Update: Here's my review.
The Riedell Eclipse Aurora blade was introduced in early (Jan/Feb) 2015. So far, I have found no reviews on it. That’s not too surprising, I suppose, because figure skaters are conservative and are reticent to try out new products, especially given the time it takes to get used to new gear; furthermore, coaches naturally recommend tried-and-true products that they are familiar with.
Riedell markets the Aurora as an intermediate freestyle blade, a category long dominated by the John Wilson Coronation Ace and the MK Professional. Intermediate freestyle blades typically sell in the ~$200 range. The Riedell website lists the Aurora as comparable to the Coronation Ace. A survey of several online stores indicates that the price of the Aurora is slightly higher than that of the Coronation Ace ($229 for the Aurora vs. $219 for the Coronation Ace standard parallel model). I’ve skated with the Coronation Ace for many years, but I recently decided to try the Aurora, even though there’s plenty of service life left in my current pair of Coronation Ace. Why? The potential for substantially longer edge retention.
Both the Coronation Ace (standard model) and the Aurora have a traditional blade construction. Each blade is fabricated from three piece parts: (1) the blade body, including the edges, the toepicks, and the stanchions; (2) the sole plate; and (3) the heel plate. The stanchions are attached to the sole plate and the heel plate by brazing. The braze joints on both the Coronation Ace and the Aurora are smooth and uniform.
The Coronation Ace is fabricated from carbon steel. Carbon steel blades are susceptible to corrosion (rust) and are typically chrome plated to protect against rust. Since chrome is relatively soft, the chrome plating is removed in a region on the sides of the blade body along the edges (and, of course, there is no chrome plating on the sharpened hollow). This region is referred to as the chrome relief. Typically, the entire blade body is not hardened; only a region along the edges. The chrome relief further demarcates the portion of the blade body that has been hardened; that is, it indicates the usable portion available for sharpening.
The Aurora is fabricated entirely from Type 440C stainless steel. Type 440C stainless steel has a well-tested track record in the manufacture of high-grade knife blades: it has a good combination of hardness, toughness, and corrosion resistance. Knife blades fabricated from Type 440C stainless steel can be sharpened to a sharp edge and can maintain the sharp edge under hard use. Therefore, it is also a good choice for skate blades. Some write-ups imply that stainless steel is inherently harder than carbon steel and that stainless steel will inherently provide a longer lasting edge than carbon steel. Not quite. The physical properties of steel depend not only on the composition but also on the mechanical and thermal treatment. The edges of the Aurora blades are hardened to Rockwell C 55 – 57 (this information was supplied to me by a Riedell representative and is being disclosed with permission); I have found no published hardness values for the Coronation Ace or similar carbon steel skate blades. For some knife blades, Type 440C stainless steel is hardened up to Rockwell C 60. Manufacturers, however, need to balance hardness, toughness, and processing costs: as the hardness of steel increases, it tends to become more brittle, and edges become more susceptible to chipping; maximizing hardness, while maintaining toughness to reduce susceptibility to chipping, requires more expensive processing. For the target application and price point, the hardness range of the Aurora is a reasonable choice.
No chrome plating is needed or used on the Aurora. The sides of the blade body and the bottom (exposed after mounting) surfaces of the sole plate and the heel plate are polished to a mirror finish. In particular, the sides of the blade body are mirror polished all the way to the edges. Since there is no chrome relief to demarcate the hardened portion of the blade, Riedell provides a simulated chrome relief by laser etching a profile boundary on the outside surface of the blade body. The profile boundary runs along the entire length of the blade body from the drag pick to the end of the heel. This is a clever feature, providing a reference profile for the skate sharpener and the skater; that is, the skater can readily determine whether the sharpener has maintained the design profile. According to a Riedell representative, the depth of the hardened region is at least 4 mm, providing for a long service life; on both of my blades, I measured 5 mm out of the box. A sharpener, though, will likely need to touch up the drag pick and the spin rocker to maintain the proper profile when a significant depth has been ground down.
The Coronation Ace is available in a parallel edge geometry (standard) or in a parabolic blade geometry. The Aurora has a parallel edge geometry. According to a Riedell representative, the blade thickness (distance across the flat sides of the blade body from inside edge to outside edge) has a design value of 0.150 inch. I marked off 13 spots along the length of the blade from the drag pick to the end of the heel. I used a micrometer (resolution 0.0001 inch) to measure the thickness at each location. Along both of my blades, the thickness is within +/- 0.001 inches of the design value. This indicates good manufacturing quality control. Uniformity of blade thickness is particularly important if you use the Pro-Filer hand sharpener, since that sharpener uses the sides of the blade as a guide for the sharpener.
The Aurora has a 7 ft radius main rocker; same as for the Coronation Ace. The pick design on the Aurora is also similar to that of the Coronation Ace: a pronounced straight-cut drag pick, a pronounced straight-cut top pick, and an array of cross-cut intermediate picks. The intermediate picks on the Aurora are much sharper than those on the Coronation Ace. They are razor sharp; be extra careful when you wipe the picks or when you stretch soakers over the picks. The spin rocker on the Aurora is flatter than that on the Coronation Ace (this is by visual comparison; I don’t have instruments to measure rocker profiles). The Aurora comes out of the box with unsharpened edges. Prior to your first skate, you must have the blades sharpened. The recommended radius of hollow (ROH) is 7/16” (same as the recommended ROH for the Coronation Ace). I have mine sharpened to 3/8” ROH, however.
I have skated on the Coronation Ace for many years. I concentrate on edge work and spins; I don’t do jumps. For edge work, I didn’t need any transition time after switching to the Aurora. For spins, it took me about ten sessions to get used to the flatter spin rocker (this will vary with the individual skater).
Now for the key advantage. I like my edges almost razor sharp. With the Coronation Ace, after a fresh sharpening, I would touch up the edges by hand after ~15 hours, and resharpen after ~30 hours. With the Aurora, I have gone about twice as long. This is an isolated data point: frequency of sharpening will depend on many parameters such as the skater, type of skating activity, ice conditions, radius of hollow, desired degree of sharpness, and conscientious use of skate guards off the ice.
If you are upgrading from a beginner blade to an intermediate blade, you should definitely consider the Aurora on your short list of candidates. If you are already skating on an intermediate blade, but are unhappy with frequent sharpenings, and do not plan to soon upgrade to an advanced blade in the ~$500 range, you should also consider switching to the Aurora. In my area, sharpening for figure skate blades runs from $20—$30; fewer sharpenings can result in substantial $ savings, greater convenience, and greater consistency. The Aurora comes with a 60-day full refund guarantee if you are not happy with it; that reduces the risks of trying it out.
If you are considering switching from the Coronation Ace to the Aurora on an existing pair of boots, note that the geometry of the sole plate and the heel plate are different in the two blades. You will probably need to plug the old mounting holes in the boot and drill new ones. Also, the angle between the sole plate and the heel plate is shallower in the Aurora than in the Coronation Ace. For my boots (Jackson Elite Suede Men), the angle in the Coronation Ace was a better initial fit. When I mounted the Aurora, I had to progressively torque down the screws over the course of ~6 sessions before the boot conformed to the blade. Which blade is a better initial fit will depend on the boot.