From Russia With Love: Benu Pens' Classic Ghost White Silver Fountain Pen

[diarcher]

NOTE: This is a short version of my review posted in Rants of the Archer (http://bit.ly/BENUGhostWhiteFP).

 

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 my blog, Rants of the Archer.

 

 

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.

 

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.

 

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 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 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 ( . 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.

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! The Ghost White fountain pen is available for purchase BENU Pens Online Store.

 

Edited April 17, 2017 by diarcher

[visvamitra]

Thank you for excellent review. It's cool to see new pen makers. On the other hand I don't fully enjoy this design and I think prices are quite high. Still, this particular finish looks quite cool and I wouldn't mind trying it.

 

http://www.benupen.com/online-store/Mystical-Green-Silver-Fountain-Pen-p80302216

And the name is cool - Mystical Green Silver. Darn. I start to think about trying it.

Edited April 17, 2017 by visvamitra

[zaddick]

So did you get the pens for free and get to keep them? I finds it helps me judge the review to know this.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write this up. The pens do not look very ergonomic to me. What makes the so comfortable to you?

 

Also, measurements would help.

[fountainpagan]

Thank you for this review, and the presentation of a new pen maker.

 

The Mystical Green is quite nice. The design of these pens appeals to me, and they look quite confortable.

[diarcher]

I did not pay for the pens, nor for shipping, as the sender paid for all costs. But I tried to be fair in my review. I pointed out the obvious things that the pen is lacking: converter and clip, and the unpostable cap.

 

As for the question on comfort, holding the pen's section while writing was not difficult for me to do. I've held smaller pens before, and the Ghost White FP's section was easy to hold, writing with it was fine with me.

 

Sorry I missed adding the measurements in my post. I updated it now, but here they are: length capped: 12.6cm / 4.9 inches | Weight: 22g / 0.7 ounces.

 

So did you get the pens for free and get to keep them? I finds it helps me judge the review to know this.

Thanks for taking the time to write this up. The pens do not look very ergonomic to me. What makes the so comfortable to you?

Also, measurements would help.

Edited April 17, 2017 by diarcher

[diarcher]

Thank you for this review, and the presentation of a new pen maker.

 

The Mystical Green is quite nice. The design of these pens appeals to me, and they look quite confortable.

 

Thank you!

[Uncial]

The step looks fairly significant and uncomfortable to me

[zaddick]

I did not pay for the pens, nor for shipping, as the sender paid for all costs. But I tried to be fair in my review. I pointed out the obvious things that the pen is lacking: converter and clip, and the unpostable cap.

 

As for the question on comfort, holding the pen's section while writing was not difficult for me to do. I've held smaller pens before, and the Ghost White FP's section was easy to hold, writing with it was fine with me.

 

Sorry I missed adding the measurements in my post. I updated it now, but here they are: length capped: 12.6cm / 4.9 inches | Weight: 22g / 0.7 ounces.

 

Thank you for the update.

[Nicholas Green]

The pen's form appeals to me as a collector, as it's bullet like shape is unusual. Sometimes, pure simplicity is the answer.

 

The pens in the sublime collection look to be beautiful and worth collecting.

 

The fact that the pen is missing a clip doesn't bother me at all, as this makes it different and suits its shape. The addition of a clip to the cap of this pen probably wouldn't benefit the pen aesthetically.

 

I only wish that they offered pens with solid gold nibs.

 

I will probably order a pen from their sublime collection sometime in the future.

[ManofKent]

What's the uncapped length to the nib tip? They look incredibly short.

I like some of resins, but I can't decide whether I like the simple design or whether it looks too much like something that ought to take batteries rather than ink...

[encre]

Interesting pens, I dig the precious metal infused resin versions, especially the Baikal ice one- super sexy. Shame that its not fully Russian- I am sure they have some nib manufacturers somewhere right?

[diarcher]

Thank you! The Baikal Ice is a beautiful pen. I love the ones with gold leaf. The Blazing Gold pen is nice!

 

The nibs on their pens are from Schmidt.

 

Interesting pens, I dig the precious metal infused resin versions, especially the Baikal ice one- super sexy. Shame that its not fully Russian- I am sure they have some nib manufacturers somewhere right?

[diarcher]

I don't have the pen with me right now, but I will update you ASAP. Thank you!

 

What's the uncapped length to the nib tip? They look incredibly short.

I like some of resins, but I can't decide whether I like the simple design or whether it looks too much like something that ought to take batteries rather than ink...