pencil talk

The Conté à Paris Graphite 601 pencil is a great find, as well as a rarity, being possibly the only woodcase pencil currently manufactured in France.
I was very pleased to discover that a small local bookstore had tins of these pencils on their modest art supply shelf.
The pencils come in a range of degrees from [...]

The Bic Mentor seems to be Bic’s budget line. Unlike the Critérium and and Gilbert lines, it is available in a single grade – HB.

The pencil is hexagonal with an unfinished end. It has gold lettering on a bright red finish.
The lead seems to be somewhat scratchy.
I’m not sure if these are in current production, [...]

Let’s continue our look at the pencils of France.
It was over three years ago that we saw the Bic/Conté Evolution pencil. How time flies! This website has certainly grown quite a bit since then. (As has my pencil accumulation.)
The Evolution is apparently a favourite of the author of the remarkable La Vie Graphite.

In 2006, I [...]

pencil talk has some very informed readers! Frank, who kindly sent me two of the pencils that are part of this series, yesterday left a great comment which includes assessments of many of the pencils we’ll see this week – and others.

Today we see another Bic pencil with a longstanding name – the Gilbert.
It [...]