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I'm Considering A Limited Edition Pen


abritdownunder

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I'm looking at the Aurora Limited Edition Dante's Inferno. It is an absolutely gorgeous pen, at least to my eyes. The black lacquer and rose gold accents are magnificent. But this will be the most I've spent on a pen and I want a pen that is useable, not just a collectable to be admired and never touched. So, I guess my main questions are:

 

Has anyone got any experience with Aurora pens?

Has anyone got any experience with this pen?

What are your experiences with actually using limited editions in general?

 

Thanks,

Regards,

Kevin

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I have no experience with this pen. It looks really nice, but to me it looks really heavy for me, so maybe look for some review and try to find out the weight. It might be too heavy like my Parker urban

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I have a few Aurora pens, maybe a half dozen or so, but none of their Limited Edition pens. I enjoy the ones I have very much.

 

I do have quite a few Limited Edition pens and all get used.

 

My Website

 

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Although I'm not an Aurora user and I have no "real" LE pens, I do use all my pens, even the ones that are on the expensive side and would be catastrophic to lose/break. I do enjoy using a good pen, LE or otherwise.

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Go ahead and buy it. If you don't, you'll have it on your mind for the next 17 years. (sort of like that girl you wished you had kissed when you were 15) Then, if you don't like it, you can always send it to me. It IS beautiful.

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Beautiful pen. This reminds me a bit why I wouldn't buy an overly expensive pen like MB or Visconti... If something happens to it, it's gonna cut DEEP.

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I have Aurora's silver anniversary edition. Fabulous writer, very "precise" line to their nibs as opposed to other, wetter nibs such as Pels or Visconti. I love the weight, length and feel of the nib on the page. It's simply an awesome pen. No harder to rinse clean than those infernal Visconti power fillers.

 

I don't know why people assume they're not worth an expensive pen or careless with their things. That's a whole other thread. But I use some wonderful LE pens as daily users. I simply keep them in a case and don't toss them around thoughtlessly.

 

They're usable art, much like a fine watch or driving an expensive car.

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I agree with Ghost Plane. I have three Aurora FP's, all are limited editions. I have the 85th anniversary pen, based on the Optima, I have an LE Primavera in bright green with yellow gold accents, and I have an 88 demonstrator with gold accents. I use them all, on occasion, especially the 88. The Primavera I got with a medium italic nib and it is superb. The 85th anniversary is a bit heavy and too much bling for everyday, but writes well every time. It is now in rotation. All write extremely well, with stiff no-nonsense nibs (all 18 ct), the pistons work as they should, the pens write first time after sitting for months with ink in them (which very few of my other pens do). They are well-balanced and post firmly and well, and are balanced when posting or not, at least the ones I have.

 

Most of my other everyday pens are also limited editions (I have 4 Conway Stewarts, all LE's and all EDC pens). I buy pens to use, not to display. If I like the looks of a pen and know that it will be a good writer, I buy it if I can afford to. I just happen to like LE's a bit better than the run-of-the-mill models.

 

If you love the look, and can afford it, I don't think you will be disappointed. The nibs are stiff though, with no flex, but write really nicely. Go for it!

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Don't have any LE from this company but have others in this price range.

 

I find the more expensive something is the more you look after it. I won't therefore worry about using this pen. To get confidence on using a pen of this price you could start using it exclusively at home and only start taking to other places such as work when your confidence has grown.

My Collection: Montblanc Writers Edition: Hemingway, Christie, Wilde, Voltaire, Dumas, Dostoevsky, Poe, Proust, Schiller, Dickens, Fitzgerald (set), Verne, Kafka, Cervantes, Woolf, Faulkner, Shaw, Mann, Twain, Collodi, Swift, Balzac, Defoe, Tolstoy, Shakespeare, Saint-Exupery, Homer & Kipling. Montblanc Einstein (3,000) FP. Montblanc Heritage 1912 Resin FP. Montblanc Starwalker Resin: FP/BP/MP. Montblanc Traveller FP.

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That is a handsome pen. I don't know enough about Italian pens, but I am learning, and Auroras have a good reputation.

 

The entire "limited edition" thing is problematic. I just now put Aurora Limited Edition Dante's Inferno into Google, and the first three results differed one from the other on limitation numbers:

 

--1919 Italy / 1919 rest of the world

--1919 world-wide

--1265 worldwide

 

If I fell in love with a pen, really liked it, I could gets past this, I guess. But part of the perceived value and some of the cost of the pen is predicated on the limitation number, and without agreement on something this basic I would have a hard time pulling the trigger, wondering if I were getting a good deal or if I were paying too much for some fuzzy non-proven sense of exclusivity.

 

So in your case, I would scour the web for reviews and pens for sale that are closest to the Dante, similar looks, similar quality, to see if the limited edition part of the package is worth whatever premium you determine is charged for it. Then, once I had definitive answers about accurate limitation numbers from a reputable dealer and once I had convinced myself I weren't being ripped off on the cost, I'd go for it.

 

A while back, I wanted a good, heavy pen. I searched for several months until I found what I wanted, narrowing my search finally to Italian pens. I didn't have an upper price in mind, but I soon found myself passing by all the limited edition pens: they just didn't seem worth it. I found and bought a beautiful writer for $400, a sterling silver Montegrappa Reminiscence, large, fine nib. Fair value, I think. But if it had been a limited edition, the same pen for $1000 or $1500, but with limitation numbers somewhere on it, I don't think it would be worth it.

 

 

 

But that's just me. If that is THE pen for you, get it and enjoy it

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I enjoy using Auroras and have several LEs they did, not because they were LEs but because they appealed to me.

 

That edition size is a large one. You can pay $1200 or so now , or wait awhile and pick one up for much less. I own an 80th Anniversary and it was initially released at $1700 retail. I waited a few years until the market saturated and picked on up for just under $500. They are now listed on Ebay for up to $2500! Timing is all!

Bill Spohn

Vancouver BC

"Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence"

 

Robert Fripp

https://www.rhodoworld.com/fountain-pens.html

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Thanks for all your advice and wisdom, you've helped me make up my mind!

Regards,

Kevin

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