I tried Palomino Blackwing 602
My thoughts about Palomino Blackwing 602
TL;DR: beautiful distinct and well made B hardness pencil, priced well above what the core justifies
The hook
What fascinates me about wood-cased pencils is their simple and pragmatic design, yet the design is at the same time elegant and timeless -- I love the hexagon shape and how the boundary between the wood collar and lacquer curves.
I have been in this hobby for a while. I tried the basic Dixon Ticonderoga, and more premium choices from Mitsubishi Pencil and Tombow. The Japanese pencils are all joyful to write with and made with high standard of quality. I have also been seeing constant praise of Palomino Blackwing 602 online. Their flowery description of this apparently good-looking pencil enticed me to get my hands on one pack of Blacking 602, as I wanted to see if it really is different from other good pencils outside of its distinct look.
My thoughts
As you can see in my picture, I have other pencils tested against the Blackwing 602. I don't intend to do one to one comparison. Here is what I like and dislike about it:
Likes
- The build quality is on par with other Japanese pencils (Hi-Uni and Mono 100, except for the ferrule, which is not fixed securely on my copy). Wood used is cedar and lacquer is pretty -- shiny with metallic luster.
- Undoubtedly beautiful: the unique ferrule resemble the ones of paint brushes, which made me feel like writing with an art instrument. The color coordination of various parts is managed masterfully. The hot-stamped text is in the same gold color as the ferrule and the color of the eraser is classic pink and serves as accent. The hot-stamped text is carefully chosen; you don't find words that tell you "for office use" or "highest quality", which I resent for making the surface look crowded and is unnecessary.
- The graphite core is good, though I don't think it is better than most Japanese pencils I have. It is equivalent to a normal B pencil (harder than my Hi-Uni 2B and 8900 2B, softer than my HB). It is dark and smooth, albeit needs sharpening frequently (just like a normal B pencil).
- It is a cool idea that you can refill the eraser.
Dislikes
- The center of gravity is awkward, even more so than a fresh long normal pencil, because of the weight of the larger metal piece.
- The eraser is not good enough for a B hardness pencil, leaving a gray smear that won't come off no matter hard you rub with this eraser.
- The marketing leans more on people's craving for emotional connection rather than the pencil itself. The pitch is basically:"Our pencils have great heritage. Celebrity A, B and C swore by our pencils, and used them when working on their masterpieces." That sells a feeling, not a pencil.
- Other users' exaggerated claims: 1) "This is writing pencil, not comparable to pencils with given hardness" -- to me, they write like a normal B pencil, similar darkness and similar rate of blunting the tip. 2) "This is the best/smoothest pencil that I have used." I've seen this too many times, and I wonder if they have tried other good options and if they conducted blind tests to support their claims.
My Conclusion
It's a good pencil and I appreciate that CalCedar revived it. It's also overpriced which I hate and they can keep the same price as long as most people don't explore other good options.