Your impartial and comprehensive review site for writing instruments

The Aurora Duo-Cart could just be a modern classic

I have a fresh appreciation for Aurora’s pens. The 88 Nettuno has wormed its way into my heart, and I not only love the way it writes (which I take credit for) but the way it looks and feels in the hand.

But that’s a £500 special edition. Would I be equally enamored of a £130 “budget” pen, with a steel nib and converter?

Let’s find out. Introducing the revised 2019 Duo-Cart.

DSCF6695

To cover the basics, without going into a history lesson, the Duo-Cart is a recreation of a vintage Aurora design, famed for holding two cartridges on a caddy. This one does not, but the name remains.

The retro theme continues in the choice of pastel colours available, but I picked classic Aurora black with chromed metal cap. It just looked nicest to me. I ordered mine from Iguanasell, and I paid the full retail price of £125.

The packaging is much nicer than I expected for a pen of this price. Nice solid case for the pen, cartridge and converter supplied, as well as a little bottle of Aurora black ink, all in a retro box adorned with old-school artwork.

The pen itself is pretty compact, slim, and not heavy. It’s shorter capped and uncapped than a Visconti Van Gogh, for example.

DSCF6694

The design is more than a little reminiscent of a Parker 51, with a slip-on cap and a hooded nib, but Aurora has definitely not made a homage. The ends are cut square, with an inset metal coin at the end of the barrel.

DSCF6727

The nib is hooded, but it’s not some tiny little spike like on the Wing Sung 601, the Kaco Retro or the original 51. The Duo-Cart is clearly its own design.

DSCF6730

Looking at the profile of how the nib and feed fit into the section, it’s really well executed, too.

DSCF6731

Everything screws together nicely. The folded metal clip is very springy and works.

DSCF6728

The cap is well finished with a stamped stripe pattern and AURORA MADE IN ITALY around the band. The only downside is that it doesn’t give any positive feedback when you cap it (it stays in place through friction alone), although from my tests it actually seats positively and doesn’t come off unless you want it to. All is well.

DSCF6726

Although the Duo-Cart is a smaller pen than I’d normally use, it’s not that narrow at the section, and with no threads or lips to worry about, I found it very comfortable.

Most importantly, the nib is great. Without any flushing, mine immediately wrote a nice wet medium line, exactly as I would have hoped from its M designation (as far as I can tell, the Duo-Cart is only available in one width). Under a loupe, the tines were aligned perfectly, the feed was straight, and the tipping was nicely polished. I occasionally found myself rotating the pen because I didn’t have a good view of the nib, which naturally stopped the pen writing so well, but I corrected that in time.

img_4385

In terms of writing characteristics? There’s a little tooth, but not as much as the other Auroras I’ve used (which I always put on a par with Sailor for feedback). Flow is good, although I confess I’ve only used it with Herbin inks so far, which I find wet. The nib is a nail. No line variation. And no drying out when capped, so far.

With a comfortable grip, slip cap and willing nib, the little Aurora makes a great meeting note-taker.

Clearly, the Duo-Cart is not a premium pen, with exotic materials and finishing. Look closely and you won’t find the care with edges and threads and surface treatments that you’d get with a high-end writing instrument.

Nor is the Duo-Cart a budget pen. You won’t throw a £125 pen in your shopping cart with the same impulse as you would a £28 TWSBI Eco, or the £10 Kaco Retro with its own hooded nib.

And there is a lot of competition around the just-over-£100 mark. Lamy’s 2000, for example (which proves you can get a piston filler and gold nib at this price point) plus various small-batch makers like Franklin-Christoph.

But I think the Duo-Cart just about carves out a niche for itself here. For a start, it’s a truly functional pen, with a bit of history from a storied manufacturer. It’s made in Italy, too. The design is that bit different, and I expect that many will fall in love with the pastel shades it comes in. And the packaging is premium enough to reassure you that you didn’t just waste your hard-earned on a budget pen.

If that sounds like damning with faint praise, it shouldn’t. I’ve reached for the Duo-Cart over more expensive pens several times already.

8 Comments

  1. rupertarzeian

    Very interesting. It sounds great with a lot going for it.

  2. Effandpee

    I really loved mine – I shouldn’t have sold it. But I found the nib rather featureless, ultimately

    • Anthony

      The nib definitely lacks personality — no bounce, no stubbishness. But for this kind of pen I see that as a virtue. It’s just a “pick it up and write with it” kinda pen.

  3. Tom Alaerts

    Nice but for simliar money you can get pristine vintage Aurora 88 pens, which look similar but are reliable piston fillers (with a window) and have gold nibs.

    • Anthony

      I know there are bargains to be had with vintage pens, but there’s always a risk, too, and they’re not always available on demand. I’m certainly always biased towards modern pens…

      • Tom Alaerts

        Fyi the good thing is that the vintage 88 (I have an 88P) has a nylon piston assembly, no cork like some old vintage pens. This is why they are in general long lasting.

  4. Eli Weisz

    It is a modern classic indeed: solid, reliable, comfortable. Nothing posh, but not a cheapo. Have one since Jan., 2018.

  5. Jerome Tarshis

    Designing and manufacturing a pen of good quality is one thing. (And Aurora made some missteps with the first version of this DuoCart.) Creating a “modern classic” requires more than engineering and manufacture, though: it requires managing the reputation of the pen. And Aurora hasn’t shown me any sign that it wants this pen to be considered a modern classic.

    Even a cult classic needs to be visible in the Aurorasphere and in the larger pen community. Living in the United States I may be missing something that’s very visible elsewhere, but from where i live it appears that Aurora isn’t thinking of the DuoCart as a candidate for classic status. The first time around it was called the 88 DuoCart, no? And even the top-of-the-line number”88″ has been denied the newer pen.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

© 2024 UK FOUNTAIN PENS

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑