Grail Feeling: Aurora Internazionale Orange

The vintage design and charm of this Aurora Internazionale box adds to the pleasure of receiving and unpacking an exceptional pen.

Grail pens are a frequent topic of discussion in fountain pen communities, with no agreement on what the designation “grail pen” actually means. A recent Figboot video presents a variety of modern grail pens presented primarily as a price proposition - a grail pen is an expensive pen. Specific makers - Visconti, Conid, Nakaya and Namiki — are among the frequently cited as producers of grails. The pens are not only expensive, but they are special in some way, either through a choice of materials, intricate craftsmanship, or iconic design. A Visconti Homo Sapiens Bronze Age is made from lava, Conid boasts surgical precision and a relatively unique filling system, a top-end Namiki pen involves painstaking and beautiful maki-e work. Yet, I would argue that what separates a merely expensive and well-executed pen from a grail is not the price point so much — it’s a feeling.

“The sign of a dream”

Unpacking the Aurora Internazionale Orange :)

Grail pens are, first and foremost, objects of desire that cannot be easily satisfied. High price is a natural barrier to a quick satisfaction, but there are others - the pen’s rarity, for example, or some combination of rarity and price, or wanting a pen with a specific lineage, or buying a pen to commemorate a specific occasion. In Arthurian legends, a grail is a holy object which can only be obtained through an arduous quest; the shape of the grail varies from story to story - it can be a chalice, a plate, or even a stone. The Arthurian grail is usually a Christian concept, yet there is a 13-th century Judeo-Italian Arthurian tale in which the grail becomes a “tamhui,” a Hebrew word for a charity bowl. The concept of a “grail” is adaptable - but there is a feeling of holiness associated with it. It’s out of the ordinary.

The Aurora Internazionale on the desk.

Back in the days of the Ukfountainpens blog, Anthony Newman wrote about the concept of a grail pen versus an “exit pen,” or the pen that completes the collection and cures one of the desire to look.” Yet, I think the desire to look, and the feeling of completion, does not come from the objects of desire, it comes from us. Are you the kind of person who can be cured of the desire to look? I don’t know if I can be. My innate curiosity and admiration for beautiful things propels me to look. Being cured of desire is not always a good thing. But going too fast with the process, not being intentful with both acquisition and use would deprive me of the pleasure I get from collecting. Russel Belk writes that the process of collecting is “the transformation of profane commodities into sacred items” (Belk, “Collectors and Collecting,” 2012, p.320). That feeling of sacredness is what many of us are after.

The desk is a sacred space. A space to dream, to discover, and to make.

I had tried a few other “grail-worthy” pens before; most of them I moved on. Some did not rhyme with the collection. Some were expensive but did not quite work as advertised - the nib was slightly askew, or the piston was sticky, or the beautiful artistic pen for some reason had microscratches. One pen was absolutely perfect, but writing with it did not make me feel anything special. And off they went.

My Visconti Homo Sapiens was perhaps the only exception. I got it with the generous help of my in-laws for a milestone birthday. I got it on sale, it fit in the budget, but when it arrived, well… Visconti. The clip peeled pretty much within the first week. The nib was not writing well (you could have seen this coming) and I had to send it to Mark Bacas, who is a wizard and who made it write marvelously. I use the HS a lot. I love it, but this pen was and remains imperfect. It fell more and more in love with this pen as I used it - but it did not give me that immediate big feeling of grailness.

Visconti Homo Sapiens (note the wear on the clip) and the Aurora Internazionale.

I wanted a special pen to celebrate my promotion. It takes a very long time, and a lot of effort, to get promoted to full professor. I started the process in January 2022, and received the final decision in April 2023 after a number of internal and external reviews of my file. My new title went in effect in late August of 2023. It’s a long and convoluted process, and it was quite emotionally taxing for me. I motivated myself to go through with it by promising myself a promotion pen at the end of the line. It was the right strategy; thinking about the future grail and putting money away bit by bit helped me alleviate the stress of the process. The Aurora Internazionale had been on my list of potential grails along two other possibilities: a Namiki Herb Decoration, and a Yard-o-Led Viceroy Grand Victorian. When the Arancio colorway was announced, I knew it was the one.

Surprise - an Italian pen won. This tends to happen here :))

Aurora Internazionale with the vintage Aurora branding on the cap.

The Internazionale design is very charming to me. The orange version has a subtle, very understated glitter in the resin, which does not really come through in photos, but it is there - just for you; you can see it when writing with the pen, but I don’t think that it’s visible even from a short distance away. The pen’s design has a historical origin, and I personally love the vintage aesthetic. The section is short - it’s also vintage-inspired :) It’s not a problem for me, I find the pen comfortable in the hand, but I think this might be an issue for some people. I love the “Aurora” branding on the cap finial, love the three rings and the imprints on the body. The imprint on the nib is also vintage-inspired. My favorite element of the pen is the clip. It strikes the right balance (for me) between intricate decoration and an elegant clip shape with its curving progression towards the ball. There’s just something absolutely charming about this pen as a whole. It comes together beautifully.

The Aurora clip :)

I wanted a special nib to go with the special pen, and thus began my adventures in figuring out whether or not I would dare to order an italic. My pen friends warned me about an unforgiving nature of Aurora italics, but up until that moment, I had never met an Italic I did not like, so I was willing to risk it despite the warnings. But the Italic nib had to be special-ordered from Italy and was, moreover, sold out. I wrote to Mario at Stilo e Stile, one of my favorite pen retailers. Mario reached out to Aurora to order the pen for me with a special Italic nib. Mario, too, was worried that an Italic would not work for me. It took a good few months for Aurora, which operates on “Aurora time,” to produce my nib and ship it to Mario. He tested it and reported to me that the Italic was indeed sharp, that the writing angle needed to be precise in order for the pen to write well. He offered to send it back to Aurora to get the Italic modified to something more forgiving. I declined.

The Aurora Italic nib

Aurora factory Italics are rare, and as I understand it, they are all adjusted by hand at the final stage of their production.

All this sounds like a setup for some terrible disappointment, but it was anything but. When my pen arrived, I began writing with it and fell absolutely in love. Yes, it’s a sharp and rather unforgiving Italic, the sharpest I’ve ever tried, but my love for Italic nibs is unchallenged. If anything, I love them more after trying this nib. I already have an excellent Aurora stub on my Optima, and that one is quite smooth; the italic on my Internazionale did not come to play. The nib is strict. It writes very well, but the angle needs to be correct at all times. This nib also sings. It’s a special nib for a special pen, it requires attention and is best for slow writing. What a beauty.

A beautiful pen, a beautiful writer.

Aurora Stub in my Optima (top) vs Aurora Italic in my Internazionale (bottom). Both are incredible writers.

The Internazionale succeeds for me as a grail, on multiple axes. Finally holding it in my hands made me feel celebratory, like I truly made it, and can finally acnowledge how difficult and draining the promotion process has been. The Internazionale is a beautiful object with many intricate details and an overall cohesive design - it does not disappoint in any of the aspects, and is a delight to hold, to contemplate, and to use. It is truly precious, and it took me a long time to acquire it. The acquisition was meaningful, and I had help getting the pen to my desk - thanks to Mario, and to Josh and Rodolfo who talked me through the process. I appreciate all these aspects — even the slowness of the process, although frustrating at times, added to the feeling of celebration when the pen finally arrived. It would not feel as special if it was just another expensive pen, or if I could buy expensive pens more frequently. I am not done wanting to add pens to the Gathering — but if I ever add another big, expensive item, I want the grail feeling to go with it.

And here it isin the Gathering alongside some of my other pens. The Aurora adds to the cohesion and beauty of the collection.