Aurora 88 Black CT Big - Fountain Pen Review
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- This video is part of a review which is to be found on wp.me/p7302D-1uP
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Auroras are certainly very nice writers. I have a green Optima (stub nib!) that I've had for, oh, must be over 10 years now, a vintage 88 that writes wonderfully if in need of a little work and finally, a modern 88 that I added about 2 years ago. Other finishes have caught my eye but as others noted, they're on the pricey side so I gratefully enjoy the ones I have.
Thank you for another great review!
Thank you!
I adore Aurora. It is, by far, my favourite pen brand. And the 88 is my absolute best fountain pen ever. I love it so much that I now own eight 88s (including one amazing original vintage 88). To me, this is a pen that comes closest to perfection. If I were forced to have only one pen, it would be the 88. Of course, I’d then keep all eight of them. Lol
This black and chrome one is just a winner. As is the black and rose gold one. These black resin 88s are obviously more ‘affordable’ than the celluloid, colored ones. But any 88 is a worthy purchase. I only wish the pen was a little heavier. And that ink reservoir feature does make cleaning and servicing a bit of a hassle. But I don’t mind too much. I have a variety of the superb Aurora nibs on my pens: M, B, BB and the Goccia. I love the unique feedback and the smoothness of the writing experience every time. Also, the 88 when capped looks relatively slightly smaller than its peers, but uncapped the pen is perfectly sized in length.
Nice review as always, too. Much appreciated!
edit: this particular Aurora 88 Black, CT, Big model is currently listed on Appelboom Pens at 409 euros, not 500 as you said in the video.
I think €500.00 includes Dutch VAT of 21%, which does not have to be paid if you are shipping outside of the EU. As he is in Sweden, I believe, the Dutch VAT is applied.
@@Tennishead21 ..Oh ok. Sounds very plausible. Taxes and other levies is such a kill-joy every time. 409 euros is close to $500 anyway. That’s what is relevant to me. Thanks for your input here.
Wow. Impressive collection! Rightfully so. Very good pen, for sure!
Your videos keep turning up when I'm looking at possible pens. I got the Diplomat Aero after watching your review. An astonishingly nice pen to write with. Now this video... Aurora are so tempting! Thanks for trailblazing so well. Cheers.
Ah, you have already gotten it. how wonderful. I sincerely hope that I do not become an unbearable burden to your wallet ;)
@@Scrivelynotes Chuckles. No, I have just ten pens including two Lamy Studios. So far you have encouraged me to get both a Diplomat Aero and an Excellence A2. I am very pleased with both. Also an Optima, but they sent out a Broad nib and Appelboom kindly said to return it for a nib change. (Aurora don't seem to mark the nib sizes on the feed anymore). Sadly it has been tied up in Nederland's Customs for three weeks now. Just waiting for it's turn to be cleared. Brexit was such a well thought through decision that only a village idiot could conceive. We are the land of village idiots now.
Your reviews are quite refreshing, thoughtful and user centred. I enjoy them. Be well.
@@kevinu.k.7042 thanks much, Kevin. I think the last time I counted I had 18 pens in my humble collection. Very happy with that - but could even be less, methinks. Hope you hold the Aurora with the right nib size in your hands by now. Thanks for following along the journey here!
Kevin, Re: Brexit - similarly, I find the current administration more than infuriating; one trusts that they shall be given short shrift at the next General Election - either that, or I am moving to Europe !! Stay well & keep safe, Sir !!
Thank you for the thorough review! Adding the Aurora 88 to my grail pen list.
Very reasonably so!
Aurora is my favourite brand and I have two, both of which write flawlessly and are built to the highest degree of tolerances. Some people complain about the kind of unique feedback from Aurora nibs but I love it. It is never unpleasant and the nibs are always perfectly tuned and the tines aligned perfectly. The medium nibs from Aurora are somewhat finer than other European manufacturers, which use Bock or Jowo. I have two broad nibs, which write more like medium nibs. Aurora makes their entire nibs in house in their factory in Turin and I think they're the best nibs in the world.
Another complaint about Aurora is the little extra pocket of ink in the piston, which you demonstrated. When I bought my first Aurora, I thought this was a gimmick that would just make the pen hard to clean. Not so. On my first time using it, I ran out of ink when needing a pen and was able to use this little reservoir of ink to continue writing. The pens are relatively easy to clean for a piston filler and the nib unit unscrews if you really need to give it a very thorough clean.
Thank you for a wonderful review, Michael. :)
Thanks a lot. I actually really enjoyed that feedback from the nib. Quite a bit similar to the Sailor feeling.
@@Scrivelynotes I like the feedback too, which reminds you that you are actually using a fountain pen. It is not dissimilar to Sailor, right! I don't think the feedback is very heavy either and the pens are never scratchy from Aurora. They're always also perfectly tuned. The tines are aligned correctly and the ink flow is perfect. This is something that many manufacturers struggle with so Aurora's consistency is wonderful.
Aurora is also the oldest manufacturer of fountain pens in Italy, according to Peter Twydle in his book on fountain pens, having been founded in 1919.
@@Tennishead21 I might need to look into their pens a little more. The Twydle book is great. I have read it, too.
I have a new appreciation of the brand and the model, thanks to this review.
Thanks. Happy to read that
So tempted by a lightly used Sigaro Blu from a good dealer at the moment. This looks gorgeous though, and if I dip on the SB I'll probably pick up one of these - rhodium trim with that pretty, cursive Aurora on the cap band is just lovely! Thank you for a delightful review.
Thanks a lot, Julian! Have you checked out the flat top Optima as well?
@@Scrivelynotes Not yet. A pen for the future maybe. But I love my Sailir Pro Gears, so flat tops are familiar territory. I bought that Sigaro Blu and it's a complete delight. The nib, despite being ef, felt more like a medium to me, but what a nib! My first Aurora pen has lived up to expectations and probably well exceeded them too!
I might ‚need‘ a ProGear back in the collection
Amost twelve months late for this review, Michael - unsure how I missed this particular presentation (I guess work got in the way) - it's simply gorgeous !! Classic lines, nice & wet as a writer (my preference); I've never owned any Aurora model, but this 88 Big is beautiful, my friend - going to check this out.
Thank you, as always....
Andrew 🙂
Thanks, Andrew! Definitely one worth adding to a collection! ;)
Indeed so, Michael !! 😀
Lovely review, I have two Aurora's both of them Optima's and they really are fantastic writers. Must look into this one to add to eh collection.
Thanks a lot 😊
I would like to watch your video about special fountain pens for left-handers. Thank you very much. Subscribed to you for these purposes.
Thanks
Auroras are quite lovely, if overpriced, stylish, classic pens. I have two 88s, a matt black and a green but find their other finishes uninspiring. I am no longer attracted to the Optima, finding it too short and going off flat top designs, and the Duocart was a marketing gimmick that I fell for and now regret.
I don't normally care for demonstrators, finding most cheap and clinical but the Aurora 88 Ottantotto Demo Rose Gold Limited Edition is a thing of beauty, with the rose gold and slightly grey transparent resin looking almost like the sepia of a Leonardo architectural drawing.
If I was still in the market I would be sorely tempted but my pen extravagances are largely a thing of the past and I now prefer, partly making a virtue of a necessity, more economical models.
What are the more economical pens that you enjoy those days?
@@Scrivelynotes My recent passion for classic cigar shaped acrylic cartridge/convertor pens has been for the Laban Mento and Taroko, the Narwhal Key West, and the Kilk Epigram, much better value than the very similar Esterbrook and Conklins.
I like ebonite piston fillers and the Narwhal Nautilus range excited me with its innovative "steampunk" style and affordable price.
I also have a taste for minimalist aluminium pens. I like the style of the Lamy Aion, the magnetic closure of Stilform, and the design and flex of the Good Blue R615.
As you can see, I'm a hopeless jackdaw and by necessity have to search the bargain basement to satisfy my cravings. I would never knock anyone's choices, the sheer variety available is what makes the hobby so exciting and rewarding.
Stationery and ink is another story but much more sustainable.
I used to buy cameras, when I had more money than sense, but once I discovered my "perfect" camera, the Leica Q, it cured my "gear acquisition syndrome". If only it could happen with fountain pens.
I bought a MB149 forty years ago - seeing it in a shop window and not knowing anything about the company. I was simply mesmerised and thought that it was the most beautiful pen in the world, and my opinion hasn't really changed. I imagined that I would never needs another pen, but then I went down the rabbit hole.
I have recently, very modestly, dipped my toe in the watch ocean but I really can't afford more than one addiction!
@@ronaldchapman2806 ahhh, the Leica Q would be something I also really want to try. I currently own the Canon M50 - I must say that I am pretty happy with it. So at times, I wonder if the striving for perfection becomes the enemy of simply settling for what is already very good. And then just use the energy for more rewarding things instead. Do you still own that MB149? And what do you think of it today? It must be very special to you, having been in your possession for that long, and with that history! In the meantime, I find for myself that very few pens that I use - hence 'appropriate' - are what strikes my fancy as a pen owner (not reviewer).
@@Scrivelynotes There is a lot of truth in what you say, Michael.
I'm a bit of a hoarder so my small flat is bursting at the seams and my old 149 is there somewhere, but is very shy and hiding at the moment. As you mention, regarding size, my 146 is probably more comfortable.
You obviously don't need an expensive camera to take great pictures. It's whatever you feel most comfortable with and is within your budget. I started out with a Mamiya twin lens and a Pentax 35mm SLR so I'm comfortable with analogue dials and dislike complicated mini computers.
The Q was a pragmatic compromise, as I could never afford an M or SL.
I enormously admire some high end pens and was greatly taken with the Visconti model made with real marble and the even more lavish Montegrappa 'Age of Discovery' as a work of art, but I could never comfortable afford or justify such an expenditure. My "steam punk" itch was satisfied by the Narwhal Nautilus - at 1/30th or 1/40th of the price.
The international pen community are wonderful friendly people and interacting with them is an important, and pleasurable part of the hobby, or obsession - like an AA meeting, I imagine!
I happened to come across the Makers Cabinet “Ferrule” in your website, which just might send me down another rabbit hole!
@@ronaldchapman2806 You are right. The pen community indeed is a truly wonderful one. Thanks also for sharing some impressions around the cameras! Very interesting. I can not wait to get out my M50 on this years summer vacation, and ban a few impressions on zeros and ones (binary digital bits). And: yes - pencils are very interesting, too, as writing implements. I will soon post a review of the Graf von Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil, which I think is an extra-ordinary piece of craftsmanship.
Pretty pen, though miles outside my price range.
Not a cheap one, for sure
Hi! You need to improve your writing, too bad for the good information you provide in these wonderful vlogs! It is nonsense to talk about pens when your writing leaves something to be desired...
Hi! You need to improve your thinking, since you talk nonsense. My ability to write beautiful calligraphy has zero to do with my ability to judge the quality of a pen. It is nonsense to comment when your logic leaves something to be desired...
Obnoxious oik !!
@@Scrivelynotes dear Sir I agree the comment might have been a little too harsh and unkind but it's not pointless: many people prefer fountain pain not only for the feelings they have when writing but since fountain pens allow for many kind of artistic writing, and the more flexible nibs are instruments for calligraphy. He appreciated all the information you give and I appreciate them too but if you can't show how pens behave with more decorated writings the reviews are a little incomplete as nibs might present many kind of defects when used like that. It's a technical aspect. This pen is expensive not only since Aurora pens are sold as luxury products but because of the extremely accurated work on its nibs that are produced in house. So it REQUIRES to be tested or demonstrated for what it's meant to do.
This pen has no flex nib. So it’s not meant to do anything in that direction.