Image via JetPens
Ok this is a cool one, and you have my organization skills, or lack thereof, to thank for it. Retro 51 released a range of slimline Tornado ballpoints last year that were really nice. The Electron ballpoint was one of them, and since it’s been a while since release, they aren’t the easiest to find. Except here, because I have one to give away.
Read the rules below and enter away!
How do you review a product you have already reviewed, and already love? How do you keep it fresh? How do you say something new? I’m not sure I have all of the answers to those questions, but let’s find out. One thing I do know: I love the Aurora Optima.
I knew I loved it from the first time I picked one up, which ended up in the purchase of my first, the Optima Red Demonstrator. And yes, I still think just as highly of it now, even though I had to send it to the shoptima. It’s a pen that fits me perfectly.
Until this week, I wasn’t sure why it was so perfect for me. Then I read a review of the Aurora Optima 365 on Hand Over That Pen. Pam, Queen of Tiny Handwriting, First of Her Name, said this about the Optima:
“ I really love the Optima’s shape and size. Why you ask? Because, to me, the Aurora Optima 365 is a gaudier Sailor Progear with the use of a wider, more ostentatious cap band.”
That explains a lot about me and my likes, doesn’t it?
Aurora Optima (Top), Sailor Pro Gear Bungubox 5th Anniversary Edition
Looking at pictures of the Optima and Pro Gear side-by-side the comparison is inevitable. Why didn’t I think of this before! I guess that makes the Aurora 88 and the Sailor 1911 cousins as well.
One area where they do not compare is in price. The Aurora is twice as much as the Pro Gear, but I feel it is priced correctly for what it brings to the table. You can feel the difference in your hand before even getting into the technical aspects.
First off, the Optima is a piston filler, while the Pro Gear uses a cartridge/converter filling system. And this is no normal piston either. It’s easily the most substantial I have felt in a pen, and even has a small, stealth, ink reservoir to get those last drops out until you can get it filled up again.
The Optima has a large ebonite feed, too. Does it make the ink flow better than a standard plastic feed? I’d be lying if I told you I could tell the difference. But the sheer size of it, which is mostly hidden in the section, is impressive.
The materials of this pen - in the case of the O’ Sole Mio black acrylic and marbled orange auroloide - are substantial, and beautiful. The Pro Gear acrylic barrel is lightweight in comparison. The walls of the Optima barrel are thick, and you can feel it in your hand.
Aurora has some of the best gold nibs on the market. So does Sailor. And they are completely different. Aurora’s nibs are thick, and on the firmer side for a gold nib. The medium nib in this Optima is smooth with a little give when writing, but with no bounce or variation when you push it. Sailor’s nibs are obviously finer in comparison, and do have a different feel when writing. Both offer some of the best nibs in the business.
And finally, as Pam says above, the Optima has a gaudier cap band. And it’s a good-looking gaudy! While the Pro Gear offers sleek, refined hardware, Aurora steps up the hardware game in comparison, both in size and style. I think it looks great.
So, if you like the Sailor Pro Gear, will you like the Aurora Optima? I say undoubtedly yes. It does come at a cost though, and in the case of these two pens, it is worth it to me.
(Kenro Inc. provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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Each week in Refill, the Pen Addict Members newsletter, I publish Ink Links as part of the additional content you receive for being a member. And each week, after 10 to 15 links, plus my added commentary on each, I'm left with many great items I want to share. Enter Misfill. Here are this weeks links:
-- Exclusive: GLP Author Tomoe River notebook review (UK fountain pens)
-- Review: Graf von Faber-Castell Midnight Blue (Alt. Haven)
-- The Fall's Mark E. Smith's (RIP) Creates a List of His Favorite Books, Films & Music, Circa 1981 (Open Culture)
-- Why Paper Jams Persist (The New Yorker)
-- How to Keep Going (Kottke)
-- Inside the Secret Workshop of the Louvre (Messy Messy Chic)
-- Cherry blossom viewing at evening in Osaka (ZEN in TECHNICOLOR)
-- Some Local Stationery Finds (Three Staples)
-- Mini Review: Midori 10th Anniversary White Grid Notebook (Hand Over That Pen
-- Tom Waits Curates a 76-Song Playlist of His Own Music: An Introduction to Tom Waits by Tom Waits (Open Culture)
-- Virgil Abloh to replace Kim Jones as artistic director of menswear at Louis Vuitton (It's Nice That)
-- The Unwanted Guest at Modernism’s Table (Hyperallergic)
-- The Data Wonk Who Became a Coach (WSJ)
-- Tweets, trolls and time: An inside look at what it's like to run an MLB social media account (Sporting News)
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