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Staedtler 132 pencil

Staedtler 132 pencil
Unlike the pacific, this Staedtler pencil is made in Germany.

It is a traditionally styled yellow pencil, with a pink eraser and shiny ferrule. The lead is also better quality than the pencils I’ve looked at the last few days – not great, but useably smooth, black, and non-crumbly.

A recent blog comment mentioned the Staedtler 134. A bit of searching around shows that the 134 is a made in China Staedtler pencil that is actually labelled “yellow pencil”, apart from being a yellow pencil.

Staedtler 132 pencil
If you have to use a generic looking office pencil, you could do worse than the 132.

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Staedtler pacific pencil

Staedtler pacific pencil
This is the first pencil in this series that specifies a country of manufacture, and the only one with a name associating it with a specific region.

The Staedtler Australia website proudly mentions a number of made in Australia pencils, including the pacific.

This pencil has a red varnish, with gold stamping that reads:

AUSTRALIA Staedtler pacific HB

The obverse has a black barcode. The cap is unfinished.

The varnish is quite thin. This is more than just an aesthetic issue – a thick varnish protects pencils from dings and dirt, and creates a more uniform surface and hence a more consistent grip.
Staedtler pacific pencil

The pencil itself is useable, but the lead is scratchy, and as we’ll soon see, there are some much nicer pencil choices available down under.

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Generic Pencil

The Generic pencil of Auckland.
This pencil is a bit more challenging to describe than others in this series. It has no brand, no name, no markings. Still, it’s apparently the common generic pencil in New Zealand.

One thing I’ll say is that compared to a cheap no-name pencil that I’d find in North America, it’s just a bit thicker and more substantial. The paint job is reasonable. The wood is very pale – poplar? It’s a bit scratchy to write with.

Not recommended.

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Stabilo Schwan 305 and 306 pencils

The Stabilo Schwan pencil.
Schwan-STABILO also manufacture the Schwan line – “Schwan” being a swan, derived from the name of company founder Gustav Adam Schwanhäusser.

The Schwan pencils I have are curious – a yellow version, the Schwan 305, marked HB=2, and a wine coloured version, the Schwan 306, marked HB=21/2. The 306 is also labelled with a barcode.

The 305 is a decidedly darker lead than the 306.

The pencils have unfinished caps, and appear to be in more of a discount line than the Othello.

The Stabilo Schwan pencil.

The 305 lead broke both while writing and during sharpening. No problems were encountered with the 306.

While the simple styling is a plus, I don’t expect pencil leads to repeatedly fracture in anything but the cheapest of pencils, so these are a disappointment.

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Stabilo Othello 282 pencil

Stabilo Othello 282 pencilSchwan-STABILO’s website says the company was founded in Bavaria in 1855. Today, they are a successful conglomerate with 2800 employees, and their main revenue source is from cosmetic pencils.

Their highlighters and markers are what one might see in an office supply store in Canada. Graphite pencils are not typically for sale at local retailers.

The Othello 282 has very unusual colouring – solid forest green, with the hexagonal edges pinstriped in a light green. They look like pieces of candy! The cap is painted red.

The claim is that this style started in the 1920s after a bad paint run in the factory accidentally produced a similar pattern.

The pencil is marked:

STABILO Othello 282 HB=21/2

Of course we usually think an HB grade is an No. 2. The obverse side has a barcode.
Stabilo Othello 282 pencil
It’s also named after a play and character of Shakespeare. I’m curious about this, and have sent a note to the manufacturer. I’ll update this post should they reply.

It lays down a fairly dark line, and doesn’t crumble. It’s a good pencil, though I wouldn’t call it exceptional.

It’s great to find that a 19th century pencil maker is still making good products.

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Announcement: August is New Zealand/Australia pencil month!

Pencils of New Zealand

It’s with great excitement that I am able to announce New Zealand/Australia pencil month here at pencil talk. Thanks to Dave at Dave’s Mechanical Pencils, I have a nice assortment of woodcase pencils from Auckland, New Zealand. None of them are generally available in North America, so this will definitely be of interest to many readers of this blog.

This is the review schedule:

August 1 Stabilo Othello 282
August 6 Stabilo Schwan 305 & 306
August 8 Generic Pencil
August 13 Staedtler Pacific
August 16 Staedtler 132
August 20 Staedtler Tradition 110
August 23 Faber-Castell Goldfaber 1222
August 29 Faber-Castell 1111