Aurora Optima - PenPassion's Mini Review
Submitted by mbacas on Fri, 03/18/2005 - 18:54.
One of my favorite modern pens is the Aurora Optima.
It's a nice pen in most aspects for me. It's not too large and not too small. Just right as goldie locks would say. 
It has a feature called a double-resevoir that allows you to get write another page after you've run out ink by just backing out the piston filler.
Another interesting thing is the nib unit unscrews, like a Pelikan and Esterbrook. The nib isn't flexible, but the tines do spread out a little with pressure. Also, the nib has a little bit of "tooth" to it. I believe Aurora nibs are known for this. It's not really a bite where you feel like the paper is going to tear, but more of some tactile feedback when you are writing. It's a 14k nib with some nice scrawl work.
The blue Auroraloid (Aurora's name for the plastic material) is very nice. It has a nice appearance and feels well made.
I'd be curious to know what your experience is/was with any Aurora pens. I know quite a few people like the vintage 88s.
I bought this pen a while back on eBay. I haven't seen the same person listing them recently so I don't know if they had a limited supply. If you ever get a chance to buy one of these at a good discount I wouldn't pass it up. It's hard to go wrong with one of these marbled Optimas. There shouldn't be a problem reselling it if need be. Most of the ones I seen on for-sale sites seem to go quickly.
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Aurora Optima (Auroloid)
I know zip about the Aurora, but I've always thought they were a very good looking pen. The Optima in my opinion would be the one to buy in the Aurora line. The main reason I've never bought one is twofold. Number (1) one is the high price. I say that because I would want the Auroloid, it makes for a much prettier pen than does the Poly Resin. So I've read! Now I'm being kind of stupid cause I've seen neither pen in person to actually tell the difference in the beauty of Auroloid over Poly Resin. (I'll bet some of the pen afficnodo's out there can paint a picture for our minds eye!) So far I haven't been able to justify the $75 difference. Number (2) two is the nib on this pen. I read what Mark had to say a bout the nib being toothy, and even though my "Asian" Sailor has a bit of tooth, I'm not fond of a "scratchy" pen. I also read that one fellow (I Won't mention any names) said they were "boring" nibs! Even that would not keep me from buying the pen should I finally make up my mind. But I would get into that price thing again because of the add-on price of sending it to Richard Binder for a nib smoothing.
BTW - If you've never written with a pen that Richard has tweaked the
nib on, you have no idea of what you are missing. I say that & I
have yet to to get back one I sent to him. (He has two of my
pens right now. A Pelikan M620 Shanghai & a Pelikan M250. The
250 has a 14k nib.) A very good friend of mine purchased (2) two
from him & I wrote with both of those. The word to use about
those nibs is smoooooth!
Thank You very much for your indulgence,
Tommy Fountain