Review: Benu Ocean Breeze pen (Euphoria series)

Euphoria is the new series of fountain pens released by Russian company BENU. At the time of this review, there are 11 designs in this series and some of them are glow-in-the-dark pens, such as this one I'm reviewing, Ocean Breeze.

This is a beautiful pen that blends this light cyan colour into dark purple. And within the resin, there are shiny bits of particles added. BENU fountain pens are known for their flashy attention grabbing designs, and this pen definitely is flashy, sparkling even under the right conditions.

There are 10 flat sizes which are supposed to continue from the pen cap to the barrel, but as you can see the alignment for this particular pen isn't perfect.

Then pen weighs 26g which is not too heavy or light. Build quality is solid. It's a rather comfortable pen to hold.

The cap can be posted but it's going to make the back heavy.

The #6 Schmidt nib is huge. It's available in F, M and B.

Actually the pen is also available with rollerball which is sold at US $128, same as the fountain pen version.

The nib and feed seem to be attached permanently to the screw on section. Maybe they can be dismantled but I dare not try to remove them forcefully.

Ink convertor is sold separately for a very reasonable US $5.

The writing and drawing performance of the nib is good. The nib is smooth and has nice tactile feedback when writing. Ink flow is good.

As with most stainless steel nibs, there's is no flex to this nib.

The pen will glow in the dark after being exposed to strong light source. The glow will fade after a few minutes.

The glow may be cool but may be considered gimmicky?

To see the glow, you actually have to make the effort to "charge" the pen (I use LED lights) and see the glow in dark. You can't write with the glow since that would mean you're writing in the dark (how can you see?).

The fountain pens that don't glow in the dark are $10 cheaper at $118. It's nice that the glow-in-the-dark feature does not increase the price of the pen by much.

Design of this pen is for people who appreciates flashy designs. It's a beautiful pen that performs well. US $128 is a reasonable price for a pen like this. There are pens that look boring that cost more. Add $5 for the ink convertor and $15 for global shipping.