As established in many previous blog posts the Staedtler Noris is THE common pencil in British schools. It’s no surprise then that (stock) photos used by British newspapers heavily feature the Noris.
I guess I should add this sighting to the Noris in the Wild page.
If you’re in the UK you might want to tune into BBC Two next Tuesday (19th March 2019).
The Inside The Factory series will visit Faber-Castell’s pencil factory. If you cannot wait you can watch a little preview on the BBC’s website.
The BBC seems to be rather keen on Faber-Castell. They also had some of ‘their guys’ working in the Faber-Castell factory for a previous BBC Two show and had a look at Faber-Castell and Staedtler for a previous Radio 4 programme.
I believe that showing the preview clip from BBC Two’s Inside The Factory in this blog post falls under “fair dealing” as described by the UK Copyright service.
It takes a pencil to create a fountain pen.
Screenshot of Parker’s website
It’s nice to know that the humble pencil always seems to find its place and that even the big boys (highly priced fountain pens) can’t be without the pencil.
(..but I don’t think this specific pencil has seen a lot of use. If you open the image link in a new tab you will see that the pencil is still factory sharpened.)
The image in this blog post has been taken from the Parker website, specifically http://www.parkerpen.com/en-GB/world-of-parker-the-art-of-pen-making. I believe that the use of the image shown in this blog post falls under “fair dealing” as described by the UK Copyright service.
On a recent trip to Manchester, I walked by a Pull & Bear shop. As far as I know, this chain is from Spain. I was quite surprised to see that all video screens in the shop and most printed posters displayed Faber-Castell pencils, specifically their Albrecht Dürer series in scharlachrot. Red = discounted prices, so it seems like a good choice. It’s nice to come across pencils in unexpected places.
There was also a German sharpener, but I am not sure which make it is so will not comment further.
Faber-Castell Albrecht Dürer in scharlachrot
I came across even more pencils when my employer, a university, had a graduate show next to my canteen. There’s just something about pencils that represents so many different concepts, like creativity, ideas, … you get the (happy) feeling that pencils are here to stay for a bit longer, despite the ‘digitalisation’.
The new 2017 Noris eco (on the right) is capped
This blog had quite a few Wopex related blog posts over the years – and here’s the latest one: about the new generation of Wopex pencils. This is the third generation I know of, but there might have been more.
I got the sheet from the 2010 blog post out and added the new 2017 grades.
Just a quick reminder. Staedtler introduced the Wopex (pencil) in 2009 – it’s an extruded pencil and its body is made from a wood-plastic-composite (which consists of more wood than plastic). In 2010 Staedtler introduced the Wopex in 2B and 2H. I had a closer look at the 2B and 2H version in a 2010 blog post and couldn’t find much difference between the 2B, HB and 2H version. Fast forward to 2016. By now Staedtler is using the term Wopex only to describe the material used to make these pencils. Wopex is not used anymore as a name for the pencil itself – at least not by Staedtler. At the Insights X 2016, they had a few prototypes of the new ‘Wopex material’ Noris eco in 2H, H, HB, B and 2B. At the Insights X 2017, they showed the final product.
Close up of the 2010 vs. 2017 comparison
The design of the Noris eco is clearly inspired by Staedtler’s European staple pencil, the Noris, but like other Wopex material pencils, the surface of the extruded Noris eco feels rubberised. It is also eco-green, but has the same black stripe pattern as the yellow Noris or the red Tradition: The two opposing, labelled sides (let’s call them top and bottom) of this hexagonal pencil are black. The four sides (let’s call them the two right and the two left sides) are green with a think black stripe in between. I am mentioning this because some of the prototypes had a different pattern.
Unlike previous Wopex material pencils, the new Noris eco has a cap. It’s cool, man.
Watch on YouTube for high definition.
Great news. There’s a proper difference between the different grades in the new 2017 version. In terms of darkness and in terms of point retention. Compared to the Mars Lumograph in 2B, which is a very easy to erase pencil, the new Noris eco in 2B is more difficult to erase.
Eraser test – the bottom right square has been erased
If you see them in a shop I urge you to give them a try.
The pellets before they’re extruded into a pencil. From the Wopex sharpener blog post.
In case you can’t get enough of the Wopex. Here are some links:
2009: The world’s first blog post about the Wopex (Lexikaliker, in German)
2010: Staedtler WOPEX pencil review (Pencil Talk)
2012: Pencil Review: Staedtler Wopex HB Pencil (East…West…Everywhere)
2012: Staedtler Wopex Pencil (The Well-Appointed Desk)
I think the Pen Addict never had a Wopex review. If he did please let me know.
Some more post-2012 Wopex reviews can be found at Pencil Revolution, Comfortable Shoes Studio, The Weekly Pencil, The Finer Point, Pens Paper Pencils, Office Geek, Scribomechanica.
At the top, you can see the alternative black and green Wopex pattern. A picture from the ‘epic fail’ blog post.
I would like to thank Benedikt Schindler for his help in getting me the new 2017 Wopex. I still haven’t seen them on the high street in the UK.