Review: Mint Chocolate (Benu Fountain Pen)

Here's another fountain pen sent over by Benu Pen. Yes, I've more than a few in my collection now.

Mint Chocolate is from the Essence collection.

It seems like fountain pens from the different collections all use the same packaging box.

It's a nice looking pen, although I must say that Benu has other pens with even flashier designs.

That's the company logo on gold plated brass.

The design of Mint Chocolate uses three colours: dark brown, gold-coloured flecks and turquoise. This colour combination makes the pen feel a bit more subdued. When you look closer, there are tiny flecks within the resin body that sparkles against the light.

The nib measures 1.8cm. Mine's a Fine nib. The pen nib is also available with other line widths.

The pen can be easily dismantled for cleaning. There's an ink convertor included.

The pen measures 13.5 cm when capped.

Build quality is good. The body is made of glossy resin and within is the interesting design. There are a lot of designs available, some are quite mesmerising. My favourite so far is Bird of Paradise and Blazing Gold.

The pen has a nice weight (18g) and feels good in hand. The cap can be posted but I prefer using it without the cap. Note that the cap does not have a clip, at least for Mint Chocolate it doesn't. Some other pens have options for the clip.

The nib feels smooth on paper when writing. The nib is made gold plated stainless steel so it's quite stiff with no flex at all.

The strokes on the left are draw with the opposite side of the nib.

A quick sketch with the pen.

Conclusion

There are currently three collections or series from Benu Pen, namely Minima, Essence and Supreme. Essence is somewhere in the middle in terms of premium feel, design and price.

As for build quality, the pen looks fine and sturdy. The highlight of Benu pens is the design. Even if you don't like the Mint Chocolate design, there are so many others to choose from. Some of the pens look like abstract art pieces.

If you're interested in this particular one, you can find it on Benu Pen's website.

The retail price is currently USD $190. I'm not sure if that's considered pricey or not. Well, beauty (and value) is in the eye of the beholder.