Optima - Art Deco Elegance from Aurora

Aurora Legacy

Since it's been a few months, I'd like to quickly review the history of Aurora and what makes this company special before I get into the specifics of the Optima. If you have a good memory, or recently re-read my article on the Ipsilon, feel free to skip ahead to the next section! 

Aurora is the only Italian pen company that produces its own fountain pen nibs completely in-house, and it has been family-owned since its inception. It was founded in 1919 as the Fabbrica Italiana di Penne a Serbatoio - Aurora with the financial support of textile merchant Isaia Lev, and every part of its fountain pens are still manufactured under one roof in their original factory in Turin (Torino), Northern Italy. 

Their pens are coveted not only by professionals and professors but also by Millennial bullet journalers and Gen Z influencers. Imagine! An Italian fountain pen backed by 100 years of history, now considered among the best pens for journaling and a cult sketch pen adored by current artists! Surely, a testament to Aurora’s unique flair for creating timelessly on-trend pieces?

The Aurora 88, which was released in 1947 and is considered the most successful Italian fountain pen in the world, was designed by Italian artist and architect Marcello Nizzolli to compete with the Parker 51. Aurora sold more than 5 million 88s all over the world, and the original 88 was in production until the 1970s, then relaunched in the 1990s with the form it has today. The Hastil, designed by architect Marco Zanuso in 1969, is revered as a triumph of modern design, and is part of the Museum of Modern Art in New York's permanent collection. The very accessible Ipsilon, the focus of my earlier article, was added to the lineup in 1993 and has a fresh and contemporary feel. We are also proud to carry many gorgeous limited edition Auroras, including several limited edition Optimas that I'll feature in this article!

Pleasing Proportions

I love Art Deco style, so I was very excited to be able to explore the Optima. This model's nostalgic shape, beautiful materials, and understated but evocative vintage-inspired details immediately make it feel special. Optima is available in several variations of material and trim color, and comes in fountain pen, rollerball, and ballpoint, but every Optima shares certain design features.  I'll be focusing on the fountain pen, although I did also try a ballpoint, which is slimmer than the other two.

The Optima is flat-ended and medium-sized, with a contrasting black cap finial and piston knob, wide center ring, clear ink window, and smooth piston filling mechanism that features a unique hidden ink reservoir system. Of course, the star of the pen is Aurora's amazing large and graceful gold nib with an ebonite feed. Optima also has subtle vintage-style engraving on the barrel which reads "Fabbrica italiana di penne a serbatoio"--the brand's original name--surrounding the Aurora Italia logo.  As I mentioned above, the elegantly curving vintage-style clip is inspired by the Aurora Duplex, circa 1930.

[Pictured are the Auroloide Blue with chrome trim, Viola (Purple Auroloide) with rose gold trim, and Rossa Auroloide with chrome trim.]

I find the Optima's shape immediately lovable. There's just something appealing and endearing about its proportions, with its subtly flared middle and somewhat chunky diameter for its height.  I love the feel of the slightly protruding wide shiny band, which simultaneously reminds me of a cumberbund and a cigar band. It looks as if you could slide it off and wear it as a pinky ring.

[Pictured: Optima in Black resin with solid Sterling Silver "grana di riso" (rice grain) guilloché cap.]

The Optima has several different band designs, but they are all attractive and classy. Most feature an engraved iconic Greek key design (a motif featured on many vintage pens) along with the AURORA name and the word ITALY.  I really enjoy running my finger over the band and feeling the transition from the material of the pen's cap and body to the engraved metal band. Even on the Optimas with Sterling Silver caps, you can feel a difference in temperature and texture between the band and the rest of the pen, and it's very satisfying.  More subtle, still, are the ribbed striations between the words and design.  They are barely even visible to the naked eye, but my fingertips love them!

[Pictured are the Limited Edition Caleidoscope Luce Blu (no Greek key on band), Auroloide Blue with Silver Trim (small Greek key design on edges of band), and Limited Edition Optima 365 Celeste (large Greek key on band), on a Yak Leather 10 Pen Holder in Crazy Horse brown.  Photo by Harsh Atit. The limited edition pens have exceptionally beautiful material with a complex combination of colors!]

The overall pen is comparable in size to a standard Sailor Professional Gear, with a capped length of 5.0" or 127.0mm (5.06" or 128.5mm for the Sailor) and body diameter of 0.54" or 13.7mm (0.52" or 13.2mm for the Sailor), but the Optima is longer when posted, at 6.0" or 152.4mm, as compared to a Pro Gear's 5.80" or 147.3mm length. The two pens' weights are about the same--21.55g or .76 oz for the Optima and 22.0g or .76 oz for the standard Pro Gear.

The overall size and weight of the Optima isn't that unusual, but just look at that grip section... it's exceptionally long!  I was shocked when I compared these four pens.  Left to right are my Pilot Custom 743 (with a flexible FA nib... the regular Pilot nib is more ornate!), Pelikan M600 (Glauco Cambon special edition), an Aurora Optima, and my Sailor 1911L, which has the same size nib and grip section as a standard size Sailor Professional Gear.  The Optima is by far the shortest in overall length, but I lined them up at the top of their grips, and the Optima's gripping section is much longer than all the other pens'.  The nib is also comparatively large for the size of the pen.

I've never found the less generously proportioned grip sections on my pens to be uncomfortable, but, if you ever feel cramped by your pens' grips, the Optima may be the pen for you!  If you are bothered by the threads below your gripping section digging into your fingers, this is much less likely to happen with an Optima. The grip section also has a nice flared shape that is very ergonomic.  I really like how it feels in my hand.

[Pictured: Auroloide Blue with Silver Trim and Viola Auroloide with rose gold trim in the background, and Rossa Auroloide with chrome trim in my hand. This particular pen has a Goccia nib, which I'll talk more about later!]

The Optima has other pleasing details as well. It feels expensive, with a solid, well-made body and pleasant, substantial weight.  The pen is extremely well balanced, both with the cap posted on the back and with the cap set aside.  The matching Optima rollerball version is the same size and weight as the fountain pen, but the ballpoint is much slimmer, although also solid feeling and actually slightly heavier, due to the amount of metal in its mechanism and refill.

[Pictured:  Aurora Optima ballpoint in Black resin with gold trim, alongside fountain pen in Black resin with Sterling Silver cap.  Also featured are the orange Girologio Repurposed Italian Leather Writing Mat and Kartos Italian writing set in Variopinta.]

Auroloide

Some Optima models, like the two in the photo above, are made from resin, Sterling Silver, or a combination of the two, but many are "Auroloide," Aurora's pearlescent marbled material that mimics a celluloid appearance.  Auroloide is very beautiful, and helps bring a vintage look and feel to the Optima.  It's impossible to capture Auroloide's full glory in still photos; the chatoyance you see when turning the pen in your hand makes it come alive and gives each pen its own personality and splendor.  Each Optima is paired with tastefully chosen trim in either rose gold, yellow gold, or chrome.

[Pictured:  Viola Auroloide with rose gold trim, Black resin barrel with solid Sterling Silver cap with yellow gold trim, and Rossa Auroloide with chrome trim. Also featured are the green Girologio Repurposed Italian Leather Writing Mat, with gorgeous urushi lacquer-polished Morpho Cypris pen sheaths in Green and Blue.]

In the US, Aurora is distributed by Kenro Industries, so I asked my Kenro representative, Danean, what exactly Auroloide is.  She told me it's "a proprietary material developed by Aurora for some of its premium pen models, most notably in the Aurora 88 and Optima series. It's a type of cellulose acetate, which is a lightweight yet durable material commonly used in the production of high-quality pens."

[Pictured: Burgundy Auroloide with silver trim.]

Cellulose acetate is made using purified natural cellulose, and is a beautiful, strong, and long-lasting material that has a warmer and slightly softer feel than most plastics or resins used to make pens. It has some properties that are close to celluloid (cellulose nitrate), but it is more stable. 

The introduction of Auroloide was one of the key innovations in the re-launched Optima series. Auroloide's luxurious and distinctive appearance helped distinguish the Optima from other high-end pens, combining its historical inspiration with contemporary innovations.

I love how different the Auroloide material's colors can look depending on lighting, and it's especially spectacular in sunlight.  In the photo below, the marbled purple Viola Auroloide pen's two sides look like completely different colors, because the left is in bright sunlight and the right is more shaded! The same pen is shown in the mossy photo above.  Inside, on my dimly lit desk (like on the photo in the previous section where I am writing with the red Optima), it looks like a very dark grape, but the lighter flecks in the material catch the light and give it an alluring depth. So cool.

Sterling Silver and Resin

If you're in the mood for a less colorful, but equally beautiful look, the Optima Riflessi and Optima Silver lines feature Sterling Silver components, and the Optima Resin pens are tastefully understated elegant black pens paired with either chrome or gold plated trim.

We carry the plain black Optima Resin pens in rollerball (chrome or gold) and ballpoint (chrome or gold). If you'd like to order the fountain pen versions, or you want any other Aurora models that are sold out, just ask us!  It typically only takes about 1-2 days for us to get them for you if the distributor, Kenro, has them in stock here in the US. Pens that need to be sent from Italy generally take 1-3 weeks. Not bad!

[Pictured:  Black resin barrel with solid Sterling Silver "grana di riso" guilloché cap, and Riflessi in solid Sterling Silver.]

Optima Silver pens are either solid Sterling Silver, or two-tone with a Sterling Silver cap and black resin barrel. This line features gold plated trim and a 18 karat or 14 karat solid gold nib. I love the sophisticated "grana di riso" (rice grain) ornamental guilloché pattern on these pens! 

The Optima Silver combinations available are:

• Solid silver:  fountain pen, rollerball, or ballpoint
• Solid silver cap with black resin body:  fountain pen, rollerball, ballpoint, or mechanical pencil

The Optima Riflessi line also features a Sterling Silver cap and either Sterling Silver or black resin barrel, but nibs are silver colored rhodium-treated 18 karat gold, and the pens' trim is silver plated.  I remember that when I first started working at Pen Boutique and was becoming familiar with all the pens, the Riflessi Optima was one of the first to really catch my eye.

This is a flashy yet tasteful pen that could easily just sit on your desk to admire, but it's not too fancy, delicate, or precious to write with every day. When you use it and the pen turns slightly in your hand as you move back and forth across the page, the highly reflective shiny diamond-shaped guilloché pattern catches the light and sparkles like a fine watch or bracelet.  The word riflessi appropriately means "reflections" in Italian!

The Optima Riflessi combinations available are:

• Solid silver:  fountain pen, rollerball, or ballpoint
• Solid silver cap with black resin body:  fountain pen, rollerball, or ballpoint

I've always thought this pen would make an amazing gift, not only because it's so eye-catching, but also because its large and very heavy presentation box wows you right away.  All the Optimas have beautiful and impressive hinged storage cases that resemble a jewelry box, but the fancier ones come with an even larger matte black wooden box. When you open the lid, you reveal the pen secured under a leather strap on a padded black leather platform with a silver emblem telling you about its 18k solid gold nib. There are leather pull tabs on either side of the platform, and underneath is a second level containing some booklets, a polishing cloth, and a bottle of Aurora Black ink.  (Note: there is plenty of extra space in this area, and it would be an awesome place to hide a love letter or an actual piece of jewelry in a jewelry box if you really wanted to go all out!) 

The Nibs - From Goccia to Italic

I've talked a lot about how beautiful the bodies of these pens are, but the heart of the Optima is really its proprietary handmade Aurora nib, and this nib is also exceptionally beautiful.  Its elegantly curved shape wraps around the hand turned ebonite feed with swooping lines that set it apart, looking very different from the straight up and down sides of most other nibs.

This gorgeous nib comes in both solid 14k gold and solid 18k gold (depending on pen model), and in a vast array of line widths.  Traditional point sizes are Extra Fine, Fine, Medium and Broad. Custom grinds (which are more expensive) include Goccia, Extra Flex, Double Broad, Italic, and Oblique!  We actually have an Italic Sterling Silver Riflessi model in stock right now, which is difficult to find.  Italic grinds are very similar to stub nibs, with broad and smooth down strokes, but a little sharper on the cross strokes, with an amazingly thin horizontal line.

[Italic nib photo by Harsh Atit.]

I got to try a Goccia (pronounced "Go-chuh") nib for several weeks when I was working on this article, and it's so interesting and fun to experiment with. Goccia means "drop" in Italian, and the tip of the nib is shaped like a water droplet.  This nib is designed for Asian style lettering, and it's similar to a Sailor Naginata Togi nib or Sailor Zoom nib, where you get different line widths depending on how you use the pen.  The Goccia nib is available in CE (Extra Fine), CF (Fine), and CM (Medium).  The "C" stands for "Chinese calligraphy."  The one I tried was the Medium.

[Goccio nib photo by Harsh Atit. Note that this nib is silver colored--it's only the lighting that makes it appear black!]

The Goccia's extra ball of iridium at the tip produces slightly narrower downstrokes and broader cross-strokes, but you'll see the most dramatic line variation if you change the angle at which you write on the page.  According to the Pilot handwriting analysis I got at the DC Pen Show, I normally write with a 49 degree writing angle.  For me, the CM Goccia produces a medium line (similar to a Sailor 14k Broad) at my natural angle, but when I hold it at a high angle (closer 90 degrees), it produces a very fine line (more like a Pilot 14k Fine).  When I hold the pen as low as I am able to write with it, it writes very broad (about like my Pilot 14k BB--Double Broad).  At a very low angle, it gets almost paintbrush-like, similar to the way I can move my Fude nib back and forth across the page at a low angle and get ink to flow out to fill in large areas.  When the nib is held upside down, you can get an extremely fine line, about like a Pilot or Sailor Extra Fine.

Optima Limited Editions

In addition to their regular lineup, Aurora releases beautiful numbered limited edition Optimas each year.  It wasn't as easy for me to get good photos of these pens, as I didn't want to take them home with me, but I asked my teammate Harsh to help me take a few photos in the store on a day when we had a small amount of free time.  I love the way the limited edition numbers are written!

[Optima Caleidoscope Luce Blu, Optima Demonstrator Red, Optima Caleidoscope Luce Bianca, and Optima 365 Celeste, pictured on a Pensemble Pen Sheath in beige.  Photo by Harsh Atit.]

The Optima Caleidoscope series is inspired by the kaleidoscope optical instrument that uses reflecting surfaces to create a beautiful symmetrical pattern created from an image viewed from the other end.  The Auroloide used in these pens is especially complex, with more colors and depth.  Each Caleidoscope release is limited to 860 pieces, and features an 18kt solid gold rhodium-treated nib and chrome trim.  Unlike most Optimas, the Caleidoscope pens' grip sections are made from Auroloide to match the barrel and cap.

[Caleidoscope Luce Blu photo by Harsh Atit.]

We currently have both Caleidoscope Luce Blu and Caleidoscope Luce Bianca in stock. The Luce Blu ("blue light") material is a stunning combination of fragmented blue, purple, and white that captures the light and reflects it back in constantly changing ways as you turn it in your hand. The delicate Luce Bianca ("white light") version features an equally beautiful white, yellow, and lilac marbled Auroloide material. 

[Caleidoscope Luce Bianca photo by Harsh Atit, featuring Oasis Profolio Notebook in Tallgrass Prairie.]

The Optima 365 comes out yearly and is limited to only 365 pieces.  As Aurora describes the concept for this pen, "There is always a number following us through life. A birthday, an anniversary, or a lucky number to remember. For every day of the year Aurora has created an extraordinary pen, a unique model in only 365 numbered pieces, with that special number engraved to keep it always by your heart."

365 Celeste is a beautiful soft blue Auroloid with hints of turquoise, white, and lavender, and features an 18kt solid gold rhodium-treated nib and chrome trim. I had never noticed the subtle lavender in this material until I posed it on a purple Girologio Repurposed Italian Leather Writing Mat and Lavanda Kartos writing set, but then I couldn't stop staring at it!  So lovely.

[Photo by Harsh Atit.]

For pen lovers who are fascinated by the inner workings of their pens, Aurora also makes limited edition Optima Demonstrator pens!  Right now we have a Demonstrator fountain pen and rollerball pen, both with beautiful Red Auroloide finials!  The rollerball also features a Red Auroloide grip section, while the fountain pen has a clear grip section to better show off its ink and nib.

It's been a pleasure exploring the world of Aurora Optimas, and this is definitely a pen I'd enjoy owning myself.  Choosing a color would be difficult, as there are so many beautiful possibilities, but I think I'd be able to figure it out. The rollerball and ballpoint versions are lovely high quality writing instruments, but, as a fountain pen lover, I'd definitely go for a fountain. I know the nib would be a complete pleasure to use, no matter which one I selected.

As Kenro describes Optima on their website, "Today, the Aurora Optima is considered one of the brand’s flagship models, known for its balance between classic design and modern innovation. The Optima is favored by both collectors and everyday users for its comfortable writing experience, beautiful appearance, and durability.  It is a perfect representation of Aurora's long-standing tradition of Italian pen-making, combining art, innovation, and craftsmanship."

-Laura P.