Archive for August 2020

Thanks for the ink, Kenro Industries!

Aurora is an Italian company that is known for classic pens like the 88 and the Optima. The color palette that they use in their pens has been expansive and fun, but their ink selection has been minimal. Aurora Black is one of the best black inks around, and it's wonderful in trouble shooting a dry pen, because if a pen can write it will write with Aurora Black. They've also got a Blue and a Blue Black (which behave differently from the Black). But that was it.

Now, though, they've expanded quite a lot. In the last year they've dropped 10 new inks. These Special Edition inks run the whole color gamut and I've got a few of them to show you courtesy of Kenro Industries, the USA's Aurora distributor.

First up is this red. I love a good red ink, and this one looks awesome in swabs. But how is it in nibs?

Written Review

As you can see, I had some trouble with this one. I loved it in a swatch on a Col-o-Dex card. I love it in that smear at the top of the Rhodia page. I just had a hard time finding a pen that I liked using with this ink for some reason. I think the deal is that it was just too dry for all but the wettest nibs I have around. It was unsatisfying in the really fine nib of the yStudio and sort of inconsistent in the Optima's nib. When I got it in the Leonardo, it was a beautiful hue, but it was prone to bleeding on not-great papers because it was putting out so much ink. It looks good on the high quality papers, though.

Close Ups

Woo! Look at that! That's some good looking red ink.

So, yeah. It's a little dry. It's also really good lookin'.

Sometimes it just takes a little while to find the right combo of nib and ink. It's rewarding when you do, though.

These are really nice looking bottles, and they're a good size for filling up pens. So, that's good. They come with a little stopper in the top when you first get them. That will keep them from leaking, but it's also a bear to get out without making a mess of your fingers. I used a pair of needle nose pliers after the first time.

Water Test
It smears, but it's readable

Tomoe River Ink Journal

Inky Fingers Wheat Straw Paper

Video Review

Color Comparisons

**This ink was given to me to review by the Aurora distributor in return for my honest review. As far as I know, that doesn't change my reviews in any way. What you see is what I got. **

This is one of those inks that I have used regularly for years without reviewing. I think every reviewer has a few of these things. Pens, inks, papers that we use regularly for ages just slip under our radar. They're part of the background for us while we're talking about other pens and inks and papers.

This one is a nice, medium brown that has a bit of shading to it. It's lived in a Franklin-Christoph Pocket 66 for at least a couple of years. The pen and ink combo have been sort of perfect, so I just haven't switched it out. It looks like cola sloshing back and forth in the antique glass finish of the pen. You won't see a writing sample from the FC pen's broad nib, though. That pen in in a Penwell on my desk at work, and I haven't been able to get back into the building for several months, at this point. I miss that desk, penwell, and pen.

I've also had it in a couple of other pens, and it's been great in all of them. Between the three pens, it's been used in a fine, medium, and broad nib with great success. Of course, you get more shading out of a broad nib, but the flow in all three was really good.

So: Great color, great performance in a variety of pens, and a solid price at $8-9. If you're looking for a brown ink, this is one of my favorites.

Written Review