Aurora Ipsilon Satin Orange Extra Fine Point Fountain Pen

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to find the Aurora Ipsilon fountain pen on sale over at Goldspot and I couldnt resist picking up a nice bright orange fountain pen of this quality to add to my collection and to review here.  Just for the record, there was no special consideration or discount to me from Goldspot on this pen, I just picked it up during one of the good sales that they have from time to time.

Aurora Ipsilon Satin Orange Extra Fine Point Fountain Pen in Box

Right off the bat, the Aurora Ipsilon impressed me with its top notch packaging (more pictures at the end) in addition to the beauty of the pen itself.  I know some people probably dont like orange so much, but even in a different color I’m sure this pen would impress anyone with its clean lines and sharp accents.  The box itself is of a nice quality, and the Aurora branding and other text printed on the box just have a very elegant look and feel to them.

Aurora Ipsilon Satin Orange Extra Fine Point Fountain Pen Full Body

One of things that I really like about this pen is the fact that it has a cap that is not a threaded screw on cap, I love the feel of a cap that snaps on and off, it is just a much cleaner experience in my opinion.  Having a cap that snaps on and off in this case also makes the grip section a little more comfortable to me because it requires that little ridge that you see there in order for it to function in that way.  I like how that ridge becomes a place to rest the tip of my index finger while writing with the Aurora Ipsilon.

Aurora Ipsilon Satin EF Nib

The pen itself is actually a bit lighter than I had expected, and since I usually prefer a heavier pen, this was a bit of an adjustment for me to make, but I don’t mind it so much.  Writing with it after a while became a pleasure because of the comfortable grip and very nice balance.  The writing experience was interesting because I am used to pretty smooth writing nibs, but the Aurora Ipsilon has a slight toothy feel to it when moving the nib across most papers.

The Aurora Ipsilon Satin Orange Extra Fine Point Fountain Pen and Converter

An interesting thing about the Aurora Ipsilon that I was not expecting has to do with the converter.  I’m not sure if it its just in my head, or if there is something about it that makes it this way, but I could swear that cleaning the ink out of it is much easier than with some other pens.  It seems like the number of flushes to get the old ink out is much lower than with some of my other pens.  On the flip side, the flat or  porous finish on the pen does require that one is careful changing the ink, because the surface of the pen does suck it up quickly if you spill, but can be rinsed out with no permanent damage as far as I could tell.

Aurora Ipsilon Satin Orange EF Nib Writing Sample

An interesting thing happened when I started writing with the Aurora Ipsilon.  Almost any time I get a new pen, I usually go straight for my Levenger paper since I use that exclusively for my work notes and my daily planner.  When I started writing with the Ipsilon, I was shocked by how wide the lines were, which you can see from the writing samples above.  I felt almost as if I was writing with a crayon.  After a bit of writing with it, the width seemed to get a bit better,but was still a bit wider than Id have expected for an Extra Fine nib.

I decided to mix it up and try some different papers and different inks, so you can see the results above.  Basically I tried the pen on Levenger, Clairefontaine 90g, Black n’ Red, and Ecosystem recycled papers using Private Reserve, Noodlers, and J Herbin inks.  It seems that the Levenger with Private Reserve combo was probably the worst, and everything else was noticeably better.  I am considering sending the nib to get tuned so that it wont be so wet on Levenger paper, but I do really like how it writes on most of my other paper.

If you are looking for a nice fountain pen, I think the Aurora Ipsilon is a great option at the under $100 price point, and as I said, Goldspot had them on sale when I bought mine, but their price now is still a good deal.

Oh, and as promised here are a few other pictures of the very nice box that the Aurora Ipsilon comes packaged in:

Aurora Ipsilon Satin Box

Aurora Ipsilon Satin Opening the Box

Aurora Ipsilon Satin Box Case and Tissue Paper

©2016, Brian Greene. All rights reserved.