While trolling eBay a few weeks ago, I saw that pen maker Shawn Newton of Newton Pens was running another set of pen-related charity auctions for his Newton Pens scholarship fund. This fund is an American registered charity that raises money for deserving high school students to put towards their college education. Since he started his charity in 2012, Shawn has raised over $58,000 USD for it (there's a very recent article about the fund here).
I'd bought items from Shawn's eBay store (all proceeds of which go to his fund) in the past and got some great bargains while helping a worthy cause. This time around, the three items below (which were grouped together in one eBay auction) immediately caught my eye...
(please click on images to enlarge)
Two bottles of Leonardo black ink and a lovely Benu 'Chameleon' "Bossy" fountain pen!
The pen was second-hand and didn't come in a box - that's the box from my Benu 'Briolette' above
(Don't worry---that small notch on the barrel isn't a flaw or defect--read further down this blog post :)
The 'Chameleon' model is a beautiful triangular writing instrument, that like its namesake, changes colour in the light, depending on the angle at which it is viewed. The
model is now discontinued, but when it was being produced, it was available in a variety of amazing resins, all named after different moods/feelings-- "Bossy",
"Charming", "Dreamy", "Friendly", "Graceful",
"Happy", "Jolly", "Lovely", and "Lucky".
Benu described this colour (the Chameleon "Bossy") as "a sophisticated shade of pine green that shifts as a chameleon to a dusty purple".
Same table, different angle of light coming in through the window....
I'd mentioned that the pen was second-hand and, in his eBay auction description, Shawn clearly stated that the pen's facets didn't quite line up when the cap was screwed onto its barrel. I'm still mystified as to how/why that happened, because I've never heard of that issue with Benu's faceted pens (and I did Google it). The alignment is off by less than half a facet, though, so it really doesn't bother me.
Look at the colour change from dusty purple to teal/green!
At 5.25 inches capped, it's a nice-sized pen, but at 20 grams total weight, it's not heavy. Uncapped, it measures 5 inches from nib tip to barrel end.
The nib it comes with is a #5 steel Schmdit nib; mine is a Medium that writes very smoothly. I knew it would write smoothly because the same nib type (but in Broad) is on my Benu "Briolette' "Luminous Amber" fountain pen, which is a very smooth writer. The pen takes short or long international-sized ink cartridges, or an international converter.
Unlike the Benu 'Briolette' , the Benu 'Chameleon' can be posted, and it posts very well...
....thanks to the barrel notches (above) that allow the cap to be posted securely and without the beautiful barrel being potentially damaged from repeated posting.
The pen's posted length is a nice 6.5 inches and I prefer to use it posted. It's actually one of the most comfortable fountain pens I own, thanks to its light weight and nice balance.
The wide cap band might be a turn-off for some, but it has grown on me since I first saw it at a Vancouver Pen Club meeting a few years ago; I've also grown to love the Art Deco font used for the Benu name on it lol.
If there's one thing I'd change (aside from Benu bringing this model back into production), it would be the orientation of the Benu name on the cap band; when the pen is posted and held in the right hand, the word "Benu" appears upside-down to the person holding the pen. If you're left-handed, it would look right side up. I know this is a small detail (like the debate about coffee/tea mug designs--should
they be facing away from the person holding the mug, or not?) but I love this pen... and I love seeing the manufacturer's name on it when I'm using it because Benu make great pens :)
Many thanks to Shawn Newton for the pen and inks!
(photos & review by Maja)
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