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A public service announcement about Aurora italic and stub nibs

I recently bought an Aurora 88 with italic nib. It was not what I expected.

This is because Aurora does not make it easy. Over the years it’s offered different kinds of italic nibs, including different widths of italics. Try to find pictures on the internet and you often turn up ten-year-old threads on FPN.

Aurora doesn’t mark its nibs, either, or in my experience its feeds. You can’t see from a picture what the nib actually is.

However.

From a very helpful roundup by Azizah at Gourmetpens I expected the italic to look like this:

Aurora Nibs - Fine, Medium, Broad, Italic, Stub @Iguana_Sell 4

In fact, I sent Iguanasell this exact photo and asked if the italic nib would look like this. You’d think they’d know: the set of nibs that Azizah reviewed was supplied by Iguanasell.

I duly received a box marked Italic. But the nib I received does not look like the one above. It is “hammerhead” shaped, like the Stub that Gourmetpens received. Note the nib flares out at the tipping to form a T shape:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/63862643@N02/32608426035

My italic is very crisp, with maximum line variation. It writes a medium-dry line. It is smoother than some other Aurora nibs I’ve used. But the line is at least 1.3mm, perhaps 1.5mm — it’s about the same width as my Pelikan Italic Broad or JoWo 1.5.

Not what I was expecting from seeing the first photo above.

Nibmeister Dan Smith (nibsmith.com) is an Aurora stockist and describes the two nibs this way:

Aurora’s Factory Italic is very similar to a crisp formal italic, having sharp edges and producing maximum line variation with a vertical stroke that measures 1.1-1.2mm.

Aurora’s Factory Stub shares the same profile as their Double Broad and can be described as a smoothed-out cursive italic, producing excellent line variation (much more than a typical stub). It creates a vertical stroke that measures 0.8-0.9mm.

So it sounds like we might have got to the bottom of the mystery: the hammerhead shape is the Factory Italic (and I received the correct nib); maybe the labelling on Azizah’s tester set got the italic and stub the wrong way round.

But wait, the plot thickens.

Some time ago I received a Talentum Black Ops, also from Iguanasell, with a stub nib. The box was stickered from the factory as a Stub. And the nib was the SAME HAMMERHEAD SHAPE AS MY ITALIC. (It also wrote worse than any nib I’ve ever received).

So, I’ve ordered both italic and stub Aurora nibs, both from the same retailer, both brand new, and they BOTH came with the same sharp hammerhead shape, regardless of whether I ordered the stub or italic.

What’s going on here? Is it a case of mislabelling? Of a mixup at the factory? A mixup at the retailer? Or just huge Italian-stereotypical variability between individual nibs? I’m not sure.

I thought about trying to get Iguanasell to send me a stub nib instead, on the off chance that that one will be the non-hammerhead shape.

But instead I have (irresponsibly) taken matters into my own hands.

My solution was to grind off the sides of the hammerhead to bring the line width down below 1mm, and to pull the feed and nib and tune it to be wetter. Crazy on day one of ownership of an expensive pen, but I knew I wasn’t going to be happy until it was writing the way I wanted.

So, here’s my advice to you: don’t order an Aurora stub or italic online unless the retailer can send you a macro photo of the exact nib you’ll be receiving.

Public service announcement over!

6 Comments

  1. rupertarzeian

    This is very timely advice as I have just been pondering on whether to order an Aurora Talentum online. I looked at one in a shop in Italy, which had a Fine nib. I watched a review from Grandmia Pens and the stub nib looked appealing. I will have to tread carefully.

  2. Joe C.

    I’ve had a similar experience. I believe their specialty nibs either made or tipped in-house, so there can be inconsistency. They are also prone to factory mix-ups. I received a OB instead of a stub one time. I also sold an Italic that was so sharp I could shave with it.

    • JZ

      I had the opposite experience: ordered the 88 Black Satin on-line with a stub nib and received something very similar to the italic nib in your first photograph. If I’m not careful and roll the pen, the nib is sharp enough that it can dig into paper, but when held properly delivers wonderful line variation. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted but I’ve adapted to the pen and quite enjoyed the experience. It is one of my best writers and on Mnemosyne paper with Aurora black ink is magical.

  3. Debi Humphrey

    I’ve seen the same type of mix-up happen frequently with large “discount” companies, with all types of products. Unfortunately, it seems to be par for the course nowadays.

  4. Marica

    Thank you for the timely article!
    As Aurora doesn’t sell stub or Italic in Japan, I cannot purchase one from my favorite brick-and-mortar shop and was thinking of ordering one from overseas online shop.
    Looks like I’d better purchase from nibsmith.com or another brand (possibly Leonardo).

  5. MAB

    I just today got my Talentum fountain pens in the mail, and nib is the hammerhead you have pictured. I too ordered an italic and this is not what I expected. I’m not sure I have enough faith in myself to do what you did and alter the nib, and at the moment I am sure I do not have the materials I would need. At the moment it is not writing well, it is skipping a lot. Disappointing for the money.

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