Fountain Pen Review: BENU Euphoria Scent of Irises

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. 

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.

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. 

BENU Euphoria Scent of Irises fountain pen has the following measurements and specifications:

• 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.

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.

Euphoria pens have the standard BENU stainless steel clip.

BENU logo on the cap ring.

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.

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.

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.  

The Euphoria shares almost the same length as Edison Collier, Bexley Intrepid, Esterbrook Estie, and Tibaldi N60.

Uncapped, the Euphoria is the longest pen in this lot. Note the Euphoria's long section measuring up to 2.5 inches. This design allows a comfortable grip on the pen while writing.

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.

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! 

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/.

Fountain Pen Review: BENU Classic Ghost White Silver

Since 2008, I have reviewed a number of fountain pens from Germany, Japan, Taiwan, and the United States. I have also reviewed pen-related products from Australia, China, France, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Now, for the first time in Rants of the Archer, I am honored to write the first-ever review of BENU Pens' Classic fountain pen, an emerging and promising pen brand from Russia.

I came across BENU Pens in October last year, a few months after the Moscow-based brand was launched. I was impressed by their wide selection of vibrant pen colors and material textures. I saw colorful, shiny, and pearlescent pen barrels, some of which have gold and silver inserts. In March, I was surprised to be discussing pen reviews with one of BENU's founders, Kate Dmitrieva, who let me choose three pens to review at Rants of the Archer.

Fountain pens from BENU's Classic Collection: Turquoise Blue Silver, Midsummer Bronze, and Ghost White Silver.

One of the pens I chose was a white pen, and Kate sent me the Ghost White fountain pen in silver trims. It was love at first sight. The Ghost White fountain pen is elegant, sophisticated, and classic. I am excited to review this beautiful and unique pen, but before that, here is a short glimpse into my fascination with Russia.

I have always loved reading even as a young elementary pupil, and my fascination with the country began with reading books, and looking through an old, tattered world map in our school's small library. Russia's vastness mesmerized the 10-year-old me, and I believe Robert K. Massie's words summarized my fascination: "So immense were the Tsar's dominions that, as night began to fall along their western borders, day already was breaking on their Pacific coast."

It was a book which I salvaged from a trash can near my high school that truly stirred my interest in Russia. Frederick Forsyth's The Devil's Alternative was both entertainment and education, and I was left craving for more. That led me to Ludlum and Clancy. In college, I hang around with the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov for several semesters while I studied classical conditioning. But it was Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov that eventually took me to St. Petersburg.

Snippets from Fyodor Dostoevsky's novels.

Recently, a friend tagged me along when he joined the postcard exchange program Postcrossing.com. The postcard exchange took me on a virtual tour of Russia. I saw churches: The Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood, St. Basil's Cathedral, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior; and monasteries: Novodevitchiy Monastery and Kurskaya Korennaya Pustyn. I also saw the State Historical Museum, the Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge across the Neva River, and the Moscow Kremlin.

From Russia with love: postcards and fountain pen.

I read and learned about Russia through literature and postcards, but my conversations with Kate and the pens that she sent brought me closer to the country. And to Pavlov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Chekhov.

BENU Pens is a young pen company launched in early 2016 by co-founders Alex Semanin and Kate Dmitrieva 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.

Alex and Kate previously worked together in Russia's fine watch industry. Alex was the Chief Designer and Director of Product Development and Innovation at the Nika Group Company, where he helped launch several collections of gold and silver writing instruments, accessories, and watches. When Alex decided to create his own line of writing instruments, Kate decided to join him, bringing in her experience as the General Manager of Konstantin Chaykin, a daughter company of the Nika Group.

BENU Ghost White fountain pen inside the box.

BENU fountain pens are presented in elegant gray cardboard boxes that are lined with thin and long shreds of paper. Inside the box, the pen is wrapped in kraft paper and secured by jute twine. Printed on one side of the kraft paper is a brief description of BENU Pens, and product care for their pens.

The pens have uniform shape and size, all handcrafted and made in-house in the company's own Moscow-based workshop. The pen in this review is a fountain pen, but it is also offered as a ballpoint.

The company currently offers three collections of fountain pens and ballpoints:

1. The Classic Collection includes fountain pens and ballpoints in over 30 color combinations. Most pens in the Classic collection have pearlescent or aventurescent effects and various inserts, such as golden and silver leaves, to achieve a luminous, eye-catching look and to enrich pen’s color.
2. The Ornate Collection includes fountain pens and ballpoints with geometrical or skull pattern. 
3. The Sublime Collection includes a limited number of fountain pens with contrasting color combinations. The Sublime collection is produced in limited editions, numbering from 1 to 10 pens only.

The Ghost White Silver fountain pen belongs to BENU's Classic Collection and is also available with gold-plated trims. BENU Pens designed it to echo the alluring romanticism of ghost stories. Crafted from misty, airy pearlescent material, the Ghost White fountain pen is drenched in the mystique and lightness of a white phantom.

I used the Ghost White fountain pen daily for a week, and found it to be an excellent pen. It's a good pen for all fountain pen users -- newbies/beginners, collectors, students, and artists. Uncapped, it weighs 22 grams (similar to a Lamy AL-star's weight) which is just right in the hand. This bullet-shaped compact pen measures 4.9 inches long (only a bit longer than a Kaweco Sport). The Ghost White fountain pen is a light and compact pen that is just right for daily use: note-taking, journaling, and even sketching.

I also noticed the pen's exceptional gloss and shine. The cap, section, and barrel are spotless, shiny, and very smooth to the touch. The aventurescent resin from which this pen was made from was perfectly polished to a beautiful shine.

Due to their streamlined compact size, fountain pens from BENU's Collections are not fitted with converters and can only accommodate cartridges. Each fountain pen is packaged with a short international Schneider cartridge, but I filled the Ghost White fountain pen with Iroshizuku Asa-gao.

BENU Pens has indicated that they are about to launch a new fountain pen collection soon. The new fountain pens will be longer in size, fitted with converters, and will have clips and postable caps.

The Ghost White fountain pen parts: barrel, section (feed + nib), and cap.

The cap and barrel of this pen are made from high-quality, non-toxic, scratch- and wear-resistant aventurescent resin. BENU pens are created from high-quality resin of different colors with glossy, pearlescent, or jewel-dazzling star effect. To ensure one of a kind look, BENU's artisans prepare the resin for each pen separately, and carefully matches the colors by hand.

BENU Pens took great care in creating a pen ergonomically designed to fit a hand perfectly. The cap and barrel of this fountain pen are bullet-shaped and taper off toward the end, making the fountain pen comfortable to use.
It is noteworthy that in BENU pen production, the last step is cap assembly. Their fountain pens have screw on caps, and to secure the locking mechanism of the pen’s cap, the company uses the square thread. Though difficult to fabricate, the square thread has the lowest friction, which makes it the most efficient thread form known.

This pen's design does not include a clip, and won't allow the cap to be posted as well. But that's fine, as I do not post my pens. I am missing a clip, though. Also, I am not comfortable that I cannot fully take apart this fountain pen. I usually disassemble pens for thorough cleaning and even drying. Cleaning pens for reinking or storage is always a must for me.

BENU pens have decorative cap rings in rhodium plated brass or gold plated brass. These rings are attached to the cap and bear the BENU logo.

BENU logo on the cap ring.

BENU fountain pen parts are handcrafted in-house, except for their nibs. BENU fountain pens are fitted with Schmidt nibs that have high-quality JoWo and Bock nibs. The available nib sizes are Fine (F), Medium (M), or Broad (B). My fountain pen has a medium nib that wrote very smoothly out of the box. I did not experience a hardstart, skipping, or ink blobbing. I love writing with it, especially in my bullet journal.

The Ghost White fountain pen's section is very comfortable in the hand. Despite its gloss and shine, I did not experience my writing fingers sliding in the section's surface.

The Ghost White fountain pen's section is comfortable even in prolonged writing sessions.

Another white pen with a medium Schmidt nib, Retro 51 Scriptmaster II Maryanne.

BENU Ghost White with Retro 51 Scriptmaster and Pelikan M400.

Iroshizuku Asa-gao is a perfect ink partner for the Ghost White fountain pen.

Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Chekov would have been proud of this pen. 

If you are a new fountain pen user or a collector, this fountain pen (and other BENU pens) is for you! The Ghost White fountain pen is elegant, yet strong. It writes smoothly, durable, and is available in more than 40 colors! What are you waiting for? Order your pen now! To order, visit BENU's Online Store.


The Ghost White fountain pen in this review is provided by BENU Pens where it retails for US$90. For more details on purchasing pens from BENU, visit their website at http://www.benupen.com/online-store.