Palomino Blackwing Pencil

The Blackwing pencil is back! We have all mourned the original, the famous Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602 pencil, generally considered to be the world’s best and sent to an early grave when the company discontinued them in 1998. They could be had on eBay for about $35 each; making them an unaffordable luxury for anyone who really wanted to write enough that they would need to sharpen away their $35 pencil. California Republic, the company responsible for the Palomino, has acquired the rights to the Blackwing and are now producing their own version, the Palomino Blackwing. It looks more or less the same and has all the writing quality and the unique good looks of the original. Writes a beautiful smooth black line and smells like fresh cedar when you sharpen it. And you know it’s the world’s best pencil: after all, it’s a Blackwing. A steal at $19.95 for a box of a dozen from Pencils.com.

Affordability: 10                Luxury: 9

Want more luxury? If you can tell the difference, there’s some of the original Blackwing 602s around. They are too good to use, so they still exist …