First Impressions: Aurora 88 Unica Nera

February 13, 2019

I didn’t explore Aurora as a brand that might seriously interest me until last year. Sure, I’d previously reviewed a few pens on loan from Kenro, the Aurora distributor, or that I’d borrowed from friends, but I hadn’t invested any of my own resources in the brand. That changed when I acquired the “Black Ops” Talentum released last year. Since then, I’ve picked up a few more, including an 88 Sigaro Blu, an 88 Minerali, and this year’s “stealth” release, the 88 Unica Nera.

The trim on the Aurora 88 Unica Nera and the Talentum Black Ops is quite different. I like them both, but I might prefer the lighter “gunmetal” look.

The Unica Nera is a natural follow-up to two other pens already in Aurora’s lineup, the Aurora 88 Satin Black, and the 88 “Ottantotto” demonstrator. Aurora’s latest combines the matte black barrel of the Satin Black with the Ottantotto’s black-plated trim. The result should please fans of “stealth” or “blacked out” pens, and on the whole the Unica Nera is a great pen, but there are a few nits that I think are open to critique.

A size comparison between the Talentum Black Ops and the Aurora 88 Unica Nera. The pens are actually close to the same size, but the Talentum feels bigger due to the larger cap.

What Do I Like About The Unica Nera?

Like the Aurora 88 Satin Black, it’s a lightweight pen, despite being a piston filler. The Unica Nera is also well-balanced, and I could write with this pen all day posted. I say posted because the Unica Nera is so light that I need to post the cap as a counterweight. The cap posts deeply and doesn’t make the pen too long.
The matte finish on this pen looks impeccable and the texture feels great in the hand. There are no no injection molding lines or visible flaws in the finish on either the cap or the barrel.
The Aurora 88 has a very large ink capacity, and the piston turns smoothly without sticking. Aurora pistons can sometimes be difficult to flush clean, but I’ve changed inks in this one a couple times with no issues.
The Unica Nera features the same 14k plated nib as the Talentum Black Ops, and in my case, both are fine nibs. The fine nib in my Unica Nera writes a much finer line than my Black Ops, despite having the same nib designation, though it writes smoothly and with perfect ink flow. In my experience, Aurora nibs have some variability in terms of line width (they’re made in-house), and are known to write with a bit of “tooth.” In a couple of cases, I’ve found the “toothiness” to cross the line into “scratchiness” due to ever-so-slight misalignment of the tines, though I’ve always been able to fix the issue with nothing more than a loupe and my fingernail.

Both of these nibs are black-plated fine nibs, though one writes much finer than the other. The Talentum nib is more of a medium.

Things I’m Not Sure About / Small Criticisms

The Unica Nera is an extremely lightweight pen. Part of me wishes that this one had a bit of additional heft to it. Sometimes when I’m writing with this pen I find myself thinking that it’s just a touch insubstantial.
The matte black clip and the shiny black cap band don’t match. This could be a design choice, where Aurora tried to add some contrast to a pen that would otherwise be one-dimensional, but I’d rather see them do this by varying the tone of the plating on the trim, which brings me to….
I prefer the look of the trim on the Talentum Black Ops, which has a more traditional ruthenium/gunmetal tone than the plating on the Unica, which appears to be identical to the trim used on the “Ottantotto” black demonstrator. All three pens use the same nib, which has the gray/gunmetal hue.

I like pens with ink windows. Here, the Unica Nera is showing off some Robert Oster FIre & Ice.

“So What About the Durability of the Trim?”

Ever since I published my initial piece on the Talentum Black Ops, I’ve had to field questions about the durability of the trim, and I will answer them here: No, I’ve not had any issues with the trim wearing off the clip, cap band, or any other areas. I did hear that there was a bad batch of pens with defective trim that I believe went to Europe, which caused a delay in the Black Ops’ global release, and some of those pens might remain in circulation, but I’ve personally had no problems. In general, I’ve had good luck with the trim on my stealth pens, including not only the Talentum but also my Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black and Sailor 1911 Black Luster models.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

Some people are tired of the “all black” look, but I’m not, especially where it’s well-executed. These understated workhorses are pens that I can use all day at the office, and look great without drawing unwanted attention. I’ve been using the Unica Nera at work for the past couple of weeks, and can confirm that it’s a lightweight, easy pen to write with for extended periods of time, and sports a firm fine nib that’s I’ve enjoyed using for planner notes and annotation. If you don’t have a black trim pen in your collection, the Unica Nera is definitely worthy of your consideration.

These pens are relatively new, and therefore still making their way to most retailers. Pen Chalet currently has them in stock, priced at $585, which is around the typical price point of an Aurora 88. The Unica Nera is slightly more expensive than the Satin Black but far less expensive than the Ottantotto demonstrator.

Disclaimer: I received the pen featured in this review directly from Kenro Industries, Aurora’s North American distributor and a sponsor of this blog, and paid with “store credit” that I received in exchange for sidebar advertising. This post contains affiliate links.

Who Backed the Baux Pens? This Guy.

February 9, 2019

I make no apologies for the fact that I’m an unabashed fan of Bic ballpoint pens. Whether it be the original Bic Cristal, the retractable Bic Clic, or those ginormous Bic multi pens that you carried in third grade, I have and use them all regularly. I consider them the ultimate low-cost, low-distraction, functional writing tool that will work reliably pretty much anywhere except underwater or upside down (which is when you would want to reach for your Fisher Space Pen or other pressurized cartridge).

The pens featured here are technically the Baux Pen 2, a follow-up on the original Baux Pen Kickstarter project from 2013, which launched and closed long before I was far enough down the pen-internet rabbit hole to be aware of it. The project is run by brothers Dan and Brian Conti. You might recognize Brian from his company, Spoke Design, which makes the excellent Spoke Pencil and the current Spoke Pen Kickstarter, a collaboration with Brad Dowdy from the Pen Addict.

The product itself is fairly simple: the Baux Pen is an aluminum stick pen with textured aluminum or titanium grips (shiny or blasted matte) that borrows the rest of the parts from the Bic pen itself. To replace the refill, you remove the plastic “collar,” the refill with the writing tip, and the cap from a Bic Stic pen and insert those parts into the Baux Pen body. It’s very easy and straightforward.

How to disassemble a Baux Pen to incorporate the refill: If you want to use the refill from a Bic Cristal, you will need to borrow the “collar” (pictured second from left) from a Bic Stic to seat the Cristal refill in the Baux Pen. You can then use … — How to disassemble a Baux Pen to incorporate the refill: If you want to use the refill from a Bic Cristal, you will need to borrow the “collar” (pictured second from left) from a Bic Stic to seat the Cristal refill in the Baux Pen. You can then use the ultra fine ballpoint refills from pens like the Bic Cristal “Xtra Precision”, in all their multicolor glory.

One thing I love about the Baux Pen is the grip. I opted for blasted titanium on all three of my pens, and the combination of the matte texture and rings make this a super-comfortable pen to write with. Since titanium and aluminum are both lightweight, you don’t lose one of the best attributes of the Bic pens - their “go-anywhere” portability - and the Baux pen body has a nice balance. The end of the barrel is slightly tapered, allowing you to post the cap. Plastic Bic Stic caps, of course, add no weight whatsoever.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

When this Kickstarter Project was pending, I heard it characterized in many circles as “specialized” or targeted only to artists, designers, and others who use Bic pens for drawing in connection with their work. I disagree. Whether they want to admit it or not, everyone has Bic pens lying around their house, stashed in their car, or in their bag for those occasions when nothing else will work, such as writing on those shiny USPS shipping labels from the post office and all those multi-sheet forms you need to fill out when mailing a package.

If you like the feel and writing properties of a Bic ballpoint, but want to upgrade your daily writing instrument to something just a bit nicer looking, the Baux pen is a great upgrade that doesn’t cost much at all. I backed for three pens with titanium grips, and the price came to $36. The cost for backing a single aluminum pen is only $9. Now that the project has finished shipping, I hope that the Baux Pen gets a wider release (perhaps through the Spoke Design shop?) because it’s a great product that deserves wider exposure than the Kickstarter received. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find a retailer where this pen is being sold outside of Kickstarter, but hopefully that’s because the creators wanted to fulfill Kickstarter orders first.

Disclaimer: I purchased the pens featured in this review with my own funds, for my own collection. This post contains affiliate links.

Exploring Stock Stub Nibs, Part II: Higher-end Options

February 7, 2019

A couple of years ago I wrote a piece on stock stub nibs, which focused on inexpensive options such as the Pilot Metropolitan and the TWSBI 580, both of which offer a very affordable stub nib that gives you line variation and makes your writing look more interesting at a price point as low as $15. As I wrote in that article, the main advantage to starting out with these inexpensive specialty nibs is that they allow you to learn how a stub writes without having to (potentially) sacrifice a pen in your collection to a nibmeister. I say this because for every pen I have had custom ground that ended up amazing, an even greater number of grinds didn’t work out, mostly because I chose a poor grind for my handwriting style, but a couple flopped because I went to a pen show and had the pen worked on by someone who didn’t know what they were doing.

Here, I want to discuss a couple of excellent stock stub nibs that are available on pens at higher price points. You might ask why spend money on an expensive stock stub when you can get a pen custom ground to your own personal preferences? A few things to consider:

If you’re looking for a stub nib at a standard “broad” width, a stock nib offers this at a stock price point (though sometimes with a slight upcharge) without having to undertake the additional expense and uncertainty of going the custom grind route.
You don’t have to visit a pen show. If you’re thinking of getting a pen custom ground for the first time, I highly recommend visiting a pen show and having the nib work done in person. You can work with the nibmeister to adjust the grind to your specifications as opposed to working through the mail. The costs of return shipping can add up!
Most importantly, a stock stub nib is covered by the manufacturer’s warranty and return policy. Everyone in this hobby thinking of having their nibs custom ground should realize that it voids the warranty on the pen, so if the grind doesn’t work out, you have to replace either the nib or the pen. On the other hand, if a stock stub is bad, or the grind doesn’t work for your particular writing style, you can return it to the retailer or distributor for an exchange.

So which stock stubs am I currently enjoying? I added a couple to my collection last year:

Three writing samples, starting from top: the Leonardo Officina Italiana Stub; the Aurora stub, and a custom ground .6mm Masuyama stub for comparison purposes.

Aurora. If you enjoy a crisper nib that offers more line variation than your typical stock nib, Aurora makes an excellent 18k stub. It’s approximately .7mm in width and has an ebonite feed, making the line width and ink flow perfect for everyday writing. It’s also surprisingly smooth, and mine has little to no tooth. A few years ago, I had picked up an Aurora Ipsilon Quadra with a stock italic nib, and I didn’t care for that nib at all because it was far too sharp and skipped and hard-started like crazy when I tried to use it as an actual writer. The stub on my 88 Minerali, however, is superb, on par with custom work. Lately, the word has gotten out about Aurora stock stubs, so they have been a bit harder to find. Currently, Pen Chalet has a stub nib option available in the all-black Aurora Unica Nera, and Dan Smith at The Nibsmith also keeps them in stock as an option for most Aurora pens.

Leonardo Officina Italiana. If you prefer a wider, smoother stub, consider the offerings from a new pen company based in Italy, Leonardo Officina Italiana. I was a fan of Delta pens before that company went out of business, and Leonardo was founded by former Delta employees. The company’s products reflect its heritage, though I’d say the Leonardo pens I own are a step above Delta in terms of fit, finish, and quality control. (It also doesn’t hurt that they have access to some discontinued Omas celluloids, due to a manufacturing partnership with Omas successor Armando Simoni Club.) Though wider than the Aurora stub (about 1.1-1.3mm), the Leonardo nib also features an ebonite feed and writes a narrower line than you would expect, making it another good option for everyday writing. I hear good things about Leonardo’s steel stub nibs as well, but haven’t personally tried them. I acquired the pen pictured here from Pen Venture as part of a three-pen set, and Emy tuned the nibs to perfection prior to shipping.

Franklin-Christoph and Pilot. Two other brands I should mention are Franklin-Christoph, which offers a wide variety of stub, cursive italic, and S.I.G. (Stub Italic Gradient) nibs in both stainless steel and gold. Those nibs are all excellent, and deserve their own article. The other brand I should mention here is Pilot, and in particular the Vanishing Point. Pilot offers a stub (“SU”) nib option for the VP that is roughly the same width as the Aurora, but I haven’t had the opportunity to write with one extensively.

If you’re interested in custom grinds, you can also check out this article, in which I talk about some of my favorite specialty grinds.

Disclaimer: This post contains links to paid sponsors and affiliates. Both pens pictured in this post were purchased by me with my own funds, for my own collection.

Sailor-Professional-Gear-Imperial-Black-Fountain-Pen

Battle Scars: Revisiting the Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black after Five Years

February 2, 2019

Few pens make it five years in my collection without boring me, but the Sailor Professional Gear Imperial Black has managed to survive countless purges, trades, and fire sales, which makes it one of the my five oldest “pen friends.” Part of this is sentimental - I received this pen the day my daughter was born - but that’s not the main reason I’ve held on to it.

In my opinion, Sailor has the best looking black-plated trim on the market.

Five years with a pen is long enough to write a “revisited” or “extended” review. The pen has also been in heavy rotation for those five years, with only a few breaks longer than a month or so. Here, I’ll go through a few things I love about this pen, but also a few things that, yes, annoy me, particularly given this pen’s steep price point. Finally, I’ll talk about how to acquire a Pro Gear Imperial Black without breaking the bank, and the risks and advantages of purchasing from overseas sellers.

What I Like

Everything I said about this pen in my initial review holds up five years later. The pen looks great, writes well, and is a joy to use on a daily basis. I need to commit to having this pen in constant rotation as it’s one of my top five pens ever.

Matte Black Acrylic with Ruthenium Trim. Sure, people are getting tired of the “stealth pen,” and I agree that it’s somewhat played out, with nearly every major pen brand now trying to release a pen with a black acrylic/black trim or clear acrylic/black trim color combination. Doesn’t matter. I still love the look of this pen. I even purchased the Pro Gear Imperial Black multi pen so I have a matching set that I can carry.
Sailor’s Plated Nibs. I’ve owned a lot of Sailor Professional Gear fountain pens over the years, and in terms of look and feel, their black plated nibs are my favorite. I own three: the Pro Gear Imperial Black, the 1911 Black Luster, and the black-plated 1911 standard demonstrator released as a Nagasawa department store exclusive. While most 21k nibs are extremely stiff, these Sailor nibs are slightly softer and have just a bit more bounce than the typical nib found on a Pro Gear. They are not flexible in any way, and somewhat easy to bend/spring (see below), so don’t try to push them for “flex” - you won’t get any.
Size and Weight. This goes more to the advantages of the Pro Gear itself than to the Imperial Black model, but it’s one of my favorite-sized pens on the market. The combination of a relatively compact size when closed, and a barrel that’s comfortable to use posted or unposted, makes this a great daily workhorse.

Sailor-Professional-Gear-Imperial-Black-Posted

Negative Considerations

Price. I’ll talk about this more in a minute, but my biggest complaint about the Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black is the fact that Sailor insists, for whatever reason, on charging over $450 for this pen in the United States. If you love the look of the pen, there are ways around the ridiculous pricing by ordering from overseas, but as I discuss below, that’s not without risk.
Durability of the Finish. I don’t mind a bit of wear on my pens - it gives them character after all, especially following five years of heavy use - but I feel like I need to mention this here because many people like their pens to remain relatively pristine. The matte finish on my pen has definitely worn smooth over time, and the black fill on the Sailor cap finial has started to chip off. I have not, however, experienced any damage or wear to the plating on my pen.
Durability of the Nib. The nib on the Professional Gear Imperial Black is both its biggest strength and its biggest weakness. I own two of Sailor’s 21k black-plated nibs in fine, one on this pen and the other on the 1911 Black Luster, and both have bent and had to be sent to a nibmeister to repair. (They’re fine now, thanks to Mike Masuyama and Mark Bacas.) This is, of course, my own fault, but a small drop onto a desk from the pen slipping out of my hand damaged these nibs, whereas other nibs have easily survived a similar incident. As I noted above, the Sailor 21k black plated nib has a bit of bounce, so this probably has something to do with this nib being “softer” than your typical 21k Sailor Pro Gear nib. I’ve also heard reports of the plating wearing off the nib, or “peeling,” usually after the nib has been ground. For this reason, I don’t recommend a plated nib if you’re looking to add a nib modification like a cursive italic or architect grind.

Paint wearing off the cap finial. Honestly, I would have expected this to be plated.

Takeaways, Where to Purchase, and Considerations on Buying Overseas

Overall, I’m extremely pleased with the Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black from a “looks and functionality” perspective. I don’t see this pen ever leaving my collection. That said, it’s stunning to me that five years later, Sailor has declined to lower what I feel is an outrageously expensive asking price to something more reasonable. As I mentioned above, the MSRP on this pen is an absurd $590, with the street price at $472. I didn’t pay that much money, and firmly believe this pen isn’t worth anything close to the standard U.S. price, no matter how good it looks. Until Sailor or its U.S. distributor closes the gap between the U.S. and Japanese pricing, consumers will buy from overseas, where the price hovers between $220-250 USD.

Both the strength and the weakness, the plated 21k nib is an exceptional writer and looks great, but, at least in the fine width, can easily be sprung, and the plating can wear off if you grind the nib.

Before you order from an overseas retailer (typically via Amazon, eBay, or Rakuten storefronts, or from a buying service like Pensachi), you should know the risks and considerations. First, you likely won’t have warranty protection, and if you do, you will be under the Japanese warranty, so if you have a problem with the pen you will have to ship it back to Japan. Honestly, when the price differential is nearly the cost of buying a second pen, this doesn’t bother me that much. Most problems with a cartridge-converter pen like a Pro Gear will be a nib issue, and $200 in savings will more than offset the cost of nib work by an independent nib technician. Second, you’re not supporting your local retailers, which I generally take into account when making my purchases, and typically shop local unless the price difference is so large that I can’t justify the extra cost. Here, this pen costs nearly double to buy through U.S. channels, which frankly I can’t justify, and Sailor needs to follow the lead of Platinum and Pilot and compress that price gap.

Finally, when buying overseas, there’s always the risk of getting ripped off on the internet (i.e. receiving a fake pen or not receiving a pen at all), but you can take steps to protect yourself. If you’re willing to take the plunge on a Pro Gear Imperial Black by ordering from Japan, look for an eBay or Amazon Seller with an extensive history and positive reviews. Here’s one example. If after receiving your pen, you are dissatisfied with the purchase in any way, notify the Seller immediately and if they don’t promptly respond and agree to make it right, notify invoke the platform’s customer protection policy. As an extra layer of protection, I make sure to pay through PayPal or a credit card with a good consumer protection benefit.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

Pen Review: Montblanc Starwalker Rollerball/Fineliner

January 31, 2019

Before Montblanc introduced the “M” by Marc Newson collection in order to grab some younger market share, the Starwalker was Montblanc’s attempt to introduce a more contemporary design option into their lineup. I avoided Starwalker pens for years because I didn’t like the fact that they were cartridge-only, and had heard reports of temperamental fountain pen nibs (much like the “M”). I also wasn’t sure about the cap. Montblanc abandoned their traditional snowcap in favor of a “floating” emblem encased in clear acrylic, which for years looked a little funky to me but grew on me over time. I still sometimes think of the Starwalker as the “Montblanc pen for those who don’t want a pen that looks like a Montblanc.”

Shown here compared against the Le Petit Prince Classique rollerball. The Starwalker is a larger pen, sitting between the Classique and the 146, but it’s still slender enough for me to characterize it as “slim.”

Honestly, what finally made me pull the trigger on a Starwalker was the fact that I ran across one of the “Midnight Black” versions at a brick-and-mortar pen retailer who was discontinuing the line, and phasing out all of their Montblanc stock. (This was many months ago, so the location of the sale isn’t important because all the pens are gone and weren’t sold online.) I’ll never pass up the opportunity to grab a blacked-out pen with ruthenium trim a steep discount, especially one as nice as this.

Even the threading on the back of the barrel is ruthenium-plated, with the same texture as on the cap band of my Montblanc 146 “Ultra Black.”

Personally, I think the Starwalker design lends itself more to a rollerball/fineliner or ballpoint, as opposed to a fountain pen. The barrel-end is threaded, so if you want to post this pen you will have to thread the cap onto the back. Posting this pen therefore takes some time, and when I’m using it I tend to post the cap and leave it off - something you can’t necessarily do with a fountain pen without the nib drying out.

Other notable design touches are the introduction of a knurled metal grip, which emphasizes the pen’s modern look that’s a bit out of character for Montblanc. Some find knurled metal uncomfortable regardless, but this section is very well done. The knurling isn’t particularly sharp, and I’ve had no issues using this pen for long periods of time, posted or unposted. The cap doesn’t add a lot of weight when it’s posted, since it’s acrylic. As always, Montblanc fineliner and rollerball cartridges are of exceptional quality, if somewhat pricey.

Some models of the Starwalker have more prominent texture on the grip than others. The “Midnight Black” edition features fairly pronounced knurling, but it’s not uncomfortable to use.

Montblanc also incorporated a different clip design into the Starwalker - it’s arched rather than flat, and the clip is longer than the cap. “Montblanc” is also engraved around the top, just below the acrylic dome.

Another shot of the “Snowcap” emblem and how it “floats” in the acrylic.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

I enjoy writing with my Starwalker, and typically keep it in a two-pen leather sleeve with my Montblanc Le Petit Prince Classique rollerball, as a two-pen carry for when I can’t use my fountain pens. It makes a great travel set, and I keep one pen loaded with a blue refill; the other red. Because the Starwalker is slightly heavier than the Classique, those bothered by metal sections or heavier pens might want to hold a Starwalker and write with it before purchasing.

It appears that the Midnight Black version of the Starwalker is being phased out. Montblanc currently has them in stock via their website, so if you like the look of this particular edition I’d grab it while you can. Other retailers, such as our sponsor Appelboom, have different versions of the Starwalker Rollerball in stock, such as the standard Black Resin, the “Ultra Black”, or the “Black Mystery”. Pricing on all of these pens run around $400, so as with all Montblanc pens, it’s not a purchase to be made lightly.

Note: You will sometimes see the Rollerball version of the Starwalker advertised as a “fineliner,” but they’re one and the same other than the refill that ships with the pen. Montblanc fineliner and rollerball refills use the same format and are interchangeable in all Montblanc rollerball or fineliner pens.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. I purchased the pen featured in this post with my own funds, for my own collection.