There was a nice article in the Financial Times last month on the pencil industry. Count Anton von Faber-Castell, Rayford Musgrave Hulan of Musgrave, and Charles Berolzheimer of CalCedar are among those interviewed.
Nava Notes notepads
Nava, whose pencil we looked at in 2006, of course makes many other stationery items. A new entry is their Nava Notes notepads.
The pads come in variety of sizes and colours, either side or top folding, hole punched or not. The covers have interesting colours and distinctive textures – they are definitely not from the big box office supply store.
The paper is finely perforated for removal. It also has a very interesting date system – years, months and days are marked, so you can circle or highlight the correct date. It certainly encourages (in a fun way) accurate date keeping. The paper is thick, though not as white bleached as Clairefontaine paper, for example.
I would have no hesitation recommending them.
Pencil Boxes (III) – California Republic Palomino
The third and final box of pencils that I was able to locate comes from California Republic Stationers. Two years ago on this blog, it was suggested that these pencils deserved a wooden box!
I was pleasantly surprised – the box has a pleasing patina, and seems reasonably sturdy, with a hinged lid. The hinge hardware is pleasant though generic.
The box has six pencils – three red, three blue, produced by California Republic’s unnamed Japanese manufacturer. The last Palominos I bought were factory sharpened, while these are unsharpened. The box looks like it could hold another layer of six pencils. The pencils are seated in a clear plastic tray.
The box I received has some slight blurring/smudging of the graphical imprint, but it doesn’t detract much from the aesthetics.
Overall, it is a very nice box of pencils.
Pencil Boxes (II) – Graf von Faber-Castell
Faber-Castell seems to be the sole major manufacturer currently offering a wooden box of pencils. And what a box it is!
Their offering has a removable lid, and it houses a dozen fantastic pencils, the Graf von Faber-Castell pencil.
The outer packaging says “12 bleistifte” (12 pencils), which although truthful, is an incredible understatement.
My only grumble is with regard to the plastic insert that actually surrounds the pencils – it seems kind of cheap for the neighborhood, and will likely become dirty from contact with graphite over time. Otherwise, well done!
Pencil Boxes (I) – Neiman Marcus
Sometimes pencils need a home, and one fine traditional home is the pencil box.
I’m sure I once had a nice wooden box of Blackfeet pencils, but I can’t find it. So, I decided to take a look around for other pencils still sold in wooden boxes. Here is what I found.
One place I looked is on Ebay, where I picked up this second hand box. The box is austere yet functional, with a sliding lid. It looks just like an archetypal old pencil box. The underside is stamped Neiman Marcus. I just looked at the Neiman Marcus website, and they still sell boxes of pencils – in no less than faux crocodile with matching box, though there is no offer of customization.
Inside the box are a dozen or so pencils, and it looks like it could easily accommodate a dozen more. The pencils have a person’s name stamped in gold letters. There is a title, initials, and a surname. The title might be civilian or military, and I’ll guess these were working pencils on an official desk.
The pencil, unfinished, is somewhat rough to hold, and the lead is a slightly scratchy light H or so grade. Still, they do the job. While there are novelty pencils aimed at children with pre-printed names (too bad if you have an unusual name), I don’t think a lot of adults today get their own name printed on a pencil. Too bad. This is a very nice grown up and practical appreciation of the pencil.
Faber-Castell 1117 pencil
Natural finish pencils have deservedly earned a following. Today we’ll take a look at Faber-Castell’s offering in this market segment, the 1117.
This pencil has a ferrule and eraser, untypical of Faber-Castell pencils, and possibly suggesting that it’s aimed at the North American market. But it seems to be sold mainly (solely?) in Europe.
The pencil isn’t all that “natural”, and doesn’t reveal that much of the woodgrain, in comparison with a Musgrave HB for example.
There is a silver-coloured ferrule and white eraser – the same ones used by the erasered version of the Castell 9000. The ferrule is quite nice, possibly one of the nicest on the market today.
Markings are minimal, in white ink:
Side 1 (Obverse): GERMANY SV 1117 2=B [logo] FABER-CASTELL
Side 2: blank
Side 3: blank
Side 4 (Reverse): blank
Side 5: blank
Side 6: blank
The wood resembles that of the Castell 9000, and not the Grip 2001, so I suspect it is cedar.
The box says “Eco-friendly water-based varnish.”
The pencils in my box ranged from 4.1g to 4.6g, with a 4.4g mean. This is the narrowest range that I’ve yet seen. The weight puts them below the Musgrave HB, and just above modern eraser-less pencils.
The grip is matte and just slightly rough. I’m a little surprised that Faber-Castell would sell a pencil in this format, as it contradicts their general design approach, which tends towards the finished and refined end of the spectrum.
So what does “2=B” mean? They seem to use this scheme with the Grip 2001, but not the Castell 9000. For a given vendor, an HB and a B pencil will only be different by a minor gradation. Anyhow, this lead may be a ‘B’, and is dark and rich, certainly better than most pencils.
It’s a good pencil, and I can imagine the 1117 becoming popular.