Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 238

 "Vacation Dreams" Pens ~ Part 3

Today's featured "vacation-inspired" pen purchase is my beautiful new Russian-made Benu 'Euphora' fountain pen!. The material it's made of is named after a famous island (actually a small island group) in the South Pacific that's featured in the book below...

(please click on images to enlarge)

Here's a photo of it in the book above. It's part of French Polynesia and about 275 km northwest of Tahiti.....Can you guess what it is?

Yes, it's Bora Bora, "the world's most beautiful island", according to the author of "1,000 Places to See Before You Die"!

Benu take a great deal of pride in making their own resins for their writing instruments. The material they created for the "Bora Bora" is stunning, and my photos really don't do it justice. The resin they created for this pen beautifully captures the turquoise-blue of the crystal-clear water surrounding this small island group. The silvery flakes embedded in the resin mimic the glittering white sands of Bora Bora's beaches, and the gold flakes its golden sunsets.

My new Benu fountain pen & its box resting on a colourful beach blanket....

I saw the pen for sale on Buchan's Kerrisdale Stationery website and picked it up at the store the next day. It looked gorgeous in online photos, but I know how some pens look better in photos, so I was extremely happy to discover that it looked as beautiful in real life.

I bought a Benu 'Briolette' a few weeks ago (and wrote about it here) and I love using it, but I wanted a larger fountain pen, or one that was well-balanced when posted (the 'Briolette' cannot be posted due to its complex faceted design). At ~13.5 cm unposted (from nib tip to barrel end), the 'Euphoria' is the perfect size for my hands. At ~18cm posted, it's very long, but well-balanced and, given its lighter weight, could be used that way.

Specs for the 'Euphoria' fountain pen: (from BenuPen.com):

Material: high quality resin
Clip material: stainless steel
Length Capped: 14.9 cm / 5.86 inches
Weight: 26 gr
Cap: Screw On, the cap can be posted
Nib: #6, Schmidt, stainless steel, available nib width - F,M,B
Refill: Standard large international size converter and ink cartridge (72 mm / 2.8 inches ).

The resin is a combination of dreamy shades of blue and blue-green and glittery silver and gold particles... and it all works so well together. Benu is known for combining resin with metallic flakes to create some stunning writing instruments, and I applaud their boldness in choosing these materials for their pens. Oh, and due to the manufacturing process, no two pens are alike!

The 'Euphoria' is a ten-sided pen, and its facets are very smooth to the touch, another example of Benu's fine craftsmanship. There is no cap finial or barrel end cap on the pen, and I think this was a wise design choice; the pen's material is so lovely and it encircles the pen, uninterruped...like the vast ocean surrounding Bora Bora's tiny islands. The wide black plastic cap band (stamped with the name 'BENU' in an Art Deco font) might turn some people off, but I don't mind it at all; it's a large pen, so it can handle a wider cap band. On other pens, a wide, black cap band might overshadow the rest of the pen, but not on this blingy number!

The nib on the 'Euphoria' is a stainless steel #6 Schmidt nib. Mine is a Medium, but they also come in Broad and Fine. It's a smooth writer---as expected---and I haven't had problems with it in the brief time I've owned it (less than a week).


My Benu 'Briolette' in "Luminous Amber" with my new Benu 'Euphoria'...

I love Benu's clipless pens so I wasn't sure if I wanted to get a version with a clip, but the 'Euphoria's clip doesn't protrude very much. In fact, the end of its clip is recessed, so it lies a bit more flat to the barrel. It's a nice design touch and shows how much care and attention Benu put into their writing instrument designs.

(As you can see, the 'Euphoria's' #6 size nib is much larger than the 'Briolette's' #5 nib)

Unlike my 'Briolette in "Luminous Amber", my particular 'Euphoria' model does not glow in the dark; some 'Euphoria' models (currently - the "Love Story", "Ocean Breeze" and "Scent of Irises" models) do. Benu's online store makes it easy for you to find which models glow in the dark, and which ones don't, so I'd highly suggest checking it when looking for these kind of pens. Love the designs but don't want a fountain pen? The same pens come in rollerball form!

                                                   Mr. Crab says "Where's the beach??"



Playing around with the iPiccy hue editing feature in the two photos below....

Benu's description of the 'Euphoria' model is: "A collection of pens devoted to different sources of simple, hedonistic pleasures, such as favorite music, a beautiful scene, an exquisite cocktail, or a delicacy". Each pen is inspired by different things that bring us joy and add a great deal of color to our everyday lives." They currently have a 'Euphoria' "Vodka on the Rocks" model and the 'Euphoria' "Bourbon" model is coming soon... so why not a couple of pens named after some refreshing, colourful non-alcoholic drinks?

If this material actually existed, I'd call it "Orange Crush"...

...and this one would be "Grape Blast" :)

Thanks for reading this (long) review of my new Benu 'Euphoria' "Bora Bora" fountain pen. Many thanks to Buchan's (especially Yugo) for the pen and their excellent customer service. Even though I can't make it to Bora Bora itself this year, looking at and using its gorgeous namesake lifts my spirits. May your own fountain pens--whatever they look like---do the same for you!

~ Review & photos by Maja ~

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