Markers Guild

I have compared ten different graphite pencils, they are:

Faber-Castell 9000 6H-8B

Caran d´ache Grafwood 4H-9B

Derwent Graphic 9H-9B

Prismacolor premier turquoise graphite 9H-9B

Brevillier´s Cretacolor cleos red graphite 9H-9B

Tombow mono 100 9H-6B

Hi-Uni Mitsubishi 10H-10B

Staedtler Mars Lumograph 100 6H-8B

Koh-i-noor Hardtmuth 1500 10H-8B

Koh-i-noor Hardtmuth 1900 10H-8B

The range of degrees (hardness and blackness)

All of the brands seem to have their own idea what the numbers should stand for.

Staedtler Mars Lumograph 100 has a very black 8B (blacker then other brands) if you want a pencil as black as Staedtler’s 8B you have to go to 9B or even 10B in other brands. So if a brand doesn’t carry as many degrees as others doesn´t necessarily mean that they don´t have a real black or light pencil.

Caran dáche Grafwood does not have 10H-5H, but are lighter earlier and therefore do not need the lighter grades.

If you compare a 2H from Prismacolor Turquoise and Staedtler, with Derwent or Tombow Mono 100 the differences are very noticeable. The Prismacolor and Staedtler are far lighter than the Derwent and Tombow.

Most of the brands carry a very dark as there darkest, in spite of the number. The only ones that don´t have a real dark one are the Koh-i-nor 1500 and 1900 (I don´t know about the Prismacolor since my set didn´t have the darkest one).

The shine

They all have a bit of a shine, especially in the darker grades. However, one of the darkest pencils I have doesn´t shine at all, and that is the 8B Staedtler Mars Lumograph 100. Strangely enough they do have a bit of a shine in their 4B, 5B and 6B (I do not own the 7B, so I don´t know about that one).

Derwent Graphic

The wood casing

How the wood will hold the lead is also very important in my mind. Sometimes the wood won´t sharpen all around the lead. That means that a piece of wood is left on one side and prevent you from using the pencil on that side.

Derwent is one of the worst ones. It is very often that I have to sharpen twice or even work with sandpaper to get rid of the wood that prevent me from using the lead. The wood is also often torn.

Cretacolor Cleos red

Cretacolor has the same problem. I have also had many problems with lead breaking with Cretacolor.

Prismacolor Turquoise

Prismacolor also has broken and torn wood.

Koh-I-Noor also has torn wood, but it doesn´t seem to affect the lead as much as the other brands.

Koh-I-Noor 1500

The lead

Some brands have huge differences between their light pencils (H) lead diameters and their dark pencils (B) lead diameter.

If you look at a dark Staedtler and a light one, the lead diameter is very different. The same goes for Caran dáche, Hi-Uni and Cretacolor. All three show a huge difference.

Staedtler Mars Lumograph 100, 2H and 8B

Faber-Castell and Derwent also have a difference, if not as noticeable.

Koh-i-noor 1500 and 1900 hardly have any differences at all (they don´t carry as dark grades as others).

The pencil itself

They all have a hexagon shape.

Caran dáche is a bit thicker than the others, and Tombow is a perhaps a bit thicker too, but it is hardly noticeable.

Prismacolor has a very small printing on it.

Tombow mono 100

Hi-Uni Mitsubishi

In my opinion the Japanese brands Uni Mitsubishi and Tombow make the most beautiful pencils: Caran dáche is also good looking (especially together, since they are colored with the grades on the pencil as you can se on the photo).

Caran dáche Grafwood

How they feel

As I understand, the scratchiness depends on how much the graphite and clay has mixed together in the process of making the pencil. Therefore you will find more of the scratchiness in the harder lead, since they have more clay than the darker ones. I find that sometimes the problem is so huge that you will have problems with making a simple mark with your light pencils.

The worst brands in my opinion are: Prismacolor, Cretacolor, Koh-i-noor 1500 and 1900. They all work just fine in the darker (B range) but are terrible in the lighter range.

I think that Derwent is in the middle here. It could be better, but it is not as bad as the worst.

The Tombow, Staedtler and Caran dáche do very well, but the absolute best (comparing only the feeling of the lead) are Faber-Castell and Uni Mitsubishi.

Cases for the pencils

Most brands have a square tin case for their pencils, if you are going for a cheaper case. Most of the brands also offer beautiful wood cases. Some has chosen to make the tin case round, like the Caran d´ache. One of the more interesting solutions is the Tombow Mono 100 case. I really appreciate when a company is creative.

Lightfastness test

Six month ago (2015) I made color charts for four of my colored pencils. The four brands I put to this test where Tombow Irojiten, Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor, Bruynzeel design and Uni Pericia. This lightfast test is performed by me and is therefore not to consider as a professional test; it is merely a test of an amateur.

I made my color charts on Fabriano paper. The paper hade a bit of a tooth, which probably was a mistake, because if I had chosen a smoother paper I would have hade better covering and it would have been easier to se the color changing. I covered half of the color chart (which leaved a mark in the middle) so that I can see the result side by side. I hanged my color chart in a window facing north and they hanged there for six months (from February 1 to August 1). The summer sun here in Sweden (where I live) has been scarce this year, it has rained a lot.

Lightfastness test

The color charts of Tombow and Lyra have only a few colors (I do not own that many).

I do however have all Bruynzeel and Uni.
Since I wrote this, back in 2015, I have bought all remaining Lyra. I have also done lightfastness test on them.

Tombow Irojiten

I only own few of them and they are all in a lilac color family (which is a sensitive color) so therefore the result may not reflect the brand overall. However, this was the worst of them all. After only a couple of months (in winter time and north direction) the colors where hardly visible.

Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor

I tested thirteen colors, five were gray, four were pink-reddish colors, and three were green and one brown. In this color chart I had used some paint thinner in the middle, so that half of the swatch where half covered. It actually made it easier to see the result. All of the gray pencils hold their original color. The “raw umber” was the one that changed the most. The change was however more of a hue change than a value. Also the “light flesh” had a slight change in color, going from a pinkish tone to a more yellowish tone. Otherwise all the other colors hold the test. Read more about Lyra here:

Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor

Lyra light flesh

Lyra raw umber

Bruynzeel design

There where only two that had great changes. Number 71, a pink color that became much lighter and number 77, a blue color that also faded much. Smaller changes where found in number 70, 75, 23, 36, 31, 18, and 11. The changes were however only slightly noticeable. Nr 16 did not change value but had a hue change, from orange to more peach.

Of the 48 colors in total ten did not past the test.

Bruynzeel design lightfastness test

Bruynzeel nr 77

Some of the slightly changes colors

Bruynzeel nr 71, changed the most

Uni Pericia

They only carry a set of 36 colors. Five colors had a change of hue. The “brown ochre” changed the most. It went from a warm brown to a colder, more like a “raw umber”. “Gold ochre” also had a noticeable change, if not as obvious. It went from warmer, reddish ochre to a more yellowish tone. The third color, “Cobalt blue”, faded just barely and lost a little of its former lilac tone to a duller one (so again, the red tone where lost). But it is barely noticeable. The same is true for "Apple green" and especially "Brick red", "Apple green" lost a little bit of the yellow tint and "brick red" become slightly colder. All the other colors where preserved beautifully.