 1.1mm, Rotring 1.1mm, etc. There is only Aurora italic tip on the nibs.com site and it's measured 0.95 mm. Is it an "M italic" size ?

I was recently corrected in my perceptions of cursive italic nib sizes. What I was told is the F=0.7mm, M=0.9mm and B=1.1mm. I still think that companies measure their nib sizes differently. The M nibs I referred to seem to write a nice 1.0mm line, so it probably is a 0.95mm as you say. Remember that these nibs screw out like Pelikan Souverain nibs, so it is easy enough to replace them.

I think you will be happy with the O/S 88. It is just about the same size as a Montblanc 146 and has a nib that is just slightly larger. I find it to be a good comfortable pen that I can use unposted. The Optima model is shorter than the 88 and I have to post them. The 88 and Optima use the same size nib, which makes finding optional or additional nibs easy.