Aurora Optima - The Perfect Fountain Pen

[vPro]

Some days just call for a warm cup of coffee with a blank sheet of paper and a good fountain pen in your hand. These are the days where you just want to let the words flow from the tip of the nib and onto the page. Where you want your pen to be a natural extension of your hand; an extension of your hand that the ability to put down a line of ink to capture your thoughts on a sheet of paper. And regardless of how important (or unimportant) those thoughts are, what matters is the feeling. The feeling of putting the nib to paper and writing. Freeing your mind.

 

With the Aurora Optima Nero Perla, it all starts the moment you take it out of your pen pouch. The bright daylight catches the beautifully marbled 'auroloide' and lights it up. Then, you can catch a glimpse of the 14K rhodium plated nib through the cap. As you unscrew the cap, you'll feel what I call the 'Aurora feeling' of unscrewing the cap. Nothing is quite like it. It is so smooth, but with enough resistance that you actually feel that you're unscrewing the cap. The feeling is the same among the three Aurora Optimas that I have handled and it's truly a unique feeling. It's just one of those 'attention to detail'-things that let you know how well this pen was designed and executed. And you're reminded every single time you pick it up.

 

As you unscrew the cap, the ink window is revealed, then the long and comfortable section and finally the nib. For a moment you stop up just to enjoy the striking beauty of the pen. Then you put it to paper, and the pen's beauty, albeit strikingly beautiful, diminishes as the pen turns from being an admireable object to serve its true purpose - as a writing instrument.

 

Build quality and materials: The build quality is great, but not without its flaws. Let's start with the great. From the super smooth threads to the overall fit and finish of the pen, nothing is left to chance. The pen seems so wonderfully well-composed that you initially may not want to ink it. The Nero Perla version of the Optima is translucent; not transparent enough that you clearly can see what's inside, but just enough that you just can catch a glimpse the nib and the ink that you've filled the pen with. Under good lighting, you may even see the piston seal. And operating the piston is just as smooth, as smooth can be. Aurora's piston fillers are some of the best, right up there with the Pelikans. The piston mechanism has a 'hidden reservoir' for squeezing out a little bit of extra ink out of the pen when it runs dry, but honestly it's more of nuisance than a feature. It makes cleaning sooo much more difficult and it also takes some of the ink capacity of the pen. Depending on how often you change inks, it may be a problem for you, but fortunately the nib unit screw out and you can clean the barrel and the nib unit seperately and quickly, thus avoiding the hassle of the ink reservoir that inevitably will contain ink even after your 50th flush. As for durability of the piston mechanism, I have nothing to complain about. What I do have something to complain about, however, is the durability of the materials.

Prior to getting this Nero Perla (which I bought from an awesome and honest person here on FPN, pix, thank you a lot), I acquired my first Aurora Optima in the basic black/chrome color through a trade. When I received it, I didn't closely inspect the pen, but after using it for three days I discovered some cracks at the base of the barrel. I take meticulously good care of my pens, so I was shocked to see the cracks. Nevertheless they were there, and since three days had passed since I got the pen, I don't know whether I caused the cracks or if it was the previous owned. I did post the cap of the pen on the back, but I do that with just about all of my pens and none have developed cracks. Later, I even discovered some hairline cracks in the cap, so I suspect there was some weakness in the material. So I sent the pen off for a repair and was met with Aurora's horrible customer service. More on that later. But even though my pen developed cracks, I've used it for several months. And because the design of the pen is so clever, the pen never failed me or started leaking. Heres why: much like Pelikans, the barrel itself consists of two parts; there is an inner barrel to which the piston unit is screwed into and operates inside and there's an outer barrel which is the material you can see and touch. And this two-layer design is great because even if cracks develop on the outer barrel of the pen, it won't affect the function of the pen at all. It'll just be a cosmetic issue. Smart, huh?

 

Comfort: This is where the Aurora Optima shines - and this is also what led to me purchasing another pen in spite of the aforementioned problems I've had. The pen just sits in your hand like no other. The long, comfortable section offers a lot of freedom to grip the pen wherever you find it most comfortable without gripping the threads. But even if you hold the pen so far back that you hold on the threads, they're as shallow as they can be and they just nailed it. They simply nailed the design of the pen. And dare I say that this is the general consensus of just about everybody who's held and written with this pen, it's amazingly comfortable, suits all hands and you can post the cap if you find the pen too short. Posting will not affect the balance all that much and the pen is so light that it can be used for extensive writing sessions without fatigue.

 

Writing experience: This is probably where I cannot contribute with a representative experience of the stock nibs, for frankly I've never tried a stock Aurora nib for more than 5 minutes. What I have on my pen is a Pendleton Brown signature grind 'BLS'. The nib writes like a smooth cursive italic with a hint of feedback. Initially I found it so difficult to accept the feedback that the nib offers, but I've grown to like the nib A LOT. The line variation that it offers, the pleasant feedback and the generous ink flow supplied by the ebonite feed is just a winning combination. Since the ink flow is generous, it allows you to enjoy dry inks. And seeing how I love pairing fantastic pens with basic, yet great performing inks (like the Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue), I have no complaints at all.

 

 

Customer service: Seeing as I've had to make use of their 'customer service', I think it'd be appropriate to talk about it in this review. For while the pen is 'the perfect fountain pen', it's only the perfect fountain pen until it develops an issue and you have to send it off for a repair. How often does that happen? Well, considering how popular these pens are and how few complaints there are, it's not very likely to happen. But it happened in my case and I wasn't satisfied with their customer service.

 

Back in April, I sent my pen off for a repair. I have been told by the previous owner that the pen was less than two years old, but I didn't have the receipt. So I thought it'd be better to send the pen off through an authorized Aurora reseller because that'd put me in a better situation. Or so i thought. The pen was sent to Aurora, and from there it took them three months to evaulate the repair and give me a quote. And that wasn't three months of me patiently waiting; when nothing happened after the first month, I sent them an e-mail. No replies. Then I figured that the only way I could get in touch with anybody from the company was through phone calls to Aurora. So I bit the sour apple and called them, and very litte did it help. After three months and several phone calls and e-mails, I finally received a quote of €150 to have the pen body and cap replaced. If I wanted a new nib (I did not send my pen with the nib in fear that they would exchange it), it'd cost me €300. That's an absurd price for a repair of their standard line pens, and the lack of communication was incredibly frustrating. I asked if I atleast could receive the blue Auroloide version of the barrel and cap instead of the black ones I sent in, but no. The only option I had was either to pay €150 for the new black cap and barrel or get my pen back in an unrestored condition.

 

Conclusion: Claiming that a pen is 'the perfect pen' is a pretty bold statement. But in my opinion, the pen can live up to that based on its clever design, appealing looks and amazing comfort and writing experience. Just hope it doesn't break and that you don't have to get in touch with their customer service.

To Aurora: Get your customer service together and let it match the clever engineering of your pens. For if your pens crack and you don't offer good customer service, exactly what is your customer paying $445 in the US or €550 in Europe for?

 

vPro

Edited September 21, 2017 by vPro

[Mister5]

Comfort: This is where the Aurora Optima shines - and this is also what led to me purchasing another pen in spite of the aforementioned problems I've had. The pen just sits in your hand like no other. The long, comfortable section offers a lot of freedom to grip the pen wherever you find it most comfortable without gripping the threads. But even if you hold the pen so far back that you hold on the threads, they're as shallow as they can be and they just nailed it. They simply nailed the design of the pen. And dare I say that this is the general consensus of just about everybody who's held and written with this pen, it's amazingly comfortable, suits all hands and you can post the cap if you find the pen too short. Posting will not affect the balance all that much and the pen is so light that it can be used for extensive writing sessions without fatigue.

 

 

I totally agree! In addition to having a long section, it's slightly on the girthy side - not too much mind you. The design of this stocky pen is near perfect. I have a black resin one but lust after the blue Auroloid.

Edited September 21, 2017 by Mister5

[Uncial]

I've read in a number of places (not sure if it's detailed here on FPN) that Aurora had a problem with the 'auroralide' materials early on which made them prone to very slight shrinkage. It was this shrinkage that made them develop cracks. Everywhere I read of this issue there were warning about buying in the second hand market or purchasing old stock from a B&M store, but all assured that the issue had now been corrected.

 

They are very beautiful pens. The complete lack of finishing on the nibs (in terms of polishing) does irritate me a bit, but it's an easy enough home fix if you go gently and very carefully.

[vPro]

I've read in a number of places (not sure if it's detailed here on FPN) that Aurora had a problem with the 'auroralide' materials early on which made them prone to very slight shrinkage. It was this shrinkage that made them develop cracks. Everywhere I read of this issue there were warning about buying in the second hand market or purchasing old stock from a B&M store, but all assured that the issue had now been corrected.

 

They are very beautiful pens. The complete lack of finishing on the nibs (in terms of polishing) does irritate me a bit, but it's an easy enough home fix if you go gently and very carefully.

 

I've read that too, but apparently this issue was solved several years ago and my black/chrome Aurora is (according to the previous owner) a recent production. Not only that, but I don't even think that the black models are made out of Auroloide. It's just resin.

 

 

[fabri00]

In fact it is a Great pen.

The first serie had some issues with auraloide but also with the knob moving the piston, as the plastic screw inside was easy to breake.

Mine was broken about 4 years ago in a 20 years old first serie, and I cannot complain for the repair service. With something around 50/60 euros a 20 years old broken pen cane back as new.

[dennis_f]

Great review and stunning pictures of a beautiful pen. I'd seen this pen before, but until your photos I had no idea that it was so wonderfully translucent.

 

If you have a moment vPro, could you add the dimensions (capped, uncapped, posted)?

 

D

[vPro]

Great review and stunning pictures of a beautiful pen. I'd seen this pen before, but until your photos I had no idea that it was so wonderfully translucent.

 

If you have a moment vPro, could you add the dimensions (capped, uncapped, posted)?

 

D

Thank you very much. Neither did I until I actually received the pen. And it's quite cool that the barrel darkens when there's ink in there - if you hold it up to the light you can see how much ink you have left - through the barrel

 

Capped the pen is around 12.7 cm, uncapped about 12.2 and cm posted around 15.4 cm.

Edited September 21, 2017 by vPro

[dennis_f]

Awesome! Thank you for the dims.

 

(Every time I think my list of "must-have" pens is getting smaller, along comes a review like this one and the list starts to grow again).

D.

[s_t_e_v_e]

Indeed a very nice pen. I have one in burgundy auroloid. Due to all the cracking and breaking stories I hear on the forums I've been more careful with this pen than ever. It's an excellent writer, if only Aurora could use more durable resins and improve (no one's perfect!) their customer service.

[rudyhou]

very nice

[Zdenek]

Nice review, thanks for sharing.

 

I have got Aurora Mare (limited production) with nicely smooth but unfortunately very stiff B 18 ct nib. Review: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/167234-aurora-mare-le-fp/.

[vPro]

Nice review, thanks for sharing.

 

I have got Aurora Mare (limited production) with nicely smooth but unfortunately very stiff B 18 ct nib. Review: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/167234-aurora-mare-le-fp/.

What a beautiful pen yours is. You've had it for 7 years now, how has it held up (and how much do you use it?)

 

My nib is quite stiff as well, but since it has a custom grind I'm perfectly fine with the stiffness. It's still a very characterful nib

 

Thanks everybody for your feedback on my review. If you'd like to see any other aspects of the pen being discussed, please let me know and I'll try to incorporate them in my future reviews.

[Zdenek]

What a beautiful pen yours is. You've had it for 7 years now, how has it held up (and how much do you use it?)

 

My nib is quite stiff as well, but since it has a custom grind I'm perfectly fine with the stiffness. It's still a very characterful nib

 

Thanks everybody for your feedback on my review. If you'd like to see any other aspects of the pen being discussed, please let me know and I'll try to incorporate them in my future reviews.

 

BTW, the review is not mine. ... I have got that pen about 16 years. In fact, I didn't use the pen for several years. MB 149s are much more comfortable.

[RocketRyan]

I agree they are wonderful, I have two, a 360 monviso with a stub and an asia with a fine nib, both close to perfect.

[Tas]

A beautiful review of a beautiful pen.

We can really feel how much you adore your Optima.

Thank you.

One day . . .

[jameswatts]

For me, it's the Aurora 88. Close to the perfect pen for me, of the 170 pens I possess.

[vPro]

A beautiful review of a beautiful pen.

 

We can really feel how much you adore your Optima.

Thank you.

 

One day . . .

Thank you! And the pen remains one of my all time favorites - if not THE favorite!

[Beginnersmind0]

Back in the early 90s. I had a green marbled Optima that I LOVED! Then I heard about some nib cleaning service that Kenro offered. I took advantage of this offer and sent my nib into them. They never cleaned the nib but just swapped it for a new nib. I loved my nib (it had some flex!) but the new one was a nail. I was devastated. I complained to them and they apologized and promised that they would never do that again without asking, but that didnt help me. Not sure that their customer service has improved.

[MuddyWaters]

Back in the early 90s. I had a green marbled Optima that I LOVED! Then I heard about some nib cleaning service that Kenro offered. I took advantage of this offer and sent my nib into them. They never cleaned the nib but just swapped it for a new nib. I loved my nib (it had some flex!) but the new one was a nail. I was devastated. I complained to them and they apologized and promised that they would never do that again without asking, but that didnt help me. Not sure that their customer service has improved.

Awful!