Caran d’Ache, Part 2
I’ve been slowly filling my collection with the various Caran d’Ache pencils currently on the market, with the exception of their various limited editions. Honestly, between Blackwing and Caran d’Ache, limited edition pencils are something I’d rather just ignore. I fell for it with Blackwing, joining their quarterly subscription once, and after a few days writing with my first specimen realizing it’s honestly nothing special, and I’d rather use my Staedtler eraser than a fancy one mounted on the tip of the stick.
In the case of Caran d’Ache, I fell for their splendid-looking Swiss Wood set, only to be reminded again that the graphite they use averages 2-3 degrees harder than what I typically expect. And since their limited issues are all in HB only, that essentially means they’ll just drag themselves through the paper like an ice pick on whatever I write in a feeble attempt to get a visible mark. So, no more of those.
On the other hand, Caran d’Ache does still make some very lovely pencils, if you avoid the gimmicks. I’d say my favourite are the Technograph. This is their “mid-level” offering, premium priced. They have a simple, sleek look in traditional “school pencil” yellow, but with very smooth graphite, and available in the full range of hardness grades, thus allowing me to avoid the firmer ones. They also ship in very nice, durable plastic cases that can be reused.
Equally enjoyed by me are the Grafwoods, a line touted by several retailers as The Finest Graphite Pencils in the World. Not 100% sure about that, but what I do love about the Grafwood pencils is their ever-so-slightly larger-than-normal casing, and a very premium graphite feel, along with their smooth and durable varnish that is tone-graded with the graphite hardness. They are likely the most expensive modern pencils on the market that are not issued as an intentionally limited supply, and as such I’m rather grateful that some retailers sell them in these boxes of 3 (of course, most also sell them individually, but that’s just barbaric).
Edelweiss is their “bargain” line, still quite expensive compared to brands like Stabilo and Milan, and more equivalent to Staedtler’s Mars Lumograph line in price, but with slightly less frill on the pencil itself. Whereas the latter has a thick glossy 3-tone banded varnish and end-dip, available in 24 hardness grades, the Edelweiss has a single varnish colour on each of its 3 grades (3B, HB, F), plus a second HB version in natural Swiss Pine. The ends are raw and the packaging unremarkable (standard unmarked packs identifiable only by a product sticker). They also fall in the “super hard” range and I find only the 3B gives me the comfortable feedback and dark line I prefer.
One last product in the company’s regular-stock catalogue has been the Natura, an unvarnished cedar pencil. From what I can deduce these have also only been issued in the 3 writing grades of 3B, HB and F, but as implied by my previous use of the present perfect, I can’t be sure these are still being produced. Nearly identical to the Swiss Pine Edelweiss in everything but colour and label, I have only so far scored one box of these, luckily in 3B, and continue to hunt for a source of the others.
As may be evident by the places I have pointed to in my links here, Caran d’Ache does not make it easy to find and purchase their regular-stock products. Most of what I have found has been available from various specialized stationers, and I’ve pretty much found all I can find at this point. Unless Caran d’Ache decides to issue some new regular-stock line, I’ve likely got most of what is currently on the market. I might change my mind about their unlimitedly ubiquitous limited editions should they one day choose to issue these in softer grades.
