Pentel Pg1804
Tombow Variable 0.4mm

For some reason, Several Japanese 0.4mm mechanical pencils seem to be green.

This is Faber-Castell TK-matic L.

Mine has no plastic parts at all, even in the internal mechanism, so there’s a possibility that it’s one of the very early versions.

The overall finish is a really interesting and attractive shade somewhere between silver and gunmetal.
Combined with the design, it makes the whole pencil look like a piece of old machinery—extremely solid and built to last.

I gave it a quick wipe with some alcohol, and it brought back a subtle metallic shine.

The clip is engraved with the old Faber-Castell logo. It features a shield-shaped emblem with what looks like either a crown or a castle above it. It’s a very small detail, but it adds a lot of character and looks surprisingly cool.

Another interesting thing about my particular example is the BMW emblem on the knob. I really like this detail. Metal, mechanical pencils, and cars—it basically combines several things I love into one object.

The standard version has a dark orange (maybe) insert on the knob, which personally never looked quite right on the TK-matic to me. I actually prefer the BMW emblem on mine quite a bit.

From photos, I honestly thought it just looked like an ordinary vintage metal mechanical pencil. In person, though, it’s much more impressive than I expected.

There is one thing I’m still curious about: which came first, the TK-matic or the DS75 as Faber-Castell’s semi-automatic mechanical pencil?

I’ve looked into this quite a bit, but there seem to be fairly strong arguments on both sides, so I still can’t figure out which one actually came first. Either way, there’s no question that both were among the pencils that pioneered automatic lead-advance technology around the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Faber-Castell also seems to have used the “first” title for quite a few of its products, which only makes the history a little more confusing.

I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts and any information you might have about this.
Have a great day!

When we finally get a package containing a pen we’ve been waiting forever for, we hold it and think,

“So this pen is really inside this box… It’s really in my hands now… Heh heh…”

My Japanese friend stopped collecting mechanical pencils and started collecting fountain pens, so I traded one of my fountain pens for this.

It’s an early model from the early ’80s. Yet despite its age, it looks like new—not even a trace of handling grime on it.

This is the Tombow Variable 0.4 mm. Unlike ordinary mechanical pencils, this is a capped mechanical pencil, much like the Pentel Kerry. After removing the cap attached to the tip, you can post it onto the slim barrel at the back. Since there is a hole through the cap, the original knock button on the barrel remains exposed and can still be used.

Although this pencil is from the early ’80s, it is remarkably well refined. The defining feature of this pencil is its regulator function. You can adjust the amount of lead advanced with each click from 0.3 mm to 0.7 mm.

Honestly, I think this is a feature that you could take or leave in this day and age. However, I consider a mechanism to be a mechanical component that wears out over time, so I think the more often you knock it, the greater the chance of it eventually failing.

Therefore, if you set the amount of lead advanced per click slightly longer, you can reduce the absolute number of times you need to knock the pencil over the course of using it. I think that is an advantage.

And there is no denying that this was an innovative feature for its time.

Its distinctive mechanical design, along with the click you hear when you attach the cap back onto the tip after using the pencil, adds even more to its mechanical character.

Aside from a tiny amount of fine scratches due to its age, it is practically new.

I’ll take good care of this unicorn.🦄

Faber-Castell e-motion Pure Black
Korean Pilot Juliet
Korean Pilot Silvern – Dragon
Porsche Design P’3130 Mikado

2+1
2Ballpiont+0.5 pencil

This mechanical pencil feels like a work of art.
It’s about the same size as a Kaweco Sport, it’s really small

This is a mechanical pencil from Montblanc’s Writers Edition, created as a tribute to ‘Johann Wolfgang von Goethe‘

The Writers Edition is a series that takes inspiration from the writer’s entire world—their outlook on life, the historical atmosphere they lived through, their works, and the ideas that shaped them.

It uses a 0.7 mm twist mechanism.

Cap top — The ornament on top of the cap is said to be modeled after a globe, symbolizing Goethe’s concept of “World Literature” (Weltliteratur).

Bulbous cap shape — Goethe was not only a poet but also a natural scientist, so the shape is said to have been inspired by old glass vessels used in chemical experiments.

The curved “leaf” clip — Goethe also studied plants. The design is inspired by his research into plant morphology and his idea that the many different forms of plants could be understood as transformations of a single archetypal plant form. The clip and the trim ring around the grip section are gold-plated, while the silver-colored parts are finished in platinum.

Barrel — The barrel is finished in resin. Its blue color and distinctive texture are said to have been inspired by the descriptions of marble in Goethe’s novel The Sorrows of Young Werther, as well as the color of the wallpaper in the house where Goethe lived.
Because of this texture, it also has a very distinctive feel in the hand.

The pencil is built around a brass base and covered in resin, bringing the weight up to a fairly substantial 55 g. Despite that, it is very well balanced, so it never really feels heavy in use.

I think the real appeal of the Goethe mechanical pencil is ultimately its design. There honestly isn’t much else to it.

Most objects look their best when you first get them, and as you become more familiar with them, they gradually start to look less special or more ordinary. The Goethe is the opposite. The more I look at it, the better it seems to look.

When you look at the Goethe by itself, its appeal may not be immediately obvious. But put another mechanical pencil next to it, and that is when its design really starts to stand out.
No matter how impressive the pencil beside it is, the Goethe somehow manages to make it look just a little more ordinary.

I was so captivated by its design that I brushed aside the weight of its price and bought it anyway.

In the end, it taught me a pretty big lesson: the fundamental purpose of a mechanical pencil is to write, and in the end, a mechanical pencil is still just a mechanical pencil.😂

I added a few more photos compared to the post I made on my previous account. I put quite a bit of effort into getting the first photo perfectly symmetrical.

These are the Graf von Faber-Castell Platinum and the Porsche Design Mikado.

Design-wise, they give off a somewhat similar impression, yet at the same time they feel different from each other.

Comparing these two awesome pencils, the Graf von Faber-Castell and the Porsche Design Mikado, they somehow feel both similar and completely different at the same time.
Both remind me of columns from ancient architecture.

The Graf von has a crown-like cap that gives it a refined, almost regal presence, while the Mikado’s 17 twisted steel rods give it this mysterious, monumental look.

They weigh 45g and 52g respectively, so if you drop either one on your foot, you might end up with a donut for a foot.

The Mikado in particular doesn’t feel like it was designed for actual everyday use. It rolls around constantly, the steel rods are slippery, it’s insanely top-heavy, and weighing over 50g certainly doesn’t help.

Personally,
Overall beauty — Graf von wins.
Pure presence and grandeur — Mikado wins.
Both of them have this almost sacred presence to them.

The Graf von Faber-Castell and the Mikado somehow feel both similar and completely different, but they look great side by side. Both kind of remind me of columns from ancient architecture.

They weigh 45g and 52g respectively, so dropping one on your foot might actually turn it into a donut.

The Mikado especially doesn’t feel like it was designed with actual writing in mind.

the steel barrel is slippery and rolls around constantly it’s insanely top-heavy, and weighing over 50g certainly doesn’t help.

I’ve got pretty strong forearms, but even then, my arm still gets tired if I use this pen for a few hours straight.

Personally,
Overall looks — Graf von Faber-Castell wins.
Pure presence — Mikado wins.

I got into mechanical pencils with the Faber-Castell e-motion Pure Black. Kind of an unusual choice for a first mechanical pencil, I know.

Back then, I had no idea mechanical pencils would actually become a hobby of mine. I still remember thinking, “Should I really be spending this much on a mechanical pencil ?”

That was only about two months ago. Since Faber-Castell was the brand I chose for my very first mechanical pencil, it still means something to me. So I thought I’d write a more detailed review of the e-motion.

introduction

The e-motion comes in quite a few different versions depending on the material and finish, but I’d roughly divide them into four tiers:
Top — Pure Black / Pure Silver
Upper — Chrome Resin
Middle — Chrome Pearwood
Entry — Maple
I own all of them except the Chrome Resin.

It uses its own 1.4mm lead size, so it probably won’t be for everyone. After writing for a while, the lead gets blunt pretty quickly and your writing starts getting thicker. If you want to keep a fine point, you’ll have to rotate the pencil in your hand pretty often.

There aren’t really any sharpeners made for this exact size either, and trying to make one meant for a different lead size work just feels unnecessary to me. I think it’s better to just use it the way it was intended.

There aren’t many options for 1.4mm lead, so I just use Faber-Castell’s own. The biggest plus is that it’s really smooth. The downside is that you only get six leads in a pack, and B is the only hardness available.

It also feels pretty soft even for B, so I find myself pressing a little harder to get the writing to come out the way I want.

If you unscrew the tip, there’s a small lead reservoir inside, and the pencil comes with one spare lead when you buy it.

The 1.4mm lead definitely limits what you can use this pencil for depending on the person, but the thick lead also wears down slowly and basically never breaks.

So whenever you don’t need really precise writing, I think it’s an amazing pencil. And if you’re good about rotating it as you write, you can still get surprisingly thin and detailed lines out of the e-motion.

I mostly use mine for sketching, drawing graphs, or whenever I have a ton of stuff to write down and don’t really care what my handwriting looks like. I also like using it for journaling, writing down my thoughts, or working through ideas. Maybe it’s the slightly old-school look of the e-motion, but it just feels right for that kind of thing.

One reason the e-motion probably isn’t more popular is its shape. It’s short and chunky, so I can see why some people might think it looks uncomfortable to use. But the actual grip section isn’t that thick, and it feels surprisingly stable in the hand.

Honestly, “pencil” feels like a better word for the e-motion than “mechanical pencil.” I know they’re basically the same thing, but somehow it just fits.

Because of how the mechanism is designed, there is some vertical lead play if you only extend the lead a little bit. (I’ll talk more about this later.)

The clip is removable, although I wouldn’t really recommend taking it off since the pencil will just roll around.

It’s also pretty short at around 12.5 cm, and the weight varies quite a bit depending on the model, from about 16g to 36g.

Maple wood

This is the cheapest, entry-level model in the e-motion lineup.

The bright orange barrel is made of maple, while the tip and cap are plastic, so the whole pencil is very light.

If I had to point out one downside, it would be the weight compared to the size. The barrel looks pretty chunky, but the pencil itself is so light that it almost feels hollow. Writing with it kind of feels like holding a plastic straw, which does make me a little concerned about durability.

I tend to write with quite a bit of pressure. Obviously most of that force goes straight into the lead and mechanism, but some of the pressure from your hand also ends up around the joint between the wooden barrel and the tip. So I do wonder how well that area will hold up over time.

Then again, I mostly use heavy mechanical pencils, so this might just feel unusually light to me because of what I’m used to. Mine weighs 16g on my scale.

Like most wooden pencils, the wood versions of the e-motion can vary quite a bit from one pencil to another. Even with the exact same model, the color and grain pattern can look noticeably different depending on the piece you get.

You twist the cap to extend and retract the lead. The twisting action has a nice bit of weight to it while still being really smooth, and honestly it feels great.
Pull the top off and you’ll find an eraser underneath, but there’s no lead storage back there.

Basically, Faber-Castell expects you to load the lead from the front.

If you only extend the lead a little, there’s inevitably some up-and-down play every time the lead touches the paper. It’s just a result of how the mechanism is designed.

But the e-motion is already a pretty short pencil, and with 1.4mm lead you really don’t have to worry about it snapping, so you can just extend the lead a bit further. Once you do that, the play basically disappears, so I don’t think it’s much of an issue.

Peer wood - DKB

This is probably the most classic-looking model in the e-motion lineup.

The barrel is made of pearwood, and it feels noticeably harder and denser in the hand than the maple version. The maple feels a little slippery to me, while the pearwood has more grip and seems to sit in my hand better. That’s why I personally prefer the pearwood version over the maple.

It comes in brown, dark brown, and black. I went with the dark brown.

I honestly don’t have any real complaints about this one. Taking the design, durability, and price into account, I think this is probably the most well-rounded model in the lineup.
Mine weighs 30g on my scale.

Maple wood-pearl

This is the maple version I mentioned earlier. The barrel has a beautiful pearly white finish with a subtle shimmer to it. The tip and cap are matte metal, so fingerprints aren’t really an issue. You do have to be a little more careful about getting the barrel dirty, though.

This is my personal favorite out of all the e-motion models.

I also think I got especially lucky with the barrel on this one. The color and grain are probably about as good as it gets for the pearl version.
Mine weighs 30g on my scale.

Pure Black

This is the Pure Black, the very first mechanical pencil I got when I started this hobby. It’s also the most expensive, top-end model in the e-motion lineup.

The first thing that stands out is the all-black finish. It looks sleek, solid, and has some real weight to it. Unlike the other versions that use wood or resin for the barrel, this one is made entirely of metal. There’s also a silver version called the Pure Silver.

Depending on what you’re used to, 36g might feel pretty heavy for a mechanical pencil. But since the e-motion is both short and thick, I actually think the weight works in its favor. If you write with the pencil at a steeper angle, you can really feel the weight pressing straight down into the paper, which makes writing feel surprisingly effortless.

The all-black finish combined with the barrel pattern gives it a very solid, almost imposing look. The diamond pattern especially gives it a lot more presence than most other all-black mechanical pencils.

There are a couple of downsides, though. Dust shows up ridiculously easily on the black finish and kind of ruins that perfectly clean all-black look. Mine hasn’t chipped yet, but I’ve seen people mention that if the coating does wear or chip, the silver-colored metal underneath becomes visible. That obviously takes away from the whole all-black aesthetic.

The grip also looks like it would be really slippery, but it’s actually much better than I expected. Even though it’s metal, the diamond pattern gives it a surprisingly grippy feel, almost a little like holding a rubber grip.

It’s not completely slip-free, of course. If the amount of slipperiness I expected was 100, what I actually feel is probably around 30.

Mine weighs 36g on my scale, making it the heaviest e-motion I own.

Thanks for reading this ridiculously long review! I tried to cover pretty much everything there is to know about the e-motion.

Guys, what are some really heavy mechanical pencils?

I’m looking for mechanical pencils that still have a fairly traditional, conventional design. I’d like to exclude things like Tom Dixon pencils that stray too far from the usual mechanical pencil form.

One of the heaviest pencils in my collection is the Porsche Design Mikado. This weigh 52g. I’m curious if there are any other mechanical pencils out there that weigh 50g or more.

Any comment would be appreciated. I’m mainly interested in discovering models that are 50g or heavier.👍🏻