What I Ink, Episode 8: Aurora 88 / Aurora Black

[@sajjadhusain4146]

I absolutely adore Aurora pens. I have five of them and I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world. When I first saw this Aurora 88 with the sterling silver cap in another review a year ago, I remember being distracted to death all day long because I yearned to have one myself. I later bought another Aurora 88. But I’d still love to have this one someday. No pen is ‘perfect’, but all the Auroras I have are about as close to perfect as a pen can be for me. The Aurora 88 will be atop my personal hall of fame of fountain pens. As for the ink, the Aurora black is the truest, unadulterated blackest black ink I have used so far. It naturally fills one of my Aurora pens: the Optima. This video is a sweet-sad one for me; sweet because it is a review of possibly my favourite fountain pen of all time; sad because I don’t have this particular 88 yet. Enjoyed it nonetheless.

[@WhatIInk]

Glad you liked it. If you want to see more of this pen in action, check out my "Favorite pens of 2018" video.

[@sajjadhusain4146]

Ha, I did. I just realised that I had actually seen that video not too long ago, but strangely somehow missed commenting on this same Aurora 88 that you briefly showed but left off your 2018 list of favourites. I love your reviews, especially showcasing some of the more obscure (for me anyway) but very attractive, interesting pens for our consideration. I like your style and your tastes. I particularly enjoy the dual reviews of a pen and the ink. Kudos for the effort and passion behind it all. 🙂

[@manfredknie9516]

excellent review and by the way a so beautiful, beautiful pen. Manfred here from Vienna in Austria, the land of Mozart.

[@adrianhughes5831]

I think this is an older version. The modern 88's have shorter tines. Modern Auroras stamp the ebonite feed with the nib width. When the pen is turned over, see if you can see a letter on the reverse - on the slope on the feed. Your older pen will not have this feature.

[@Bob-jv9qq]

Appena arrivata. Come il tuo esemplare la mia ha i rebbi del pennino lunghi (versione vintage). Una parola: spettacolare! 🔥

[@WaskiSquirrel]

A great pen! I have two of the original versions, and one modern one. I like the finish on yours.

[@jeffreymliss]

Aurora black is my favorite ink, too. Actually, I'm not an ink sampler guy, so I use only Aurora black. As for the plug in the bottle, I use a needle nose pliers to remove it.

[@en8718]

this is circa 1989-1993ish given there is no Aurora inscribed on the nib (lower down within the section area).... I love mine too those long tines just making writing so surgical

[@loris2986]

What paper do you use?

[@WhatIInk]

Rhodia

[@loris2986]

@@WhatIInk and in your opinion, what is the blackest and coolest black ink?

[@WhatIInk]

@@loris2986 It... Depends. Did you check out my black ink review video?

[@loris2986]

@@WhatIInk yes but there are also: sailor black classic(not jentle) and Sheaffer black

[@blackimp4987]

that nib does have feedback and it's the typical very fine feedback Aurora nibs have, nothing that determines any friction ro scratch. it's a pleasant sensitivity. from what I can see it's a mid nib