I published my first BENU fountain pen review in April 2017. It was a fun and memorable experience to have written about a fountain pen from Russia, a country that has mesmerized me since I was ten. I wrote a review of another BENU fountain pen earlier this year, and now I'm writing one for their latest collection called Euphoria. For this review, I went back to the one from 2017 and read how BENU was founded with one goal in mind: to make writing instruments and desk accessories for those who prefer bright colors and new designs that are playful, stylish, and fun.
BENU has realized that goal with each new pen collection that is bold, unique, and eye-catching. Through the years, they have made exceptional pens with multiple glossy facets, used color-changing materials, and created mosaic art-inspired tesserae. Now they have launched a new series that celebrates life's simple pleasures, combining a classic pen design with shiny, glittery, colorful material.
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| BENU pens are hand packed in original BENU-branded boxes, avoiding plastic and using only paper and cardboard boxes that can be recycled without damaging the environment. The Euphoria fountain pen was inside the white pen sleeve set on a bed of thin strips of paper. A separate sheet with instructions on fountain pen care is also included in the box. |
BENU launched the Euphoria pen series on October 15, 2020. It is a collection devoted to different sources of pleasures such as a beautiful flower, sea and travel, exotic places, poetry, music, a favorite cocktail, and delicacies. Each pen in the series is inspired by things that bring joy and add color to life.
The Euphoria is a faceted pen with a section designed for comfortable writing. It's a large pen at almost 6 inches capped, but it's not a heavy one. Capped, this pen weighs around 26 grams, and approximately 15 grams when uncapped, which is just right in the hand. The screw-on cap can be easily posted, as the barrel end is slightly tapered for this, but I prefer to write with my fountain pens unposted.
I chose the Scent of Irises fountain pen to review and it's breathtaking. The combination of turquoise, ultramarine, some purple, and the shiny, glittery sparkles is beautiful and so uniquely BENU. This pen has a unique feature, too—it magically glows in the dark and also in a semi-dark setting with an ultramarine blue color after an hour's exposure to light. The pen's turquoise parts—top of the cap and end of the barrel—glows beautifully in the dark. According to BENU, they created this unique effect by mixing luminescent material with the resin for the Euphoria pens. The color and brightness of the pen's glow depend on the time it was exposed to light. The light source affects the glow as well, as it glows brighter and longer when it was exposed to natural light, and a subdued turquoise if exposed to indoor light. Please see the last photo in this review to see the magical glow-in-the-dark feature of Scent of Irises.
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| BENU Euphoria Scent of Irises fountain pen. |
BENU offers the Euphoria series as fountain pens and rollerball pens. There are 11 pens in the series, including three that glow in the dark: Scent of Irises, Ocean Breeze, and Love Story.
- Length, capped: 5.9 in | 14.9 cm
- Length, uncapped: 5.4 in | 13.7 cm
- Length, cap posted: 7.1 in | 18 cm
- Length, barrel only: 3.6 in | 9.1 cm
- Length, section to nib: 2 in | 5 cm
- Length, cap: 2.8 inches | 7.1 cm
- Weight: 26 g | 0.9 oz
- Body material: Resin
- Cap: Screw on, postable
- Clip material: Stainless steel
- Nib: #6 Schmidt, stainless steel in F, M, or B
- Filling mechanism: Standard international size cartridge or converter
- Glowing color: Ultramarine blue
The other pens in the series have unique names and inspirations, and interesting color bases to suit the preferences of many fountain pen users and collectors:
- Tropical Voyage has a blue and purple combination with green glitter/sparkles;
- Bora Bora is a turquoise pen with silver and gold glitter/sparkles;
- French Poetry has a black base with blue and green glitter/sparkles;
- Caviar is black with silver glitter/sparkles'
- Pink Guava has a combination of pink and silver sparkles scattered on a bright green base;
- Vodka on The Rocks is the most glittery pen in this series with mostly silver sparkles set on a gray almost transparent base;
- Jazz has a dark blue base filled with blue, turquoise, silver, and gold glitter/sparkles; and
- Big Wave, evoking sea waves, has a combination of turquoise and bright blue base with silver sparkles.
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| BENU's Euphoria fountain pens can be filled with ink using cartridges or converters. |
The Euphoria fountain pens can be filled with ink using standard international short or long cartridges or converters. BENU includes an international non-proprietary converter with each pen purchase.
It's good that BENU kept their pens' clip design consistent from the Supreme model to the newer pens Tattoo, Tessera, and Euphoria. Their standard clip is stainless steel, which adds gloss and shine to the pens. Stainless steel is also durable, and the clip's top can be pressed so it can be easily posted to a shirt pocket or pen loop.
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| Euphoria pens have the standard BENU stainless steel clip. |
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| BENU logo on the cap ring. |
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| The faceted and tapered barrel of this pen is not only beautiful but also very cool! The resin has exceptional gloss and shine, and the combination of ultramarine blue, turquoise, and blue and silver glitter/sparkles is fascinating. |
BENU fountain pens are fitted with stainless steel Schmidt nibs that are manufactured by JoWo and then hand-assembled at the Schmidt factory in St. Georgen, Germany. Hand assembling ensures every unit gets special attention, resulting in a truly superb nib quality.
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| Scent of Irises has a #6 Schmidt nib available in Fine, Medium, or Broad. |
My first BENU fountain pen was the Classic Ghost White Silver, a short, clipless pocket pen. They are now called the Minima. Through the years, BENU released several pens, and I am very fortunate to have some of these pens that are crafted well by their design team led by the Chief Designer and BENU Co-Founder Alex Semanin.
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| BENU fountain pens through the years. From top: Classic Ghost White (now Minima), Sublime 019 (now Supreme), Tattoo, Tessera, and Euphoria. |
The Euphoria, a full-length fountain pen, shares almost the same length with Edison Collier, Bexley Intrepid, Esterbrook Estie, and Tibaldi N60, but it has a thicker middle section. This pen is surprisingly well balanced and comfortable to use even with a thicker middle section. BENU designed the section and grip of this pen to be ergonomically correct for long periods of writing.
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| The Euphoria shares almost the same length as Edison Collier, Bexley Intrepid, Esterbrook Estie, and Tibaldi N60. |
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| Uncapped, the Euphoria is the longest pen in this lot. |
I like matching pens and inks, so it took me some time to test Scent of Irises because I didn't have a matching ink. A few days into my ink search, a bottle of Diamine flower ink Iris turned up in our local fountain pen group and I am so happy I got it because it's the perfect ink color for my Euphoria pen. The Broad Schmidt nib wrote smoothly and very wet out of the box. I did not experience hard starts, skips, or uneven ink flow. The Schmidt nib wrote very well. The Euphoria is an enjoyable fun pen, and its long section helps in writing comfortably.
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| Perfect pen and ink match: Scent of Irises with Diamine Iris. |
And now for the fun in this glow-in-the-dark Euphoria fountain pen. I chose Scent of Irises to review because of its beautiful color combination and glow-in-the-dark feature. I never had anything that glows in the dark before! When I took Scent of Irises out of its box, I was sitting in front of our house in the middle of the day while the sun was shining brightly. I wasn't aware that the pen began absorbing light the moment it got out of the box. When I went inside the house, my nieces asked why I was playing with glow sticks, and I was puzzled because I wasn't. Then I realized I was holding Scent of Irises, and seeing the bright, glowing blue ends of the pen was just amazing. Everyone who saw this pen glowing thinks so!
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| This beautiful BENU pen magically glows in the dark! |
I am very happy with the BENU Euphoria Scent of Irises and I am recommending it to anyone who wants to know the brand and explore their unique designs. It's a beautiful pen and I'm glad to have one in my collection. BENU is an excellent pen maker who uses only the best materials and takes great care in manufacturing their pens. Get one for your collection.
In the last five years, BENU has created pens for different series depicting bold, unique, and eye-catching designs. Aside from the Euphoria Collection, BENU currently has eight other pen collections, and I'm including their descriptions below:
- Minima, portable pens with compact, streamlined faceted bodies. Their small size conveniently fits into pockets and bags. The Minima Collection has almost 20 color combinations.
- Briolette, pens with long facets that highlight the visual appeal of the material. The Briolette Collection has 22 color combinations.
- Chameleon, pens with features never seen before. These pens have incredible chameleon-like material that allows colors to change depending on the angle from which you are looking at the pens. The Collection has nine color combinations.
- Supreme, standard-sized pens with innovative design. There are six color combinations in the Supreme Collection.
- Hexagon, features the pattern of nature’s most perfect six-sided polygon shapes. This collection has six color combinations.
- Tattoo, pens that give tribute to the most unconventional form of modern art – the tattoo. BENU's Tattoo pens have bold designs and showcase beautiful imagery of stars, skulls, roses, and more. There are six combinations in this series.
- Tessera, pens inspired by mosaic art created from tesserae.
- Scepter, pens crafted for an exquisite and luxurious experience similar to scepters. This collection has six color combinations.
The Euphoria Scent of Irises fountain pen in this review was sent by BENU where it retails for US$128. To learn more about BENU, where to buy their pens, and for other details on purchasing BENU pens, visit their website at https://www.benupen.com/.
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