{"id":781,"date":"2019-03-30T16:06:03","date_gmt":"2019-03-30T20:06:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durkota.net\/?p=781"},"modified":"2019-03-30T16:06:03","modified_gmt":"2019-03-30T20:06:03","slug":"random-musings-about-fountain-pens-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durkota.net\/?p=781","title":{"rendered":"Random Musings about Fountain Pens III"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s been a few months since my last purchase. I have been enjoying my line-up of Pilots, but I was tempted by these two. I included a summary of features at the\u00a0end to show how they stack up against the <a href=\"https:\/\/durkota.net\/?p=757\">Pilot 823<\/a>\u00a0(my personal standard comparison).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/durkota.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/aurora-retro.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-782 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/durkota.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/aurora-retro-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"337\" height=\"253\" srcset=\"https:\/\/durkota.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/aurora-retro-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/durkota.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/aurora-retro-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/durkota.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/aurora-retro-676x507.jpg 676w, https:\/\/durkota.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/aurora-retro.jpg 916w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 337px) 100vw, 337px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Aurora 88 Nera Unica<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I have a few Aurora rollerball pens, but this is my first Aurora fountain pen. I could not resist the black stealth of the 88 Nera Unica. I inked it with Pilot take-sumi. The piston filling mechanism was unique but very easy to use. The ink window is something that I wish every pen had. The pen is lighter than I expected, but I think I like that. The fine nib is a little thicker than I expected, but I think I like that too; it flows a smooth line and the blacked-out 14k gold is sweet. I am glad I didn\u2019t go with a medium nib because it might have been too thick for my taste. Overall, the pen is nicely balanced and comfortable to hold. I can foresee a lot of pages being filled with this one.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Retro 51 Tornado \u2013 Stealth<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I already own the Retro 51 pen\/pencil set, so it was a moral obligation to add the fountain pen. I inked it with Pilot take-sumi. I\u2019ve been spoiled by vacuum filling pens, so I wasn\u2019t a fan of the converter; it comes with two ink cartridges that I tossed straight in the trash. The Retro has a noticeable heft compared to the Aurora even though it\u2019s only one gram heavier. The body seems thin for a fountain pen; it is comparable to its rollerball cousin, so that makes sense. The steel nib was a turn-off at first, but it writes smooth enough that you\u2019d swear it was gold. Overall, this pen looks great and functions well enough to be in a league with much pricier pens.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"125\">&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td width=\"125\">Aurora 88 Nera Unica<\/td>\n<td width=\"125\">Retro 51 Tornado<\/td>\n<td width=\"125\">Pilot Custom 823<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"125\">Filling system<\/td>\n<td width=\"125\">Piston vac<\/td>\n<td width=\"125\">Converter<\/td>\n<td width=\"125\">Piston vac<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"125\">Capacity<\/td>\n<td width=\"125\">1.36 ml<\/td>\n<td width=\"125\">1.06 ml<\/td>\n<td width=\"125\">2.55 ml<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"125\">Weight (body)<\/td>\n<td width=\"125\">19 grams<\/td>\n<td width=\"125\">20 grams<\/td>\n<td width=\"125\">19 grams<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"125\">Price (MSRP)<\/td>\n<td width=\"125\">$650<\/td>\n<td width=\"125\">$54<\/td>\n<td width=\"125\">$360<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n<div class=\"twitter-share\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?via=durk13\" class=\"twitter-share-button\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s been a few months since my last purchase. I have been enjoying my line-up of Pilots, but I was tempted by these two. I included a summary of features at the\u00a0end to show how they stack up against the Pilot 823\u00a0(my personal standard comparison). Aurora 88 Nera Unica I have a few Aurora rollerball [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,10,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fountain-pens","category-musings","category-writery-things"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/durkota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/durkota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/durkota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durkota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durkota.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=781"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/durkota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":783,"href":"https:\/\/durkota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781\/revisions\/783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/durkota.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durkota.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durkota.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}