Aurora

Having admired Aurora pens for many years I was most appreciative to receive the opportunity for a personal tour of their factory in 2006.

The company was started in 1919 in Italy - following the Treaty of Versailles - and a country coming out of post-war crisis - it was all a new beginning. Isai Levi, a textile merchant in the town or Turin, commenced the development of an Italian fountain pen. The first pen was named Aurora... now the company name — meaning the dawn,

The company operated from a factory in Torino, but after World War II, moved to a new location on the outskirts of town. That factory has been expanded to meet its production needs. Here is where I saw the hub of activity that includes extensive research and design concepts for various lines of pens (all which start a good two years before production could commence), their labs for testing everything from the durability of clips, the non-skip writing of its inks or the altitude that a pen can handle before ink leaks through the nib - an important point for those who fly!

Cesare Verono, is the owner and President/CEO of the company. He has instilled a passionate enthusiasm for Aurora's products and its goals to increase its production of high-end fountain pens and to expand its business outside of Italy. There is fierce Italian pride in this company. Aurora produced the Hastil pen, the only fountain pen to be exhibited permanently at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York. In fact the Aurora was the first pen displayed at the MOMA.