A Pencil That Doesn't Break

[Susanna]

It's actually a pencil, but there isn't any wood body that includes the graphite lead.

 

http://www.giardino.it/pens/napkin/IMMAGINI/PerpetuaColori.jpg

Its name is Perpetua, made by Napkin (an Italian company, despite its name).

It is made of Zantech, an innovative material composed of 80% of recycled industrial graphite that thanks to special rubber polymers is agglomerated into a solid stick.

 

The colored end is a rubber, integrated during the injection phase.
It's clean, non-toxic, resilient if dropped or knocked, it can be tempered but writes even without tips.

http://www.giardino.it/pens/napkin/IMMAGINI/PerpetuaPart.jpg

And I love it!

(only black, as far as now)

[Moonshae]

These look cool, but wow, pricy. $10-$12 for a single pencil. I ordered one for my daughter.

[Susanna]

not so much here in Italy...

[dayrow]

They look a treat! I'd be interested in trying one if not for the one flat side. I don't understand pencil manufacturers who make it uncomfortable to rotate a pencil in the hand. That's how you keep the point!

 

And I have one reservation about all-graphite pencils generally: how much graphite is wasted in the sharpening. This is particularly true for writers, as you typically want to keep a fine point. It's great that Napkin is using recycled graphite, but surely this material would be better used as a thin mechanical pencil lead (0.3 to 0.9 mm), so that most of it doesn't wind up as shavings in someone's trash can?

 

And it is unfortunate about that high price tag outside of Italy (outside of Europe?). Maybe that will change. Until then, I can get about 15 Koh-i-Noor 'Woodless' Pencils at a local art store for a cost of one of these plus shipping—with a choice between 6 soft grades (HB, 2B, 4B, 6B, 8B, 9B)!

[Susanna]

And it is unfortunate about that high price tag outside of Italy (outside of Europe?). Maybe that will change.

 

I hope it won't...

That way, I sell more also out of Europe!

Edited May 12, 2017 by Susanna

[Moonshae]

I hope it won't...

That way, I sell more also out of Europe!

I don't think you'll sell more at a high price...lower prices mean more sales.

[View from the Loft]

I don't think you'll sell more at a high price...lower prices mean more sales.

But that is what I understood Susanna to be saying: that if prices outside Europe remain high, she will benefit by being able to export from Italy at a lower price.

 

Or am I missing something?

[Susanna]

But that is what I understood Susanna to be saying: that if prices outside Europe remain high, she will benefit by being able to export from Italy at a lower price.

 

Or am I missing something?

 

It's correct.

My vat-free price is 4.20 euros...

[TranquilTrout]

Does the graphite ever smear all over your hands when using this? I know that when I've been writing for any longer length of time, my palms can start to get a bit sweaty. Would that cause the graphite to rub off on my hands while writing?

[Susanna]

No, it's absolutely clean. It doesn't smear hands

[TranquilTrout]

Is there a light coating of some type of material on the outermost layer of the pencil?

[Susanna]

As far as I know, it's not coated. It's melted.

[Sasha Royale]

I don't understand pencil manufacturers who make it uncomfortable to rotate a pencil in the hand. That's how you keep the point!

 

 

Throughout writing history, the pen, not the pencil, was primary as the instrument of writing. Comfort, styling, aesthetics were reserved for pens. In our current market, it would surprise people, how many "economical" pens and pencils are made by the "handicapped" industry. I think a blind person would care less about good ink flow & comfort of the wood in the user's hand, than that the pen/pencil stays where it was put down.

 

Still, $12 will buy 100 wooden pencils. I still have four of the 10 pencils that I bought two years ago. I lost one, and I don't care.

Edited May 18, 2017 by Sasha Royale

[dayrow]

 

Comfort, styling, aesthetics were reserved for pens.

 

If this were true, we would still be using unshaped lumps of graphite fresh from the mines. We might wrap them in twine so we didn't wind up with gray hands.

 

In any case, I made no mention of "styling" or "aesthetics." My "comfort" was not a matter of plushness, it was a matter of how practical these pencils are to write or draw with. To keep a point, a pencil must be rotated while in use. Any pencil which makes this process unwieldy is poorly designed as a writing instrument.

 

This is a lovely pencil for keeping on a desk, no doubt; for writing it is poor, unless you like to maximize your time at the sharpener.

 

 

Still, $12 will buy 100 wooden pencils. I still have four of the 10 pencils that I bought two years ago. I lost one, and I don't care.

 

Yes, but my point was not to find the cheapest pencil, just the cheapest all-graphite pencil. Even if one agreed with Napkin's marketing and wanted to buy a pencil without wood casing, if you live outside of Italy (and maybe other parts of Europe) these models are overpriced.

Edited May 18, 2017 by dayrow

[Astronymus]

They look a treat! I'd be interested in trying one if not for the one flat side. I don't understand pencil manufacturers who make it uncomfortable to rotate a pencil in the hand. That's how you keep the point!

It might be considered comfort not to crawl under your funiture every day to pick up that bloody pencil that rolled of the desk a g a i n.

Edited May 18, 2017 by Astron

[Drone]

Different but similar: "Forever Pencils" made from metal alloys or with metal alloy tips (not graphite) have been around for ages. Here's an article about some modern versions (the 4.EVER Pininfarina Cambiano is mentioned):

 

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/inkless-pen-lets-you-write-forever-180949737/

 

Here's a successful Kickstarter version (old is the new new to the youngsters):

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andrewsanderson/a-mechanical-pencil-that-will-last-you-a-lifetime

Edited May 20, 2017 by Drone