Graf von Faber-Castell journal and pencil set review

Welcome to the 200th post on The Pen Company Blog. Today: a noble notebook and pencil.

Graf von Faber-Castell, that’s Faber-Castell’s ‘posher’ product line started in 1993. Back then our favourite count, Anton-Wolfgang Graf von Faber-Castell, introduced this line as part of Faber-Castell’s reorientation. As a pencil enthusiast I am quite happy that the Graf von Faber-Castell line has not neglected the humble pencil. There was a Graf von Faber-Castell version with only an eraser cap, a pencil extender and the perfect pencil, and there were some other pencils along the way, like the fluorescent Graf von Faber-Castells.

This Graf von Faber-Castell Journal and Pencil set is currently available for free with most purchases from The Pen Company’s Graf von Faber-Castell line.

The pencil included in this set is a fluted pencil with a silver plated end cap. I assume it is silver plated, not solid silver, but I am not 100% sure. These pencils are a bit harder than the very old Graf von Faber-Castell pencils, but certainly softer than a Faber-Castell HB pencil. In any case, they are a pleasure to write with while keeping the point fairly well.

The journal in this set is cloth-bound, and has thick, creamy paper in a slightly yellow shade of light beige. It feels quite different to the ordinary white found in most notebooks. Despite the smooth surface, the paper is taking the graphite on very well. I am spelling this out because some smooth paper, like the one found in the original Field Notes, is very smooth and doesn’t work well with pencils – as if the paper is too smooth and not abrasive enough to get the graphite off the pencil and on to the paper. This Graf von Faber-Castell paper does, however, feel very smooth to the touch, but is ‘abrasive’ enough for use with HB pencils. The writing experience on this paper is just excellent. It’s a shame you can’t buy these individually, but since they’ve been around for at least five years I hope that we will still see this notebook as part of some special offers in the future.