6 Best Mechanical Pencils that Rock

A solid mechanical pencil is an essential part of any productive person's arsenal of tools. They aren't just for artists, illustrators and architects. Any profession that involves intense brainwork and creativity needs a reliable pencil to draft ideas.

Why a mechanical pencil?

• Pencil lead isn't permanent. While you're spitballing ideas and brainstorming, it helps to have a medium that is instantly erasable when you need to change direction or tighten up your sketches. 
• Most common, an HB or F lead are great for general purpose and are easy to erase without leaving a shadow on the paper. With a light hand, you can layout designs to be inked later. 
• Lead writes on almost any surface. Unlike fountain pens or gel pens, pencil lead makes a mark on pretty much anything, which is convenient in case you need to write a million dollar business plan on the back of a napkin.

Drafting Pencils

These pencils are designed with precise control and durability in mind for those who use pencils as their primary tool for hours each day. With a knurled grip and a brass, hexagonal body, the rOtring mechanical pencil is top-of-the-class.

The rOtring 600's knurled grip and extended lead sleeve gives the user exceptional control over laying down lines using rulers and guides. The section under the push button rotates to display the lead size that is installed in the pencil. This is particularly useful if you have multiple pencils, or varying leads and need to know which softness/hardness of lead you have installed in the pencil. An eraser is hidden under the push button.

The rOtring 800 has all the aforementioned features of the 600, except for the rotating sleeve that indicates the lead hardness. The 800's highlight is the retractable brass sleeve that conveniently hides away with a twist of the push-button. This helps save your shirt pockets from being stabbed by the point. The eraser that is included under the button's cap has an attached clean-out rod that helps remove any lead jams in the mechanism.

Uni Ball Kuru Toga courtesy of Office Supply Geek

The revolutionary, Japanese-made Uniball Kuru Toga may seem like a light-weight when compared to the high-grade rOtring drafting pencils, but the Kuru Toga can hold its own with a unique turning mechanism that rotates the lead while your write, keeping the point sharp and preventing breakage. While the quality of the plastic barrel construction is more "office supply" grade, this is one of the "sharpest" tools you can use.

Everyday Carry Pencils

These general purpose writing instruments are for the causal creator. Flesh out a business plan for a online mystery box company, menu for a dinner party, picks for fantasy football, or layout your backyard garden with these handy tools. Their affordability is a nice perk, as it allows you for room in your pen budget for expensive fountain pens. :-)

Caran d'Ache is known around the world as a premium brand for artists. Used by the likes of Andy Warhol, CdA has a long history of inspiring creatives to harness their materials to bring their visions to reality. The Swiss-made Metal Collection mechanical pencil has a brass body with lacquer coating. The hexagonal sides and tapered tip will feel right at home with anyone transitioning from a wood pencil. An eraser can be found under the push button. 0.7mm lead thickness only.

The Kaweco Sport is the most portable of our selection of best mechanical pencils. This octagonal-sided pencil does not come with a clip, but one can be purchased separately. The faceted sides prevent it from rolling off your desk or drafting table. The lightweight, plastic body is rugged and easy to hold with a thick girth. 0.7mm lead only, no eraser.

Luxury Class Pencils

For more discerning tastes, this class of mechanical pencils are furthest removed from the no. 2 Ticonderoga and represent a status item as well as a utility. The focus in the design of the luxury pencil is less on the function and more on the form.

Faber-Castell is the German analogue of Caran d'Ache in the respect that they are highly regarded within the artistic community for their specialized creative tools. Faber offers an exceptional line of professional grade colored pencils in the Polychromos collection. The FC Ambition represents one of their high-end collections that has a heft, size and attention to fine detail that is superior to most other mechanical pencils in this price range. The simple, yet elegant statement of the chrome top is matched with a precious black resin barrel engraved with a guilloche design. The 0.7mm pencil lead mechanism is completely removable for easy replacement, in the event of defect. The advancing mechanism operates with a 1-directional twist of the chrome top. The big "con" of a pencil of this price range is that it doesn't have a built-in eraser.

We'd love to hear from artists, draftsmen, architects and others who use a pencil on a daily basis. What are your favorite characteristics you look for in a pencil? Do you have a favorite brand? Agree with our selections? Disagree? Leave a comment below and discuss.

Get those Grads Addicted

"Pen People" love sharing their addiction with others in hopes to bring more people to the "write" side. And more often than not, it works! When you've converted someone to loving a nice pen, there's a high degree of self-satisfaction, like you've just given an angel its wings. Sometimes, all it takes is one great pen gift, and what better time to get the young hooked than for their graduation.

The key to reaching out to a potential pen acolyte is to aim for smaller transitions (a.k.a. baby steps). What I mean by that is, if you give most non-pen people a fountain pen, they won't think it's working properly because it has no ink in it to start. You may as well have handed them a fork to write with. You need to get an idea of the writing implements they already use and enjoy, building off the qualities they are looking for in a pen to give them a better one that will WOW them. To help you get some ideas on where to start looking for that perfect pen gift, let us offer a few suggestions based upon the person's current "pen personality."

For those who write with disposable bank pens. Just because TD Bank gives away free pens to their customers doesn't mean you have to take one, people! Lightweight, non-refillable and made of cheap translucent plastic, the main appeal for people who use these pens is that they never have to worry about losing their pen since they can get a new one for free. These people are reluctant to buy any valuable pen because they can't trust themselves to take care of it. You have to work them up the ladder of value and give them something inexpensive, but durable and with a better, longer-lasting writing experience. Recommendation : Caran d'Ache Metal Ballpoint Pens

For those who have an iPod, iPhone, iPad and iEverything. Technology has made many of our daily communications easier and more efficient. Still, it has not replaced good ol' analog writing, especially when it comes to the intimacy and warmth that pen on paper gives the writer. Heavy tech users are really hard to convince that their new whiz-bang device is not capable of everything. When you can't beat them, offer them an analog writing device that also assists their digital addiction. Recommendation : Monteverde One Touch Stylus (for iPad, iPhone and other touch screen devices).

For those who think buying a pen over one dollar is pricey. Most college kids are used to living on a shoe-string budget, and look the best dollar value - buying used textbooks, picking up dozens of single subject, wirebound notebooks for two dollars, folders for 20 cents and that 36 pack of Bic ballpoints for a nickel. But, if we applied that type of mentality to everything else in life, we may as well be living in Soviet Russia. As the old adage goes, "You get what you pay for." When the Bic pens run out of ink and the notebooks become ratty and torn from a few weeks stuffed in a backpack, it will be clear that "cheap" is cheap for a reason. People of this mentality need to be shown what a real quality writing experience is all about and that it can still be affordable. Recommendation : Lamy Safari Pens

 For those who need a pen with a fuzzy adornment on top. Not much can be done here. Best of luck. (Photo courtesy of movie "Clueless")

Pen Spotlight - New Caran d'Ache and Sinatra

Courtesy of Nancy Olson's (editor-in-cheif of Stylus Magazine) blog, we would like to share this new collection from Caran d'Ache that really looks stunning and sharp. Enigmatically named the RNX316, this new pen has a modern style available in a steel or PVD black finish (common to the stealth black trend). What truly seems amazing with this collection is the engraved design that spires up and down the barrel and cap of each design. If you've seen the CdA Ecridor, you know how precise and beautiful the Swiss-made engraving looks. Check out the RNX page on Caran d'Ache's website for an awesome introduction video and more information on this new series.

Continuing in the tradition of their "ICONS" collection, Montegrappa's newest inspiration is none other than the Chairman of the Board, Ol' Blue Eyes - Frank Sinatra. He follows Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and Bruce Lee as the next icon to be immortalized in pen form. More details to follow as the collection nears release.


Lots of new products on the horizon, subscribe to our pen news feed for the latest info on all the newest fine writing releases of 2011.

Top 5 Pens for Young Writers

When we wrote about the Top 3 Pen Grad Gifts last week, the choices were a bit skewed toward graduates of high school and college. This list is more for the young-uns who are still learning to hone their skills of penmanship and might be starting their first diary/journal or mastering the 5 paragraph essay. Lamy Safari - Young or old, this sturdy, colorful writing companion is the hands-down favorite for all ages. Made of sturdy ABS plastic with a brass wire clip, this pen is made to take the abuse of children and still keep writing. The stainless steel nib on the fountain pen is one of the best values on the market. At $30 retail (or $23.95 at Goldspot Pens), the price is exceptional for a starter pen. Pelikan Pelikano Jr. - The Pelikano Jr is meant for an early writer. It features a thicker barrel and a molded-grip section that accommodates left- and right-handed users. The barrel and cap feature a frosty, semi-translucent plastic that is available in four vibrant colors. They also have a small, self-adhesive strip that your child can write their name on and wrap it on the pen barrel. Yoropen Superior - The uniquely designed Yoropen has been known to assist writers with everything from arthritis to early writing development in children. The pen forces correct hand posture and allows for longer periods of comfortable writing. Great for lefties who hate smearing what they write! Caran d'Ache Metal Pens - Available in a wide array of metallic, colorful finishes. Each pen sports the smooth, reliable and long-lasting Goliath ballpoint refill. Diligent note-takers rejoice! The slim profile and easy, one-click mechanism makes it easy to carry this pen anywhere you go, including algebra class! Fisher Lacquered Chrome Bullet Pens - The legendary Fisher Space Pen refill, used by NASA and known for writing upside-down and in extreme weather conditions, is the heart of the bullet pen. The bullet closes to 3.7" in length and 5.3" when open and the cap posted on the back. Available in several vibrant color finishes.

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Goldspot Pens

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone! I grabbed a few green pens from our stock room to take this picture. From left to right, we've got the ACME Crayon in lime, Pelikan Souveran 600, Aurora Ipsilon Resin, Lamy AL-Star, Caran d'Ache Metal ballpoint pen and Laban Germana Rubber. The poorly written (I'll admit I'm no calligrapher) greeting on top was done with Noodler's Forest Green Ink. By the way, today is a great day to be a fan of ours on Facebook or to follow us on Twitter. We're running a special promotion for St. Patrick's Day ONLY. Join up to find the promotion code.

Caran d'Ache in NY Times Style Section

Little blurbs sure have a huge impact if they happen in the right places. 

Much like the Oprah-fuled Lightwedge craze that we experienced a few times in the last year, this week our store experienced a big spike in Caran d'Ache orders for the metal collection pens. Much unlike the Lightwedge, which was only a strong seller whenever the Oprah episode was re-run, the CDA Metal collection is always a solid seller. Starting the 8th, we started getting orders for 6 or 7 pens at a time in all different colors. 

I had a very pleasant customer call us on Tuesday and I just had to ask her where she saw these pens after she placed her large order of CDA Metal pens. She said there was an article in the New York Times that featured the Metal Collection. My interest was certainly piqued, but alas, after doing a site search on the Times' website, I could only find Caran d'Ache articles from back in the 19th century. I dug a little deeper. If there was anyone who would know if an ad or article was written about their product, it would be our distributor. Karen over at Creative Art Materials was extremely helpful in pointing me in the correct direction.

In a NY Times Style article titled "Southern Comforts," the fluorescent colored Caran d'Ache pens are featured as the "likes" of Sid Mashburn. I'm no fashionista, but it looks like he runs a gentlemen's specialty clothing store in Atlanta. He says the pens are "so covetable your friends will probably steal them." Indeed. Besides being vibrant and colorful, these pens feature the Caran d'Ache Goliath ballpoint cartridge. These cartridges are said to have an extremely long life and flow more easily than most ballpoints. The convenient size and click-top mechanism makes this pen an easy pick for a daily tag-a-long jotter.

Have you seen any pens in the news or in other media? I love "pen-spotting" and I will certainly make it a point to write posts whenever I find pens crossing over into mainstream media. Please feel free to share any finds through our twitter profile @goldspotpens.