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The Stabilo Othello is marketed as what seems to be an everyday run of the mill pencil. Not bottom of the line, but not top of the range I suspect.
The company
We’ve covered Schwan-Stabilo elsewhere - an old (1855) German company.
The pencil itself
The pencil is a fairly pleasing green with green stripes. Not too fancy, not too plain.
The finish is OK, but not in the league of Japanese high-end shiny smooth.
There is of course the obligatory bar code printed on the other side.
One nice feature is the tail cap - quite nicely done - smooth and shiny and the red pops out quite nicely.
The pencil is made from some sort of hard-ish wood - not cedar, but not one of the super lightweight woods you find on quite a few pencils presently.
One interesting feature is that upon sharpening, the wood has a very spicy aroma. It is very reminiscent of the smell I get from the Caran d’Ache exotic wood pencils I have - that is a very dense Beechwood pencil afaik, which does not have the same density feel as this pencil, but it does have a very similar smell.
How does it write
I quite like it. It writes dark, and had a good amount of ‘feel’, resistance when writing. I quite like some resistance. It did wear down a little quick, and just once there was a bit of grit that came through the lead, but overall I enjoyed using this through the week.
Sourcing
They look moderately available. I see some for sale individually and as a set of 12 online. A set of 12 is about £11 - <£1 each is an OK price - much less than some premium pencils.
I don’t remember where I got mine. I think I only have one, and suspect it came from a high street book store pencil rack.