Genuine Excitement for the BENU Talisman Shamrock
Note: Even with the proper name of the pen staring up at me from the “lore” sheet, I still managed to continually call this pen by the wrong name throughout this review. This is the BENU Talisman Four Leaf Clover. A shamrock, by contrast, is a clover with three leaves. I’ve cleaned up this review to include the proper term, but I’m leaving the error in the title both because it wouldn’t make sense if I fixed it, and as an acknowledgment of my error.
I was absolutely thrilled when I first heard the concept behind the BENU Talsman line of pens. BENU were already known for pushing boundaries on pen shapes and mixing up some very striking materials, both in terms of color combinations and in terms of glitter and other things suspended in the pens. Now, in the Talisman, they have created a line of pens paying homage to various global folklore and mystical traditions surrounding different plants and minerals. Not only are the pens themed after these substances, but there is a bit of each respective substance infused into the material for each pen. It’s not that I can’t just appreciate a green pen for being green of course, but c’mon! How much cooler is it to have a four leaf clover themed pen knowing that there is actual four leaf clover infused somewhere within the resin? It elevates the pen from just being an homage to actually holding a piece of the folklore within it, a “talisman” of sorts (a-ha!) Of course, none of that matters if the pen isn’t any good, so let’s take a look and see how the Talisman lives up to the hype.
BENU isn’t a company known for elaborate packaging, which makes sense. When you’re selling pens that literally dazzle the eyes, there’s no point in having your packaging try to compete. Still, I really appreciate the “lore” sheet included with the Talisman series pens, informing the new owner of the history and symbolism behind their pen’s namesake. As a long time player of a certain tabletop game, I half expected to see a stat block at the bottom of a lore sheet this pretty. Maybe that’s an idea for a future release with ground up dodecahedral dice infused in the material…
If you’d like to see the full packaging experience, you can check out my unboxing video on TikTok or on Instagram..
Aside from the Talisman conceit, and the signature BENU materials, the Talisman is a bit more of a traditional shape than many of the company’s other releases. The silhouette is fairly standard, although BENU does deserve some additional design credit for the various facets along the cap and barrel that add some additional interest to the shape of the pen. The pen features a clip and a #6 Schmidt nib, and the cap posts securely on the rear do the pen. The cap threads on the section are also block cut so that they will not be sharp against ones fingers if they have to clutch up on the pen a bit. Even without the lore and material, this is a well functioning and interestingly shaped pen.
One striking thing about the Talisman Four Leaf Clover in particular is that it is more or less a monochrome pen. BENU is known for some very colorful pens, and even many of the other Talisman pens have contrasting colors on display. The Four Leaf Clover definitely does have pools of darker and lighter material, and well as ribbons of glitter, and four leaf clover shaped sequins throughout, but they are all just shades of the same green. Personally, I think this works wonderfully for the narrative that this pen is trying to tell. While I’ve never been to Ireland, I have plenty of memories of being a child in a field of clover, hunting around counting the leaves on each, trying to find one with four leaves. And a field of clover is most definitely a monochromatic experience. BENU has done well here to invoke childhood summer memories solely through the use of color.
Of course, ink has to get into that barrel somehow, and much like every other BENU model I’m familiar with, thr Talisman is a Cartridge.converter filler. The pen comes with a Schmidt converter and an international standard long cartidge, but in the interested of keeping the monochrome party going, I knew the moment I saw this pen that I’d have to ink it with none other than Montblanc Irish Green.
I wrote recently about how impressed I’ve been by the Schmidt nibs on BENU pens, just in general. When I first became aaware of BENU a few years ago I recall being warry, because despite the beautiful materials and interesting designs, they only used #5 nibs, and they weren’t even Jowo or Bock. The last BENU I reviewed was still a #5 nib, of course, but in the last couple of years, with this Talisman series as well as the Euphoria series, and others, BENU has been roling out some designs with the larger #6 nibs as well. And as for any concerns over quality, I’d put my BENU nibs up against any other stock German nibs in my colection. Honestly, after these last couple of BENU pens, I’m open to buying anything with a Schmidt Nib, regardless of the “Iridium Point” imprint on it.
Normally I like to end a review by imagining who a product is right for, or what circumstance makes sense to buy it. The thing about this particular pen, specifically the Four Leaf Clover version of the Talisman, is that I have a hunch most people know whether or not this pen is for them as soon as they see it. Definitely for individuals who feel a particular affinity for Ireland and/or St. Patrick’s day, or you even just really love the color green, this pen is likely to catch ahold of their attention the moment they see it. And for those people, I’m happy to report that my expereience using this pen has been smooth sailing. For other people who maybe don’t have such a strong draw towards Four Leaf Clover specifically, but appreciate the whole notion behind the Talisman line, I would say that you should feel at ease looking through the other models in the line, and finding one that speaks to you, as other than the monochromatic nature of this pen, everything I’ve written here should apply to the entire line.
Thank you to Luxury Brands of America, BENU’s US distributor, for providing me with this pen.
