Faber-Castell and Staedtler each make a specialty extension to their premier lines – a “steno pencil”, aimed at shorthand practitioners. They are round versions of the Castell 9000 and Lumograph 100.
Staedtler’s entry is the Mars Stenofix, model 101. A round version of the Lumograph 100 (a Lumograph 101?), it is dark blue, but with the cap in turquoise rather than black. My thanks to Dave for providing this pencil. It is unfortunately not locally available to me.
Faber-Castell’s offering is the 9008 Steno, corresponding to the Castell 9000 series. In appearance, it looks just like a round 9000.
Each is a high quality pencil, and I couldn’t detect any difference between the lead used in the mainstream pencils and the steno versions.
The Stenofix is available solely in HB, while the 9008 is offered in HB, B, and 2B.
There is one other practical difference – the Stenofix has a full size diameter at about 7.45mm, while the 9008 has a thinner 7.25mm diameter.
They are interesting, quality pencils, and it’s unfortunate that they aren’t more widely available.