Finding a great everyday black ink is imperative for most fountain pen users. Aurora Black Ink should be on everyone list to at least try, as we have found it to be a wonderful true opaque solid black ink. It is a water based ink, not pigmented or “carbon” and is a go to black for many writers. Aurora Black Ink produces rich, dark black lines and can be an everyday ink. Aurora Black Ink is one of two ink colors produced by Aurora Pen Company, the other being Blue. Aurora is an Italian made product, which is well respected.

Aurora Black Ink

Our review has produced the following traits, which we hope you may find useful:

Testing Factors

We used a Rohrer & Klingner dip pen with Rhodia Block paper in this review. The glass dip pen produces a large wet medium to broad lines.

Bottle Sizes

Aurora Black ink, as well as the Blue ink, comes in a good sized 45 ml. square glass bottle, which is similar in shape to the squared Noodler’s ink bottles. They have a nice big mouth, which allows for easy access. The shape of the bottle does not lend itself to easy access to those last few drops of ink like some other multi-faceted bottles such as Waterman, J. Herbin, or Parker brands or special shaped bottles like Lamy brand inks or even including an internal ink well like Sailor brand inks. What Aurora Black Ink lacks in bottle shape, it makes up for in the actual ink.

Cost

Aurora Black Ink is priced for a super reasonable $15.00 retail for a 45 ml ink bottle which is a great value for this Italian imported ink.

Dry Time

Using the large Rohrer & Klingner glass dip pen, which produces broad wet lines, the dry time was approximately 12-15 seconds. Not super quick, but using a finer tip pen, will produce a substantially shorter dry time.

Bleed Through

There was slight bleeding on the wettest first strokes after dipping the pen. Using a normal fountain pen under a broad sized nib should produce zero bleeding good fountain pen paper, such as the Rhodia used in this review.

Feathering

There was no feathering using this ink during normal use.

Water Test

During our water test, where we run a soaking wet cotton swab over an ink sample that has dried approximately 3 minutes, there was some smearing, feathering and ink smudging. This is not a water proof ink, but a solid water based dye ink.

Shading

No shading was experienced using this ink, as it is a super pitch black opaque ink.

Conclusion about the Aurora Black Ink

Overall, we love Aurora Black Ink, it’s what a good black ink should be…. BLACK. It’s one of the most opaque solid black inks on the market today and is desired by many as their everyday black ink. Along with its low price and Italian brand that makes it top seller black ink at Pen Chalet.