The Aurora Hastil is a slim, cylindrical fountain pen with a 14K gold nib. It is one of a very small number of pens that is on the permanent collection at MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art, in New York City).
The Hastil was first released in 1970 and has been produced continuously since then. It comes in a number of variants, some of which are no longer sold, but the main one is the “Ecosteel.” Ecosteel is a brushed stainless steel with a very fine brushing, which give the steel a satin-like texture, almost like a titanium. The Ecosteel process is Aurora’s proprietary technology so it’s not found on pens from other makers.
The Hastil was designed by Marco Zanuso in 1969. It has a place in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) as item number 61.1972. While Zanuso is generally credited with the design of the Hastil, it is said he co-designed the pen with Richard Sapper, who famously designed Lamy’s Dialog 1 ballpoint (among many other products).
The Hastil uses Aurora’s proprietary cartridges as well as Parker cartridges. They are similar in size and fit to Lamy’s T10 cartridges but not all the Hastil feed sections will fit the Lamy cartridges so you might need to get Aurora’s. Lamy’s converters will not fit the Hastil fountain pen, but Parker slide-style converters will fit. Another converter that will fit is the Aurora “Trik-Trak” a squeeze-style converter with a rubber sac inside.
The Hastil is a quirky pen, with one of the main quirks being the component where the cartridge and feed connects. This should be a simple joining of two plastic parts, but the plastic Aurora uses either wears our over time or was made inconsistently, so that on some Hastil pens the cartridge will fit securely — on these pens you will also be able to use Lamy cartridges. On other pens, cartridges will not want to seat securely into the plastic at the rear of the grip section and you’ll have to screw down the body of the pen to fully secure the cartridge. This works because Aurora uses very long cartridges that take up the entire length of the pen’s barrel.
The Hastil has a small, spring-loaded clip that is rather sharp on the corners. It looks great and it’s very low profile, but it’s not very functional. It’s good at clipping the pen so a sheet or two of paper, but the clip doesn’t lift enough from the cap for it to clip to a pair of jeans or a jacket pocket. Basically, the clip acts as roll-stop, for holding together sheets of paper, or for use on the pocket of a dress shirt, but it’s otherwise only for aesthetic purposes.
Aurora Hastil Fountain Pen Information
| Street Price | Check Price |
| Manufacturer | Aurora |
| Pen Type | Fountain Pen | Cartridge/Converter |
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| Country of Origin | Italy |
| MSRP | $90 |
| Still Sold | Yes |
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