They work year round! Anyone enjoying some snow?
The pencils of Colombia
As mentioned last week, futural kindly sent pencil talk some other pencils in addition to the Mongols. Let’s take a look!
First, we have what appear to be more Mongols – except – the top pencil uses slightly different fonts than the Eberhard Faber Colombia Mongols, and is sold in unmarked packaging. Is it a fake? The second is imprinted “Made in Phil.” – a Philippines (Amspec presumably) Mongol that crossed the Pacific to Colombia.
The Mongol style is widely emulated in Colombia. Take a look at these pencils:
The Pointer (from China) is marked “Woodclinched” just like an Eberhard Faber pencil:
And the GEMA Chequeo red pencil, sporting a Mongol style ferrule. Here it is seen with a red Papermate Colombia Colorchek. (The Colorchek came to me via Argentina, thanks to blog reader dasmarians.)
Newell Rubbermaid also has a presence. The “Made in Columbia” PaperMate Mirado:
Unfortunately, yet another closed pencil plant. The ones marked “Colombia” are presumably older stock.
A familiar name, Eagle:
A Chinese manufactured Zeppelin whose ferrule is made to resemble a Venus Velvet:
Kores – a new name to me, yet a search reveals it to be an Austrian firm dating from 1887! This pencil was manufactured in Mexico.
Finally, a well known name, though not necessarily for woodcase pencils:
My sincere thanks to futural for kindly sending a number of really interesting pencils this way. So far, I’ve sharpened a Mirado, and am appreciating it very much.
Mongol pencils from Eberhard Faber Colombia
Happy New Year to all readers!
In the lazy days between Christmas and New Year, a very interesting package arrived, thanks to frequent pencil talk commenter futural.
The former Eberhard Faber company had a complicated global footprint. We see that in the patchwork ownership of the name today. We also know the Mongol remains a popular pencil brand in the Phillipines.
Some news – the Eberhard Faber Mongol 482 pencil also lives on in Colombia! Produced by “Eberhard Faber de Colombia” (no references to Sanford or Newell-Rubbermaid on the packaging), futural tells me that the bar code reveals a Peruvian origin. How interesting – Woodchuck from CalCedar has said the Mongol has been made in Venezuela, and more recently by Marco in China.
Whatever the details, the Colombian Mongol definitely appears to be different than the modern Philippine Mongols.
The finish consists of a basic thin lacquer. The leads also seem somewhat smoother than the Amspec version. The eraser even works fairly well. All in all, a very acceptable pencil.
These aren’t the only Colombian pencils that arrived! Stay tuned for more.
See also:
Ninoy and Cory Aquino Mongol pencils (pencil talk: August, 2008)
The Mongol 482: New and Old (pencil talk: February, 2007)
Ortie Design Bullet pencil
Here is an excellent new pencil concept from France’s Ortie Design.
Novelty and alternate pencil designs appear regularly enough, but most seem to have the objective (often achieved) of gaining a quick smile. Here is one I like, because it is so thought provoking and disturbing.
The comic book “PAN!” probably needs no translation.
The images are used with the permission of Ortie Design, with copyright and all rights reserved by Ortie Design.
~~~~
Happy New Year to all pencil talk readers!
Please support Wheelwell
Happy Holidays!
In 2009, hemmant jha sent some really interesting pencils this way. Mainstays of India such as the Nataraj and Camlin, these contributions truly rounded out the blog’s international coverage.
hemmant is not just a pencil aficionado – he is also an industrial designer and architect with an M. Arch. from Yale. His firm thinkmore is the designer of products such as the SONY ICF-M1000 desktop radio.
Right now, hemmant needs your support for an important project – Wheelwell. Wheelwell is a non-profit organization devoted to improving wheelchairs, and ultimately the lives of people with physical disabilities. With an impressive roster of accomplished designers and engineers serving as Wheelwell’s directors, advisors, and staff, they are capable of making an impact in their field. But, their project needs funding.
They are are applying for a $250,000 grant from Pepsi Refresh, and are seeking public support through online voting. If you would like to learn more, please see the page here.
Derwent Onyx pencil
In 2008, Derwent announced a new graphite pencil line, the Onyx.
According to Derwent, the Onyx “… is made from smooth dark graphite and delivers dense, rich, jet-black tones, darker than a Graphic 9B. Due to its non-crumbly texture, the 4mm wide core is capable of sharpening and holding a fine point.”
After some testing, I have to conclude that Derwent’s claims are absolutely correct and without exaggeration. Yet experiencing the pencil doesn’t explain the mystery of the formula.
The pencil is round with an 8mm diameter and a 4mm core. It comes in two grades, “Medium” and “Dark”.
The Dark version is capable of a very wide range of shades. The claim about pressure is correct – the dark rich tones seem to appear in reaction to pressure. Of course all pencils do that to some extent, but the Onyx is somehow different – with light pressure, it gives no signs of being a super dark pencil.
Additionally, the claim about holding a point is correct – it has a much stronger point than typical soft grade pencils.
The Dark Onyx on the left, and the Derwent Graphic 9B on the right:
I have to admit amazement. Presumably, Derwent have used very different ingredients (or process) to create this wonder of a pencil.
Definitely worth a test. Have you tried it?