Breedlove is all about sustainability. But we’re also about inspiration. And Blackwing pencils, well, they inspire us … in so many ways.
(This article is also featured in Breedlove’s Winter Magazine).
Author John Steinbeck famously sharpened a dozen Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602s every morning as he started his day, sitting down to a sheaf of blank paper, brimming with a new chapter for his latest novel.
Production of the legendary scribe’s tool ceased in 1998, and they soon became a collector’s item on the internet, fetching handsome, some would say silly prices.
Palomino, a division of Stockton, California-based CalCedar (which launched the now independent Duraflame log with recycled pencil casing waste), revived the brand in 2010, starting with the classic, sought after 602, with the motto “Half the Pressure, Twice the Speed,” imprinted on the barrel. Pencil geeks were in heaven.
Special edition Blackwing Volumes were introduced in 2015, with each new custom-designed edition (available by the dozen or as part of a subscription series) honoring historic themes or famous figures—including songwriter Guy Clark (Vol. 1), sitarist Ravi Shankar (Vol. 3) and the vinyl album (Vol. 33 1/3, naturally).
Blackwing pencils, according to Brand Manager Alexander Poirier, are made from sustainable Incense-cedar, a fragrant softwood grown only in California and Southern Oregon, encasing premium quality Japanese Graphite, which sharpens to a lasting, expressive long point. At the company’s overseas manufactory, sawdust today is converted into fire starter bricks.
Poirier, a guitarist, loves music and says that everyone on the small, dedicated Blackwing team plays one instrument or another. Blackwing even hosts a small, boutique record label (Breedlove Featured Artist Jeff Bridges sang on Johnny Irion’s “Inside the Endless Om”) and, through its eponymous foundation, supports music and arts programs in public schools.
“Pencils and guitars are similar in that the wood is everything,” Poirier says. “For Breedlove, wood has a particular sound, tone and resonance. With the pencil, it’s so similar. Everything that we do with Blackwing pencils is because of the wood we use. People love our pencils because the graphite doesn’t break when they sharpen it. That’s because we have finely machined wood that allows us to lay the lead perfectly straight inside. They talk about how much they love the finishes and how clean the imprints are on our pencils—that’s all because Incense-cedar is so receptive. So, if you’re using a pencil and you like it, and it feels good, that’s because of the wood.”
“Pencils and guitars are instruments, vessels for ideas, both of them. They put inspiration into form, whether that form is sound waves or scribbles on a page.”
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