Television! (The Conté Television 649 red and blue pencil)
Well, I now have a Conté Television 649 red and blue pencil, as well as three other members of the elite red and blue pencil cadre.
The pencils are the Television 649, made by Conté in France, the RotBlauStift 162 00 from Cretacolor, made in Austria, a Koh-I-Noor 3423, origin unstated, and a Castell 873 Color by Faber-Castell, made in Germany.
The RotBlauStift is a regular sized hexagonal pencil, while the other three are oversized hexagonal pencils.
A few notes:
- Faber-Castell is definitely the rebel here, eschewing the standard red and blue for their signature forest green. I wish they hadn’t done this. There are occasions when respecting a tradition should trump branding concerns.
- The Koh-I-Noor has exceptionally utilitarian markings, with the name imprinted via something akin to a dot matrix printer.
- The Television’s wood has the same sort of look as the Grip 2001 pencil - jelutong or pulai.
As with our previously examined red and blue pencils, there is a range of colours - the Cretaclor is light in both red and blue, the Koh-I-Noor bright and rich in both, and the others somewhere in between.
Here are trial results with the four new pencils:
Let’s summarize the main features of the red and blue pencils that we have looked at so far:
| Manufacturer | Model | Shape | Oversize | Core |
| Conté | Television 649 | Hexagonal | Yes | 4mm |
| Cretacolor | RotBlauStift 162 00 | Hexagonal | No | 2mm |
| Faber-Castell | Castell 873 Color | Hexagonal | Yes | 4mm |
| Koh-I-Noor | 3423 | Hexagonal | Yes | 4mm |
| Koh-I-Noor | Bürofarbstift 62 | Hexagonal | No | 2mm |
| Musgrave | Hermitage Thin 525 | Hexagonal | No | 2mm |
| Musgrave | Harvest Thick 725 | Round | No | 4mm |
| Prismacolor | Verithin 748 | Round | No | 2mm |
| Schwan-Stabilo | Stabilo 8742 | Hexagonal | No | 2mm |
These traditional pencils associated with teaching and accounting still have a strong resonance. While the keyboard has supplanted pens and pencils in many areas, it is fascinating that this sub-specialty of the woodcase pencil still continues. All of these pencils shown are in active production by their manufacturers.
Further reading:
Red and Blue pencils (February, 2008)
Red and Blue pencils II (March, 2008)
This page at stdk.de, which has documentary quality photographs of several red and blue pencils, plus a list of known red and blue pencils in production.
April 15th, 2008 at 1:03 am
I’d be happy to forward one of the Tombow VP’s for your review if you’d like to send contact info. I’m enjoying the broad spectrum review of these unusual pencils. Thanks.
April 15th, 2008 at 7:34 am
The Faber-Castell green is just too funny in this pencil.
I use this type of pencil to make notes in books that I’m going to review. I really like the Musgrave thin. The only other ones I have are Prismacolor.
April 15th, 2008 at 9:27 am
I could offer a Lyra Rembrandt Rot-Blau for your collection and review.
In Gunther’s list the VIARCO red-blue pencils are missing, the Olimpico bicolor and Comercial bicolor http://viarco.pt/versao01/versao_uk/profissional.htm
April 15th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Thank you all for the comments.
Harry and Frank, I appreciate the pencil offers, but I fear that shipping a single pencil internationally would be too much trouble. I do appreciate it - it is a very nice offer.
And I suspect Gunther will soon be updating his excellent list!
April 15th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Thank you for the review, the great pictures and the kind words. – I have just added some names to the list but I don’t have the time to take photos at the moment.
April 15th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
I have more red/blue pencils you don’t have in the picture
this are the brands:
pax bicolor (made in chile)
Eberhard faber-van dike (made in argentina)
Eberhard faber- hevy check (made in argentina)
Magazine pencil (made in germany)
consul bicolor (made in argentina)
Marader office (made in argentina)
some pictures of this ones are in http://www.brandnamepencils.com
April 15th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Hi Dasmarians,
Thank you for sharing this information.
In Canada, this type of pencil is (in 2008) an extreme specialty. All nine of these pencils were provided by an overseas pencil friend or purchased via mail order.
Are red and blue pencils regularly available in Argentina? I am not familiar with most of the brands you mention.
April 17th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Hi, yes, red and blue pencils are available in drafting shops, I’m an architect and I use a lot for make corrections and notes on the plans, I use a lot the pax pencil (from chile) this is the most common red/blue pencil.
I forget the faber-castell 737 (from Brazil) this are a available in most pencils/books shops.
April 17th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Thanks for this information. It is most appreciated!
April 18th, 2008 at 5:30 am
Sorry for (mis-)using this discussion for my private wishes but if anyone is willing to send me some red and blue pencils for my collection I would be very happy. Of course I pay for the pencils as well as for the shipping (PayPal). Any offers are much appreciated! My email is schmidt AT stdk DOT de.
June 10th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
I’ve got both the Conté Television 649 and the Faber-Castell Castell 873, I prefer the Conté pencil for marking on fine paper, the soft lead doesn’t tear the paper and the shades of red and blue are light enough that I see the words that I’ve shaded very well. I’d like to purchase more of them, I got them while I was on a trip to France.
-Don