Blackwing Palomino 602-12 Count Pencils with Heritage, Gray, Unisex

It's still the best pencil an artist can use. Palomino has saved the Blackwing and kept it alive and this professional artist appreciates it and I will continue to buy more as needed! Love it. There isn't a better professional art pencil out there than the Blackwing. Best layout on paper whether drawing or writing. Best feel in the hand. Best balance while using different angles and techniques. If you're a professional artist you must use the Blackwing. I have since I was a young kid starting my art career and I continue to do so and will continue to do so. There's simply none better. Period.

I used Blackwing pencils years ago for illustration work. The lead holds a point, doesn't smudge, crisp lines, eraser remains useable and doesn't harden with time. I am older now, have one 602 left, and I found it the best ever for working crossword puzzles!

The Blackwing 602 is the perfect pencil. I'll die on this hill.

I’ve bought these pencils before, and they are hands down the best I’ve ever used. My issue with this order was how they arrived. I’m not sure if the issue was from the manufacturer, or Amazon but the seal on the box was cut and all then pencils were loose in the mailing envelope. This caused some to be broken, and every pencil was damaged in some way, and now I have to get a refund and order another set. I don’t want a bad review to impact their product, as the quality is great. But, be aware of how they may come shipped.

Very nice set. Expensive but if you can avoid misplacing them they'll last a while.

Very easy to write with and has a well balanced feel, for a pencil, in your hand; perhaps the "gold" eraser end is heavier than a typical pencil's eraser thus, whilst holding the Blackwing 602 in hand, it feels more substantial, or for the serious minded. The lead writes easily. Perhaps it is just knowing the history of the Blackwing 602 and all the brilliant artist of the 20th century who used the original Blackwing that makes the 602 seem special, or maybe its just the outrageous price for a pack of pencils that convinces the mind that this is a superior pencil in order to justify the cost. Note, these pencils do not last long as the soft lead transfer to the paper so quickly and you have to sharpen more often than you are accustomed to do with other pencils. Therefore it is suggested to buy their plastic sharpener that has two sharpeners for the 602: one to remove the wood; the other to hone and actually sharpen the lead as the first hole leaves the lead in tack, which is a thick end too awkward to utilize for your work. This seeming drawback of constantly sharpening not once but twice per sharpening is a corporate committee's nightmare of inefficiency and seemingly wasted time management, however, for the artistic type, the artists, composers, writers, or simply those brave enough to think outside the box of all the zombies of the world, that is, all the followers who never think for themselves and simply believe what they were told and never question their cherished and most likely outdated beliefs, this constant sharpening is the mother's milk of creativity because it becomes a ritual, the two times sharpening every time you sharpen, and this ritual makes the artist feel like a) he is doing something that must be done other than actually creating, b) whilst sharpening she gives her unconscious mind the rest and space that it needs to dredge up the new, the unconventional, the original ideas that creativity is all about, that is, the time spent sharpening is the time that the creative mind requires to do its work, c) every time the artist has to sharpen it means that he or she went through so much lead, that is, the artist is actually doing so much creative work, therefore the artist subconsciously knows that he is getting a lot of work done because the lead is constantly running low in its attempt to keep up with the artist creative productivity. Lastly, a pencil is a lost art and gives a quiet serenity and focus to a work that it is more difficult to achieve with the laptop simply because there is no email or facebook on the pencil where there is on the laptop/computer screen. The 602 is NOT the original Blackwing from yore, HOWEVER, the Blackwing 602 is designed almost identically to the originals so much so that you need not sift through ebay to pay $200 plus dollars per pack just so that you have bragging rights, the pencil itself is not art though it lends itself well to creating art. This is to say that the Blackwing 602 is the clone of the original out of production Blackwing. Note there are Blackwing pencils being sold but they are NOT clones of the original Blackwings, thus be sure to purchase the Blackwing 602. The now in production Blackwing have a harder lead and slightly different color. Again, there are three Blackwings: the original out of production Blackwing purchasable on ebay for $$$; the now in production Blackwing that is NOT a clone of the original; and finally the now in production Blackwing 602 that is a clone of the original with the soft lead and the benefits as described above.

If you are looking at the Palomino Blackwing series, my recommendation is that you just buy one of them and try it. I looked at these for a couple of years, tried other pencils, then tried these. This series of pencils is the best pencil, but perhaps not the best value.By series, I mean the whole Blackwing series: the 602, the Pearl, and the regular Blackwing. The Blackwing 602 has the hardest graphite lead of the bunch - close to a regular HB but a bit softer. The Pearl has an even softer lead. And the regular Blackwing itself is even softer than the Pearl. I use pencils to write and edit documents all day, and the 602 is the only one of the Blackwing series I can really use. The other two are too soft for my taste. They all produce a beautiful, even line.How do the 602s measure up against my other favorite pencils: the Palomino HB Palomino Graphite Pencils - HB Eraser Tipped Blue - 12 Count], the Mirado Black Warrior [[ASIN:B00443G2JC Mirado Black Warrior Pencils - HB #2, Black Matte Barrel, Dozen(sold in packs of 3), the Palomino Forest Choice ForestChoice Graphite #2 Pencils - 36 Count and the Staedler Rally Graphite #2 Staedtler Rally Graphite #2 Pencil, 12-Each (9122-2B12)? The Mirado Black Warrior has a harder feel to the lead than the other ones, closest to the HB pencils used in a school. All the others are a bit softer. The 602s are the easiest to write with and, even though I have to sharpen them frequently, the graphite holds up a bit better than any of the others - even better than the Black Warrior. I think the 602 just sharpens easier. The eraser on these pencils is also better than what I find on the other pencils.Is it worth the money? Ah-ha. It's up to you. The closest competitor for my tastes is the Palomino HB. It's half the price but 80% as good as the Blackwing 602.If I were buying a gift, I would go for something in the Blackwing series, but I would probably check out the entire selection of pencils and gift boxes available at pencils.com. The price is about the same but the shipping is more reliable. Whoever packed my recent Amazon shipment just threw the Pearls and the 602s in a bigger box with my other items with no extra wrapping. Come on - it's an expensive item, folks! A rubber band would have been nice, if not a piece of plastic wrap. The box for the Pearls was crushed by another item and every pencil was outside the box and somewhat damaged in the shipping. I'm sure Amazon would have graciously accepted a return, but it would be nice to just have it shipped properly to begin with to avoid the hassle. Since the Pearls were too soft for my taste anyway, I ended up passing them on to a starving artist friend who eagerly accepted them.