Aurora Talentum

[amk]

 First Impressions

This is a stylish pen with burgundy cap and barrel and chrome trim. It's very simple, with 'AURORA ITALY' on the thick cap band the only branding. The barrel is subtly curved, and the cap finial and barrel end finial balance nicely in appearance. It's understated but has definite character.

 

It's a bit plain for me - I tend to go for colourful acrylics or celluloids. But it makes a good first impression; serious and stylish at the same time.

 

Appearance and Design

While the pen seems at first sight fairly standard, when you take a closer look you see the details are rather interesting. The metal accents are streamlined; rather than the finials and cap band being decorated  with engraving, they are left plain, but with turned chamfers and coves. I suppose you could almost call it minimalism as far as Italian pens are concerned, though let's face it, no Italian pen manufacturer is ever going to understand the Bauhaus.

 

The clip is also simple, springing out of a slot in the finial. It's reasonably grippy and really nicely plain. (Little secret, if you look underneath you can just see 'M ITALY' engraved on the underside - but the top is perfectly smooth.) There's a bit of a contrast between the rounded forms of the clip and the quite straight lines of the finial chamfer.

 

The black section is quite long, with what looks like a thick trim ring at the top - in fact, this is the metal connector. The section flares out at the bottom and it's a long way to the threads, making this a very comfortable pen to hold for longer writing sessions. The nib is a standard Aurora design, coloured to match the chrome trim. 

 

Fit and finish is really good, by the way. I'm impressed with the quality of the pen.

 

Weight and Dimensions

This is one of my heavier pens. Its weight of 24 grams compares with my m400s at just 15g. That's quite a step up, and I do find it slightly too much for me - not a lot though. 

 

The feel in the hand is pretty good in terms of balance, since most of the weight is in the metal connector to the section, not in the barrel-end finial. That said, I use my pens unposted. 

 

The Talentum is quite a girthy pen, but with a reasonably slender grip thanks to the contoured section. I find it fits comfortably in the hand. It's a good size pen, but not a monster; in terms of length it sits comfortably next to a Platinum 3776 or a Pilot Custom 92, though it's a bit fatter and a fair bit heavier than those pens. 

 

Weight: 24g

13.5cm capped

13.2cm nib to barrel end

16cm posted (if you must)

 

 

Nib and Performance

 

I really like the nib. First the aesthetics; a single colour nib, with inscribed baroque curlicues surrounding the circular cartouche with the denomination '14k', and at the base of the nib (almost hidden by the rim of the section when you're using the pen) the name 'Aurora'. It has nicely outswept wings, too, and is adequately large for this quite chunky pen.

 

As far as performance goes, it's quite a wet writer (fired up with Waterman brown), really quite smooth, with bounce and a little flex if pushed. It springs back quite smartly from flexing - not enough for copperplate, but enough to give some variation to swash capitals, for instance. Not a single vice - no hard starts, no scratchiness, no dryness, no blobbing, it's a charmingly reliable nib.

 

Filling System

 

This is a cartridge/converter pen. The converter fills very smoothly and easily; and it does fill - unlike some of my converters which often have quite a lot of unfilled space.

 

Cost and Value

I got this pen at a car boot sale (my lucky day), but the retail price is around $300-400. I'm not sure if the red Talentum is still available new - most outlets are now selling the all black versions.

 

 Conclusion

While I find this pen a bit too weighty for me - it's 2g more than the Aurora Optima, as well, and while that might not sound a lot it's a 10% step up - I have grown to enjoy using it. The nib doesn't have the most character, but it's a really good writer, no finickiness and keeps up with me whatever speed I want to write. And it's a really well made pen with an attractive clean design.

 

I might not have decided to buy it from the pictures I've seen. But I'm very glad I found it. It's a sweet pen.

 

 

Edited September 26, 2020 by amk

[amk]

[Parker51]

I also have a Talentium. one of its many fine attributes is it never has dried out for me, never a hard start, even if not used for a couple of weeks at a time.

[zebra baker]

I agree, it is a sweet pen. I love that the grip (like the Optima's) flares out at the bottom and keeps my fingers off the nib.

[sansenri]

thank you for the nicely done and informative review.

I'm very fond of the Talentum too. Sometimes it's less considered than the Optima, but if you prefer a converter pen, the Talentum has all the positive attributes of the Optima and of the 88 in terms of ergonomics, with a practical converter system.

It also looks slightly more modern in it's design.

In contrast to the Optima it does come in more plain colours, some of them are rather nice though (like the yellow or light blue Talentum, and there is also a pink version!).

The version with the chrome cap is more flashy, but even heavier.