Graf von Faber-Castell
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| Founded | 1761 |
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| Founder | Kaspar Faber |
| Headquarters | Stein (Middle Franconia), Germany |
Area served | Worldwide |
Graf von Faber-Castell is a line of fine writing instruments from the German stationery manufacturer Faber-Castell. It includes a line of pencils, mechanical pencils, fountain pens, and rollerball pens. Currently, Graf von Faber-Castell makes high end writing instruments made with luxury materials such as ebony, resin, and ivory.
Pencils
Graf von Faber-Castell sells the Perfect Pencil, a sort of pencil extender with an integrated sharper. The end of the pencil houses an eraser, and has a metal cap. Placing the pencil with the point in the extender makes it possible to then use the extender's clip on a pocket, without worrying about the pencil marking clothes or making holes. There are several versions of the Perfect Pencil, in plastic, platinum-plated metal, and sterling silver.
Graf von Faber-Castell sells 0.7 mm twist action mechanical pencils. The barrel of the mechanical pencils are encased with precious woods or resins.
Pens
Graf von Faber-Castell offers a variety of fountain pens. Graf von Faber-Castell fountain pens employ a cartridge/converter filling system, which allows the pen to be filled with ink using either an ink bottle or with self-contained, hassle free cartridges. The models offered come in a variety of finishes, such as wood, lacquered metal, amongst other finishes. Fountain pen nibs are either 18K gold nibs, or polished stainless steel with a hard-wearing iridium metal tip.
Graf von Faber-Castell also sells twist action ballpoint pens, with a similar system to its mechanical pencil. These often belong to a line of products, completing the set of fountain pens, ballpoint pens, rollerballs and mechanical pencils.
Series
There have also been variations for the casings. The classic series offers slow growth hard wood surfaces in ebony, pernumbuco and grenadilla. The Intuition series offers glossy black resin, the Guilloche series offer craved dyed resin in coral, indigo, sahara, and black as well as several woods.
"Pen of the Year"
Every year since 2003, Graf von Faber-Castell has produced a line of limited edition fountain pens, namely "Pen of the Year". These are regarded as some of the most prized pens in the world due to their fine craftsmanship and limited production. Each "Pen of the Year" has a nib of 18 carat bicolor gold with a barrel of exotic materials. Below is a list of the "Pen of the Year" materials.
2003 "Pen of the Year" - snakewood
2004 "Pen of the Year" - amber and platinum
2005 "Pen of the Year" - stingray leather
2006 "Pen of the Year" - ebony and ivory
2007 "Pen of the Year" - primeval fossil
2008 "Pen of the Year" - Indian satinwood
2009 "Pen of the Year" - horsetail
2010 "Pen of the Year" - carved carbonized leather
2011 "Pen of the Year" - jade
Due to the limited production as well as the rarity of the material, the 2011 "Pen of the Year" has a MSRP of 3500 USD.
2012 "Pen of the Year" - Material used: ancient oak
2014 "Pen of the Year" - New series, inspired by historical Buildings. The Pen of the Year 2014 was inspired by the craftsmanship of the builders of the Catherine Palace
2015 "Pen of the Year" - green Silesian serpentines