It’s heartwarming to see a crowdfunding campaign for a pencil accumulating close to 200,000 way of a little over 1000 backers. Two things come out very evidently from this statistic. One, in the time of styluses people still want a good instrument in the hand to write, sketch, draw or simply doodle. Two, the pencil has something different to offer.
While it’s difficult to quantify the first, the second case is absolutely clear. This all-metal pencil is as far and beyond as any mechanical pencil has every tread. It is engineered in England and built by a specialist manufacturer in Japan to accommodate up to ten times more lead that makers claim can “write for over 50km” before needing a refill.
Built to last a lifetime
Usually, a lot of lead is wasted in sharpening the wooden pencil, and a mechanical counterpart generally has a small chamber to store lead refills. As a solution, London-based Wingback has designed this bespoke all-metal option that can fit in up to 2.4m of lead – that can write for a mile and owning to its construction, last a lifetime.
Designed responsibly from start to finish, the mechanical pencil is available in brass, stainless steel and a scratch-resistant tungsten carbide finish. Interestingly it comes with the option of laser engraved personalization. The pencil can be precisely engraved along the barrel with a pulsed fiber laser. Up to 50 characters can be accommodated.
Other facets
Everything said and done, the weight and form factor of a writing instrument is critical for it to stand out in the crowd. For this, Wingback has reportedly designed the pencil with 10mm wide diamond knurled grip that feels comfortable and the lightweight material construction ensures the weight distribution is appropriately done to reduce writing fatigue.
Up for pre-order starting at £77(roughly $107) through Kickstarter, the pencil can fit 2.4m of 0.7mm or 4.8m of 0.5mm diameter lead for endless writing. Through the campaign, the company is also offering some limited edition pencils designed in collaboration with artists from around the world.
