Reviewing Aurora Talentum Fountain Pen
The Aurora Talentum fountain pen in black with chrome cap is a larger pen with an understated look. It’s reminiscent of its sister model, the 88, in size but the highly polished chrome cap against a black resin body makes it jump out at you in appearance. This pen has class, style and a certain elegance. It writes like a dream as long as you leave the cap off while you write.
Aurora Talentum Fountain Pen Design
The Aurora Talentum fountain pen is a black resin pen with a chrome blind cap on one end, and a highly polished chrome cap on the other. The chrome cap has three fine rings engraved just above the beveled cap end and it says Aurora and Italy on either side of what would be the cap band. I’m reviewing the Black Aurora Talentum, but it also comes in fun colors: Pink, Blue, or Yellow at Amazon.
The pen clip protrudes from an indent below the end cap. The top of the cap is interesting, it has one engraved ring, a space then two closely spaced engraved rings that sit just below the pen clip.The end cap has two graduated, concentric steps down to the clip. The center of the cap is taller than the sides and steps down into a larger circle.
The pen clip has a beautiful slight S-curve terminating into a bulbous end.
Remove the cap and you’ll see the black resin body has a distinct tapered step from the body down into the threads.The section threads and section are separated by a chrome ring. The end of the section is flared to keep your fingers from slipping onto the nib. The wider part of the step is where the cap seats when you screw it on, it sits flush against the step and the smaller diameter section sits inside the pen.
The nib itself is oversized and gorgeous, 14K gold rhodium plated and appears to be the same size and nib as the 88 and the Optima which is a great thing, because all three of these fountain pens are EXCELLENT writers.
Aurora Talentum Fountain Pen Performance
SPECS:
Capped: 133mm
Posted: 157mm
Capless: 128mm
Nib Width: 9mm
Nib Length: 23mm
14K Gold Nib
Cap Band: 13mm
Grip Width: 10mm
People say Aurora nibs are one of a kind. They are handmade and a lot of people don’t like the feedback they give or say they aren’t as smooth. Here’s your first life lesson, don’t listen to people!
The Optima, 88 and Talentum are all smooth-as-glass writers. Yes, they’re a little stiffer than a Sailor 1911L with a 21K nib, but all of these fountain pens are fantastic writers that will keep you happy for years. The medium nib lays down a thick line, not quite a broad stroke, but the line width is thick for a medium.
What I love about the Talentum is its oversized nib and feed, it can keep up with my speedracer writing and never skips or hard starts. Yes it takes a minute once you load the cartridge or converter to fill that gigantic feed before you can write, but you just load it and set it cap down in a pen cup and wait a few minutes so gravity can fill up all of the fins in the feed and you’re good to go. That’s a one-time deal for a new pen.
This fountain pen is a delicious writer. There’s nothing to be desired except the medium nib is wet so it will feather and bleed-through thinner notebook paper. It loads a lot of ink on a page which gives your writing a thick, rich, and luscious quality, but you’ll see that on the back of the page too so this is not a pen for general note-taking.
On a thinner journal I bought, the Aurora Talentum feathers, meaning the edges of letters tend to bleed ever-so-slightly off the path of the letter because the ink is absorbing out away from where you wrote. It’s barely noticeable, but something to consider if you write on notebook paper a lot.
Aurora Talentum Versus Aurora 88
Okay, so you’ve got a few hundred dollars to burn, should you go Talentum or 88? Well if you don’t post the cap, go with the pen that is more attractive to you because they have the same nib and are both wonderful writers.But, I’d go 88. Here’s why…
I’m a poster, meaning I like to put the cap on the back to write. (Yes, seasoned collectors, I get emails asking me what posting means because I forget to explain the jargon here) and because I’m a poster, the Talentum’s very heavy chrome cap is annoying.
It’s unbalanced, with the weight of the cap riding at the very top, it wants to pull down and out of your hand when you post.
This alone is enough of a push to decide to invest in a different fountain pen, but also, I’m not one who likes fingerprints and the polished chrome cap shows every one.
If you’re just considering writing quality on the page, you’d be happy with either pen if you don’t post the cap on the back as they write almost identically. I just like the feel and shape of the 88 a little better than the Aurora Talentum.
Aurora Talentum Overall Value
The Aurora Talentum is a great fountain pen. It is attractive and understated and the nib will keep anyone happy for years; it’s also a smooth-as-glass writer.
The only drawbacks are fingerprints, and the cap for posters, or people that like to write with the cap on the back of the pen. If you’re like me and post your cap, this may give you some hand fatigue from the top-heavy chrome cap wanting to pull the pen away from the page.
If you don’t post, you’d love this pen, the nib is heaven and it’s cheaper than an Aurora Optima or Aurora 88.
I show it side-by-side above a couple of times to reinforce the excellent nib and how it is the same, just plated a different color than one of my all-time-favorites, the 88.
The Talentum is about $100 cheaper than the 88 though, so it’s an excellent value if you want that writing and you don’t post the cap when you write.