This is one of the rather more inexpensive Auroras.  I didn’t think there was such a thing.  I thought they were all expensive.  I got it for £48.26 with free postage, which I think was a bit of a deal as I generally see EO8 a little more highly priced.

It’s a very beautiful pen.  The barrel is a deeply lustrous black which sets off the pinstriped gold-plated cap.  There’s also a black insert on top of the cap and the plain clip is nicely sprung and will hold on well.  The cap clicks in place firmly.  The plated Aurora nib is firm and it’s a medium.  My preference is always for a fine nib, but the medium seemed to be all that was available at the time that I bought it.  The Aurora takes the standard Parker cartridge, which is good to know.

It’s a high quality pen for the money but is it outstanding in any way?  Aesthetically it is but in terms of its writing ability, it’s just another firm nibbed pen with good ink flow.  There is nothing to criticise about it but it’s indistinguishable in use from, say, a 1950s English Parker Duofold.  Apart from the fact that it is a cartridge filler it seems to me to be a backward-looking, very traditional fountain pen.  Not that that’s a bad thing!

Had it not been for the medium nib, this would have been a keeper for me – beautifully balanced, light and faultless but it’s just too thick a point for me.  However, it is the prettiest pen I’ve seen in quite a while and, as someone remarked to me, it’s the day for Italian things, what with Ferrari winning the Hungarian Grand Prix and all…