I should start by clarifying that I have not used every pencil in the world (sadly). I do use pencils all the time and I do go out of my way to try out every pencil I can get my hands on. This is because I like pencils and because, for years now, I have been trying to find one that I like better than the Blackwing 602. Having spent what is probably an odd amount of time on this quest, I can easily say that the Blackwing is the best (or at least my favorite). So far.
(I should also note that these thoughts apply equally to the Blackwing Pearl and the original Blackwing. They differ only in the color of the body and the hardness (or softness) of the (patented) Japanese graphite. All the other qualities that contribute to such a remarkably good pencil are the same.)
Here are the physical details of the Blackwing 602;
- Pencil Type: Graphite
- Wood Type: Incense-cedar
- Eraser: Dust-free thermoplastic rubber (pink)
- Barrel: Hexagonal (gunmetal grey with gold imprint – including a mildly annoying tag line)
- Ferrule: Aluminum (gold)
- Country of Origin: Japan
These details all work together to make an excellent pencil by any measure, but why do they come together in the Blackwings in a way that so many people consider to be unmatched? There are several reasons.
On the objective end of the scale, they are made very well and very consistently. There is a solid quality to the feel of sharpening one that is much like the feel of planing good wood with a well-honed planer. And unlike many pencils, the shavings from a Blackwing tend to look like…well, shaving; not sawdust. You can actually smell the scent of cedar, which is often not the case with other pencils (since they are made with saw dust and chemicals). The shape of the ferrule and the ability to replace the eraser (although I have never had to erase so much that I needed to replace the eraser during the life of one pencil) is distinctive and aesthetically pleasing.
But more than any of those, for me, it’s the smoothness of the graphite. Writing with a Blackwing simply feels unlike writing with any other pencil that I have found. To be sure, the difference in some cases is slight – but it is there. It is this quality that makes me walk out to my car in the rain to get the satchel that has a Blackwing in it, rather than using the perfectly acceptable non-Blackwing pencil on my desk.
Does the Blackwing pass the reasonably-priced test (i.e. is the price reasonable for what the product delivers)? At $21.95 for a box of 12, it does. There is no denying that this is a ‘noticeable’ amount for a pencil, but the quality bears out. Aside from the intangible (and the purely subjective) factors, the Blackwing’s materials and manufacturing result in a consistent product that lasts a long time. For instance, I’ve burned through whole pencils from other brands in one sitting due to cracked or weak graphite – this has never happened with a Blackwing.
Bottom Line: Quality materials and iconic design come together in Palomino Blackwing pencils in a way that is truly distinctive and a joy to write with.
