REVIEW: FOUNTAIN PEN REVOLUTION HIMALAYA ULTRA FLEX FOUNTAIN PEN

Ok. I'll admit, Indian fountain pens are a blind spot of mine. They have always been on my radar, but I didn't get around to actually trying some. It's never too late to change though, so for today, we're taking a look at an excellent option for getting into Indian pens: the Fountain Pen Revolution Himalaya.

Fountain Pen Revolution is a USA-based company that both sells Indian brands like Kanwrite, Guider, and Airmail, and also partnering with these manufacturers to create their own line of affordable, Indian-made fountain pens, sold under their own brand name. The Fountain Pen Revolution (FPR) pens start at just 7$, which is commendable on its own, but it also turns out that they have some excellent options if you're looking for an affordable flex pen... so that's more or less what we'll focus on in this review!

Just to be clear, the Fountain Pen Revolution Himalaya costs more than 7$, but it still sits at a very budget-friendly entry-level price point. You can tell that it's more expensive because they used a fancier acrylic instead of injection-molded parts. It's actually a good-looking pen, I have to say. The acrylic is a dark greyish-green with white swirls and beautiful pearlescent streaks throughout. It certainly doesn't come across as a budget pen, at least not from afar. 

Looking closer though, the metal trim kind of gives away that this isn't a 100$+ pen. The finish on the center band is a bit rough, and the cap lip is a bit sharp. The bent metal clip looks and feels a bit flimsy. Although in its defense, it IS nice and springy and therefore very easy to use. This particular pen had "gold plated" trims, but the plating is not great at all, it's even just non-existent in certain areas. The plating came right off with a quick polish, and I frankly like it a lot better now that it has a uniform chrome color. Chrome trim is an option as standard, so I'd pick that any day of the week.

Apart from the mediocre metal trim, the overall build quality is actually quite good. I expect that this pen -like many other Indian pens- is made by hand, which is pretty impressive at the price point we're seeing, but it also means that it's not all as impeccable as if it were injection-molded and completely machine-made (like a Lamy Safari, for example). Even so, the build quality is quite good. Every part fits together precisely, feels solid, and has a nicely polished finish

L to R: Pelikan M805, Pilot 78G, Platinum Prefounte, FPR Himalaya, Lamy 2000, Lamy Safari.

The Himalaya is a medium-sized pen that strikes an excellent balance between a not-too-large form factor, and still being very comfortable in the hand. It measures 13.4 cm (5.2") closed, and 12.4 cm (4.88") uncapped. Despite not typically posting my pens, this is one that does post quite comfortably without adding weight or too much length. At just 16 grams, it's a very lightweight pen. It's a fairly slender pen but the section retains a comfortable diameter and has a pleasant tapered shape. There's hardly any transition from section to barrel, and the threads are noticeable but not sharp to the touch -overall, this pen has all the right ingredients for a comfortable writing experience.

The piston is made from the typical smelly plastic you often find in Indian-made pens, and discolors quite easily.

For this review, I was sent the first version of the Himalaya, but they made some minor improvements shortly after. Both versions one and two are currently available for purchase, but I'd recommend paying the 3 to 6 dollars extra to get the updated version. 

Aesthetically, they remained completely identical, but the new version receives a more traditional screw-type converter. My review pen still has the push-pull piston converter, and it's a tricky one to get a full fill with it (even after multiple attempts). Another option would be to remove the converter altogether and use the pen as an eyedropper (some silicon grease on the barrel threads is all it takes to get a proper seal), but I'm not a huge fan of eyedroppers for daily use. 

An ebonite feed, impressive on a pen this price!

Let's talk about the part that actually impressed me most about this pen: the nib!

First of all, every FPR pen comes with a hand-cut ebonite feed. You'll typically only see ebonite feeds on very high-end pens, so this is a very nice thing to see on a pen this price.

The Himalaya v1 is available with a slightly smaller #5.5 (roughly the same as a #5 nib) or an upgraded #6-sized nib. The new version (v2) does away with the #5.5 nib option, which I think is a good decision because the larger nib fits the pen better, aesthetically.

Nib options are extensive: EF to M, B (+4$), stub (+4$), flex (+4$) and EF ultra flex nibs (+14$) are available in stainless steel, as well as fine, medium and flex in 14k gold (+119$). I went with the ultra flex nib for this pen because I'm currently exploring modern flex nib options (Spoiler alert, more flex pen reviews are coming in the near future!).

So what does "Ultra" flex mean? For 10$ extra, Kevin from FPR manually modifies each nib with additional cutouts on the sides of the nib and a widened ink channel on the ebonite feed. This improves the flexibility of the nib and creates a wetter ink flow that can keep up with the more demanding nib setup.

Line variation with this modified nib is impressive. VERY impressive even, down to the point where it can start to seriously compete with vintage flex -no small feat! You're looking at line variation from a western fine, to almost 2mm at the very maximum. The most impressive part is that it doesn't require nearly as much pressure as I expected. The cutouts effectively give this steel nibs a much more springy character than similar nibs without the modification, and it also seems a bit more forgiving in terms of snapback.

BUT, there is a catch! Affordable flex nib fountain pens like this one, have a reputation for being a bit finicky (think about Noodlers pens, for example), and may or may not require some work to get the most out of them. I think the nib and feed are heat-set out of the box, but I did it again a couple of times to optimize the position of the feed for the best possible ink flow. Heat-setting ebonite feeds is actually not that difficult (there are plenty of tutorials online, FPR also has instruction videos on their own website!), but it takes some time and willingness to tinker a little bit, which is not something every fountain pen user is looking for when buying a new pen.

Even when I was satisfied with the heat-set, ink flow could still sometimes behave temperamentally. Especially with heavy flex writing, it is prone to railroading and hard starting, and you can starve the ink flow when writing too fast. It's very picky about the ink you're using, the paper you're writing on, and even your writing angle... In short: there are a lot of factors that influence its behavior. 

Before buying, make sure that you're willing to tinker and experiment with this pen (that's part of the fun, even). This is certainly not the kind of 'plug-and-play' modern flex nib fountain pen that writes perfectly out of the box. In fact, one could argue that the perfect modern flex fountain pen doesn't even exist, there's always some kind of trade-off. In this case, you're giving up some ease-of-use and reliability in exchange for pretty excellent line variation.

With those sidenotes out of the way, would I still buy this pen? Yes. From what I've seen and tried so far, the FPR Himalaya Ultra Flex comes extremely close to the kind of line variation you'd expect from a vintage wet noodle flex nib. That's impressive for a 49$ pen (35$ for the pen + 14$ for the ultra flex nib), no matter how you look at it.

NOTE: This product was provided by Fountain Pen Revolution, so I could write this review. I was in no way influenced in the making of this review, the opinions shared in this review are completely my own. This post does not contain affiliate links.

WAHL-EVERSHARP DECOBAND FOUNTAIN PEN REVIEW

There are lots of brands that I haven't had the pleasure of trying out yet. Which, unfortunately, is a side-effect of living in Europe, where a lot of brands that are popular in the USA, are not that easy to come by. 

Wahl-Eversharp is definitely one of those American brands that I've been dying to try, especially because of all the glowing reviews of the pens they make. Luckily, with the release of the Decoband, the brand started to break through internationally. A pleasant evolution of course. Having the option to try before you buy is not an unnecessary luxury, especially when we are talking about pens in the 1000$ realm! 

I'd like to thank Catherine from Sakura Fountain Pen Gallery for letting me try out the Decoband, let's dive right in...

One of the appealing aspects of Wahl-Eversharp pens is their inspiration drawn from vintage design. Both models, the Skyline and Decoband, are directly inspired on vintage Wahl-Eversharp pens from the early 1900's. I'm always a sucker for vintage design (when done right),  and the people that revived Wahl definitely have an eye for making good looking pens. The Decoband is a stately pen with flattop design. The impressive size accentuates the flattop design, and makes it a very imposing pen. On top of that, it's also VERY orange!

The orange ebonite with etched guilloche pattern does a fantastic job making the Decoband represent its vintage predecessors even more. It has something to do with the specific shade of orange. It's ebonite, so it has a very specific color and structure. It's sort of a pale orange, as if they had a fresh piece of material and let it sit on the shelf for a few decades. I love the way ebonite looks and feels -not so much the burnt rubber smell it has-, and on top of that it has an inherently vintage look and feel to it. 

A stately pen needs stately details, and that usually begins with the clip. This is one of the few areas where I think they kind of missed the ball. The design is nice, and fits the general picture, so that's good. But the production is somewhat below par. The edges are a bit rough and still show cutting marks, and the face of the clip has a strangely textured structure that doesn't look intentional. I might sound picky, but on a pen this price, I definitely won't overlook any small imperfections. 

Luckily, the rest of the pen is pretty much flawless. The large triple center band with greek key design draws the attention, and so does the double checkmark gold seal medallion right above the clip. The same Greek key design returns on the metal barrel of the pneumatic filling system, a great detail, even though it isn't visible apart from when you are filling the pen! I would've liked it even better if they plated the touchdown mechanism to match the rest of the gold-plated accents.

L to R: Pelikan M800, Pelikan M1000, Montblanc 149, Wahl-Eversharp Decoband, Lamy Safari, Lamy 2000

The Decoband, as already mentioned, is a sizeable pen. It measures 15cm (5.9") closed, which is large but not excessive. An Edison Collier, for example, is the same length. But what makes the Decoband so imposing is the diameter: a whopping 1.8cm (0.7") at the widest point, and it barely tapers down at either side. Uncapped, it still comes in at 14.2cm (5.59"), and it weighs in at a ridiculous 58 grams total, due to the almost entirely metal inner construction of the mechanism and section. 

But then we come to comfort. A pen as big and heavy as this might not sound very comfortable, but the section makes up for a lot. It's on the wider side (1.35cm average, 0.53"), as is the rest of the pen. But it's long and comfortably tapered with a pronounced flared shape at the end. The threads are metal, and I have to give Wahl-Eversharp credit for making incredibly smooth threads that are almost noy noticeable. Behind the threads, there's a very small transition from section to barrel. The lack of large steps is exactly why I love pen designs with a cap that is wider than the barrel. It makes for an incredibly comfortable pen to hold. 

On top of that, it is long and nicely weighted along the entire length of the pen. The balance is quite central, which makes it sit balanced in the hand. Some pens are big and unwieldy, others just work. This one definitely works for me (keep in mind that I do tend to lean towards larger pens in general), and I actually find the large dimensions and weight help with flex writing.

The Decoband comes with a rather interesting filling system, called: 'Chilton Style' pneumatic filler. The back of the pen unscrews, which allows a long metal sleeve to be pulled out of the barrel. You then put the nib in your ink of choice, cover the small air hole on the back finial, and push down to retract the metal sleeve back into the barrel. This creates pressure inside the sleeve, which in turn compresses the ink sac inside. When you remove your finger from the breather hole, the sac expands, drawing up ink (this takes a few seconds, so you have to keep the nib submerged to allow the pen to fill itself). 

It's one of the more complex filling systems I've used to date, and it requires some patience to learn how to use it (There's no ink window, so I tried it a couple times with water to ensure that I was getting a good fill). It's an original way to fill the pen, and it actually works quite well. The Wahl-Eversharp website claims a 2.1ml ink capacity. Realistically, I think you should expect slightly less from a single fill, but still that's quite a decent amount of ink.

I'm sure the most exciting part of the Decoband - at least for some people- is the new 18k gold 'Superflex' nib. With a name like that, you create high expectations. So high that it's inevitable to start comparing this nib to vintage flex, and unfortunately it's still not that. It does flex, but I'd definitely still call it semi-flex! 

Line variation is good, but it could've been better if they ground the nib down to maybe an EF. It wouldn't change the flexibility, but it would at least make the line variation more pronounced. It's softer and much easier to flex than the 'flexible' nibs on the Aurora Anniversario that I reviewed a while ago (You can find this review HERE). Although I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing. It makes the nib feel a bit 'mushy' and unresponsive, if that makes any sense. The Aurora nibs definitely have a more controlled and crisp feel to them, but the line variation is less pronounced. The fine-ish (western fine, more like a medium) nib is superbly smooth and the custom made ebonite feed provides it with a really heavy flow that is ideal for flex writing. 

The wet flow is bothersome when writing without pressure. It occasionally takes forever to dry, depending on the ink and paper used. But on the upside, I never had any issues with railroading when utilizing the full potential of the semi-flexible nib. It stuttered once when I was testing how fast I could write with pressure, but that's not really a fair criticism. Taking it slow is always a good rule when you want to write with a flexible nib. Even vintage flex can't keep up indefinitely. Something that helps with the consistent flow is the design of the ebonite feed. It's made up of two parts, with one part that pushes upward against the nib ever so slightly. This improves the contact between nib and feed, so that the ink flow isn't interrupted when flexing the nib. 

All in all, the Wahl-Eversharp Superflex a very capable semi-flex nib. I did a small comparison between some modern semi-flex nibs (unfortunately I don't have any vintage flex pens to compare to), and it's definitely one of the better nibs I tried. (I also added an enlarged flex writing sample at the end of this review, underneath the written review scan)

Oh wait! I haven't even talked about how good this monotone #8 nib looks! It has a pretty unique laser-etched nib face, with the company name and gold seal logo added in relief (basically an inverse engraving, if you know what I mean). The matte engraved surface of the nib is quite unique, and it catches the ink in a beautful way when you fill the pen! 

One small point of criticism about the nib: it did come ever-so-slightly out of alignment out of the box (so to speak, I didn't get the box as I had this pen on loan). It wasn't to an extent where it bothered me, and it took me a while before I noticed upon closer inspection of the nib. Nothing a small nudge couldn't fix, but of course these are mistakes that should be avoided on a pen in this price range! 

The Decoband is quite as I expected: an imposing and solid pen! It's a quality product, and I now know why Syd and Emmanuel -the guys responsible for the rebirth of Wahl-Eversharp, and more recently Omas- receive such high praise. This is definitely a worthy homage to the vintage pens. 

It's an expensive pen, there's no way around that. The Wahl-Eversharp Decoband comes in at 860 USD (980 EUR including taxes when you buy from Sakura Fountain Pen Gallery). The Gatsby version with etched guilloche pattern, such as the one I reviewed here, commands a premium over the standard versions of 35 USD when bought directly from the Wahl-Eversharp website. Here in Europe, the price increase for the Gatsby finish is 170 EUR. Before you ask, I absolutely have no clue why the premium is so much higher here in Europe.

Saying you get your money's worth on a pen in this price range is always open for speculation. But I sincerely think that you get a pen that has a lot to it, with a fantastic design and a great semi-flexible nib. Especially if you like larger pens, this is one that you should take a look at! If the premium for the Gatsby (available in black or orange ebonite) is worth it, is a matter of personal taste. I quite like the guilloche pattern in combination with the orange ebonite, but I'd personally be more inclined to buy the 'rosewood' ebonite version.

This product was sent to me on loan by Sakura Fountain Pen Gallery so I could write this review. I was in no way influenced in the making of this review, the opinions shared in this review are completely my own! This post does not contain affilate links.

Flexible writing sample, on Rhodia Dotpad paper.

PJOTR SPICA VIRGINIS 3D PRINTED FOUNTAIN PEN REVIEW

I'm not going to lie, every now and then I come across a product that leaves me dumbfounded. Sometimes because it's insanely beautiful or cool, other times because it's just straight-up weird. The Pjotr Spica Virginis belongs to the latter category... or no wait, it's actually both cool and weird at the same time! 

Even the box is 3D printed! It's made from nylon, then painted metallic copper.

You see, there's a lot of variety on the pen market today, but Pjotr goes one step beyond just another design or writing experience. I've had the opportunity to talk with Rein, the man behind the brand, and he's all about revolutionizing the way pens -and other consumer products- are made... with the help of 3D printing! 

3D printing techniques have improved dramatically over the last few years. It has gone from novel industrial technique exclusive to research, to a readily available way of home-producing various products from scratch. At this rate, it's only a matter of time before all kinds of production evolve into some form of 3D printing (even 3D printed food or 3D printed donor organs(!) are becoming a thing!). 

Rein -an engineer in the field of industrial design- has a lot of really cool ideas about 3D printing production and design, some of which are represented in his pens. But from talking to him, it really becomes obvious that Pjotr isn't just about the pens itself -in this case the Spica Virginis-. They are working hard on getting the technology out there and implemented (by working together with pen companies, but also expanding to other markets). The Spica Virginis can be seen as a concept product to show off the possibilities of 3D printing, and it does a damn fine job at that!

But enough talking about the brand, let's take a look at the pen itself: 

What can I say? It certainly is something else! I won't say I'm a fan of the design, it's not something I'd be inclined to buy. But if you follow me and my blog, you'll have noticed I'm more into minimal and modern design, I'm just not that into ornate pens. I can, however, definitely appreciate the design of the Spica. Somewhat like fine art, or maybe because of the insanely cool technology and engineering behind it.

Spica Virginis stands for the ear of wheat held by the virgin in the Virgo constellation. To stay in the 'space' theme, the overall design has a very 'alien-esque' extraterrestrial appearance that's really unlike anything else I've ever seen.

Incredible detail on the braided overlay that makes up the body

Frankly, there are just too many design elements to talk about, so I'll let the pictures speak mostly for themselves. But the most prominent feature is definitely the representation of the ear of wheat on the body of the pen. This braided 'overlay' structure on the barrel is what defines the entire pen, and it's fascinating to look at to be honest. Overlay is perhaps not the correct term to describe it, as it's all part of a single piece! Knowing that the entire barrel, including the braided structure, is printed in one go, is a pretty amazing feat on itself.

Even more impressive is the build quality of the Spica. Pjotr clearly has access to high-end machinery, because there are no telltale signs of the printing process (no visible layered texture or imperfections). Apart from the cap finial and the edge of the barrel that are polished, nothing is changed after printing (no sanding, sandblasting or buffing). The printing process gives the surface of the pen a matte, textured finish that is really pleasant to hold.

The barrel design adds a serious amount of thickness to the pen (the barrel measures 2.2cm at the widest part). The cap is much narrower than the barrel, which results in a rather strange profile when looked at from the side. The top of the cap is flat and polished, which provides a sharp contrast with the matte surface of the rest of the pen (the matte effect is a result of the printing technique). Pretty much every design aspect about this pen is highly detailed and unusual. As I said earlier, it's not the kind of design I'm particularly partial to, but it sure makes for an intriguing piece.

The Spica is a very large pen at 15 cm (5.9") closed, and 14.7 cm (5.8") without the cap. The cap does not post at all, but it's more than large enough unposted anyway. Posting the cap would make it ridiculously long. Interestingly the Spica, despite being large and made out of titanium, is really lightweight. The total weight of just 32 g is achieved by printing the barrel walls hollow. 

The complete titanium build warrants a strong and durable pen, even though the intricate details may seem fragile. Of course this isn't the kind of pen I'd recommend tossing in a bag (the pricetag alone...), but it does feel like it's sturdy enough to hold up to daily use.

The design, while interesting to look at, isn't exactly 'Form follows function'. The section itself is nice and long, and has a comfortable taper, but there are quite a few sharp edges around the section that stick out. This can be quite bothersome if you grip your pen a bit higher up like I do. The matte surface finish offers a decent amount of grip to the metal section. Overall it's not a pen I'd recommend for heavy note-taking or writing letters, but it's definitely usable, not just a pretty piece of art to look at.

The Spica uses a snap-on cap, which is held in place by the small ‘bumps’ at the base of the section. In terms of comfort, I do like that there are no threads, the slightly protruding bumps are smooth and hardly noticeable. On the other hand, the use of a  snap cap does mean that the design that runs along the cap and barrel isn’t automatically aligned. You can rotate it to align them, but perhaps it would be cool to see this happen automatically (Like how the clip of the Montblanc M magnetically aligns with the rest of the pen). 

L to R: Pilot Custom 823, Pelikan M800, Pelikan M1000, Montblanc 149, Pjotr Spica, Lamy Safari, Lamy 2000

Pretty much everything about this pen is special, but the nib is extra special because it is also 3D printed in titanium using the same process as with the rest of the pen. Even the nib slit is incorporated into the printing process, which is -just like the rest of the pen- an impressive engineering feat ( patented by Pjotr). It's modeled after a #6 Schmidt nib, and uses a Schmidt feed (along with the converter, the only non-printed parts on the entire pen). 

The design of the nib is fairly simple, with the eye-catcher being the raised Pjotr logo in the middle. The slit is printed with a slightly thicker inside edge (The picture below kind of shows what I am talking about), which creates a more consistent ink flow. The tipping itself is also printed, which means it can be made to size, although that doesn't really matter because it has to be manually ground into shape anyway.

In any case, it works. And it works surprisingly well! The medium-broad nib is ground to a stub and it writes like a dream. Being titanium, it offers a good amount of bounce, and some line variation if necessary. The feed provides a generous flow and keeps up well. Since they are hand ground into shape, a wide variety of nib options is available. 

This was an incredibly difficult product to review. More so than the product itself, I think the idea behind the brand is interesting, and worth sharing. The Spica will definitely appeal to some, but I think the really interesting things have yet to come when they start to offer made-to-order custom pens. You should see Pjotr as an upcoming brand, trying to get settled. But once that has happened, the possibilities are virtually endless! 

For now, the daring design of the Pjotr Spica Virginis is kind of a hard sell. The retail price is quite steep, at 2500 euros (exclusively available from La Couronne Du Comte). Would I buy it? As I mentioned earlier it's not a design that particularly speaks to me, so even if I had the budget, I'd probably have to pass.

But pf course that's just a matter of personal taste. There's no denying that it's a unique product, very well-made using a novel production technique. On top of that, the 3D-printed titanium nib is both great to look at and a very nice writer. There definitely is a lot to like about it, and it's worth looking into if you're in the market for something unique.

In the end, after having spent a good amount of time with the Pjotr Spica Virginis, one thing is certain: I am definitely interested in seeing what Pjotr will come with next! 

Note: The pen I received on loan to review is actually one of the later prototypes, so there will be some small (mostly cosmetic) changes to improve the finish and detailing even more. The final production run will feature the unique number of each pen incorporated into the 3D printed design.

This product was sent to me on loan by Pjotr Pens so I could write this review. I was in no way influenced in the making of this review, the opinions shared in this review are completely my own! This post does not contain affilate links.

AURORA 88 OTTANTOTTO ANNIVERSARIO FOUNTAIN PEN REVIEW

Huge anticipation preceded the new Aurora Ottantotto Anniversario limited edition, and with reason, as it was announced to come with a new flexible 14k nib. Who doesn't want some flex action these days?! 

But of course, anticipation means nothing when the product doesn't deliver. So the hype partially dissapeared when the first reviews hit, in which the flexible nib was written off as, well... not so flexible. Of course, the mixed reviews only made me want to try it out more (maybe my scientific background makes me a critical thinker, maybe I'm just stubborn... probably the latter.). So I caved when Dennis from La Couronne Du Comte showed me the brown version that was released last month. 

But before we talk about whether or not the nib lives up to the expectations, let's just look at the pen itself, which is basically a regular Aurora Ottantotto. All eight versions of the Anniversario have one thing in common: they are all fairly simple variations on the regular Ottantotto model. Each version is made from a different color solid acrylic, or silver/gold (plated I suppose) metal. But neither of them has an exotic material, or special finish, something Aurora is usually known for. Each Anniversario is, in essence, a regular Ottantotto in a different color, nothing more than that. 

But then of course that's what you pay for. The Anniversario's are priced similarly to the regular 88's, given that the flexible nib commands a 100-150$ premium over the normal nibs (which is in line with what they will cost in the future, when they will become readily availaible on more models). I would've expected something more exotic for an anniversary limited edition, but in the end Aurora really just wanted to focus on the new nibs, not the pen around it. So that's what they did, and the result is a good looking but maybe rather plain pen. 

And that's basically the first reason why the Anniversario hasn't received the attention it deserves. It's a plain pen, but it retails for more than most other Auroras, some with much more intricate and fascinating materials. The Nebulosa, for example, was released around the same time as the Anniversario pens, and it kind of overshadowed them in popularity. Frankly, I can't blame anyone for being more exited about the new Aurora Nebulosa, which shows off a beautiful and intricate purple acrylic.

Whilst it may be rather plain, it's definitely not an ugly pen, far from it really. The Ottantotto, or 88, is a classy looking model. It's subtle all the way around, with minimal engraving on the center band, and a gently curved clip with a ball end. It won't turn heads, but then again a subdued design doesn't mean an ugly design.

The brown version has been my favourite from the moment I saw the lineup of colors that would be released, for the simple reason that I think the subtle brown color matches the overall subtlety of the pen. The choice of solid acrylic colors may have been a strange choice for an anniversary pen, but I think they pulled it off and made a classy looking pen.

The Aurora Ottantotto is actually not too different from the Optima I reviewed a while ago (read here). It's basically the same pen, but with rounded top and bottom instead of the flattop design of the Optima. The center band is also different, but that's as far as the differences go. Because the Optima is basically an 88 with the top and bottom snipped off, there is a noticeable difference in size.

L to R: Pelikan Souverän M800, Sailor Pro Gear, Aurora Optima, Aurora 88, Lamy Safari, Lamy 2000

The difference in length, added by the rounded finials, is actually quite significant. The 88 measures 13.7 cm closed (5.4"), and 13.1 cm open (5.16"), which is almost a centimeter longer than the Optima (The Optima actually being a rather small pen). Other than the difference in length, both pens actually have a similar diameter (perhaps even identical) of around 1.4 cm (0.55") at the widest point. The section is long and wide (avg. 1.1 cm/ 0.43"), and has a pleasant tapering shape which flares out near the nib. It's a fully acrylic pen, so the total weight of the pen is limited to around 21 grams without ink.

The section is identical to the one on the Optima, which I already found quite excellent. The added length of the 88 however, makes it even more comfortable in the hand. Everything combined, the 88 is an extremely comfortable pen to write with. I've never felt the need to post the cap, but it's actually quite comfortable and balanced (the cap sits rather deep on the pen body) with the cap posted.

Let's take a look at the nib... Where do I start? Designwise, It's a simple but aesthetically pleasing nib that fits the design language of the rest of the pen. The imprint is based on a vintage design of earlier Aurora pens. I've read somewhere that imprints on flexible nibs are kept simple to reduce stress in the material, as repeated flexing can cause cracks in the nib.

As for how it performs, it's a perfectly fine Fine 14k nib (see what I did there?). It may be advertised as a flexible nib, but that doesn't mean it's not perfectly usable for everyday writing. Aurora nibs have a tendency to be slightly less polished, so you can expect a little more feedback but a lot more consistency. The ebonite feed provides a steady, slightly wet flow (I would assume it's tuned slightly wetter for optimal flex, although it seems to perform in line with the regular Aurora nibs I tried).

The reason why this nib is actually very capable for everyday writing is because it's rather stiff (which may sound a little odd, given that it's a flexible nib). You shouldn't expect an incredibly soft, springy nib like on vintage flex, or even modern titanium or soft gold nibs. It's a snappy nib, very responsive, but it requires some pressure to flex.

I'm not an expert on flex writing, but I did get some decent results out of it. The line variation is decent, but I'd call it a good semi-flex nib, calling it full flex is maybe slightly exaggerated. You'll be dissapointed if you're expecting wet noodle vintage flex like you see on Instagram (Thanks Azizah!), but you can still get very decent line variation from it nevertheles.

In my simple, not very accurate, test I could get line variation equivalent of EF to BB. Comparing to some other (semi-) flexible nibs I had on hand, the Aurora nib is definitely on the finer side, and I found it comparable in performance and flexibility to an EF titanium bock nib (although the titanium nibs feel softer and less responsive). Flex writing from something like the Wahl-Eversharp may look more impressive, but the fine nib is super wet and the line width appears much wider to begin with, so the actual variation is not necessarily better.

I've noticed a couple of people that had problems with the feed not being able to keep up with flexing, resulting in a lot of railroading. I've had it happen too, but I have a strong suspicion that it's mainly due to the choice of ink. Out of three different inks I tried (Aurora Black, Robert Oster Lemongrass, and Sailor Souten), only the Robert Oster ink (presumably the least lubricated and driest of all three) caused railroading issues. With the other two inks I could actually push it quite far without issues, even with fast writing.

There are a lot of pros and contras to this nib, but in the end I actually quite like it. It's perhaps a bit stiff, but because of that it's also perfectly usable for normal writing without having to keep a featherlight touch.

Each color in the Anniversario range is a limited edition of just 188 pieces. Because of these limited runs, they are bound to sell out fast. In fact, some of the colors are already becoming scarce, so acting fast is key. To buy or not to buy? That depends, it's a tough choice if you're just interested in a flexible nib. It does give line variation, but it's nothing like a good vintage flex, and the same effect can be had with a 50$ titanium nib. If you were already looking to buy an Aurora anyway, and you're not too keen on the more elaborate material options, the Anniversario offers a subtle yet playful option that should be considered.

In the end I think Aurora did a great job on the complete package. I'm glad I own one, but I personally wouldn't buy it just for the nib. As I mentioned earlier, all Anniversario pens retail for 620 EUR / 650 USD. If you're just looking for a flexible nib, that's too steep. But as a complete package, the 150$ premium over the regular Ottantotto is actually quite fair.

Note: La Couronne Du Comte is a sponsor of this blog. I received a discount on the purchase of this product.  I was in no way influenced in the making of this review, the opinions shared in this review are completely my own! This post does not contain affilate links.