I should start off by saying that, to the best of my knowledge*, this is the first Blackwing 602.
[*N.B. See this post for an updated opinion on the ordering.]
The Ferrule
Pencil-makers have for centuries painted the tips of their pencils and ferrules with various bands and caps of color as a means to both identify the brand, as well as differentiate between products within the brand. This Blackwing—from the 1930s—has a black, elongated ferrule with a single, bright-yellow band painted at the base. I have seen this yellow stripe on the Eberhard Faber Van Dyke as well from the same time period, but it didn’t seem to last very long.
It was replaced by a brass-colored stripe, which was the base color of the ferrule and the rest of it was painted black. Here are the first four Blackwings in order:
The Barrel
To my eyes, the paint on this hexagonal barrel isn’t simply black—it seems like a very, very deep blue (the ferrule, however, appears to be black). I have always thought the name “Blackwing” referred to how the pencil writes, not how the pencil looks. Perhaps this pencil’s age—close to 80 years—contributes to the darkness of its patina. Here is the first version as compared to a much later model:
The lacquer seems to be a little bit thicker than that found on later versions, and the edges feel a little less sharp than those of a Van Dyke from the same time period. A 1949 article in Scientific American Popular Science magazine about the Eberhard Faber factory stated that, depending on type, pencils received between 5 and 15 coats of lacquer. It’s plausible then that the Blackwing 602 was one of the products given a few extra trips through the lacquer bath.
Postscriptum:
Though I feel pretty confident that the first two pencils in the above picture are the first two versions, I’m starting to wonder about the order. I may have artificially inflated this pencil’s status simply because of its rarity—that alone doesn’t mean it was the first version. The first pencil has an all-black ferrule with a painted yellow band. The ferrule for the second pencil may have been painted by dipping it in two steps—a more time-consuming process that likely required other machinery, or at least a second set-up. Couldn’t the yellow band have been painted as an attempt to emulate the look of the non-painted, brass-colored band? This way, the ferrules could all have been painted black in just one step, then the yellow band could have been applied afterward.
Pencils 3 through 6 have a black painted band. In terms of design evolution, wouldn’t it seem that the ferrules with a painted band should be grouped together? In other words, it seems strange to go from painting the band, to not painting the band, then back to painting the band, vis-à-vis the factory workflow and machinery involved. I’ll take a look at some period Van Dykes for comparison.
Until then, any ideas?
Michael Leddy said:
Such a striking combination of ferrule and eraser. And the “602” in the close-up looks like something from the side of a train. What a majestic pencil.
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Adair said:
Extraordinary, Sean. I don’t think that I have ever seen such an early Blackwing. The yellow stripe on black is stunning. This first Blackwing must have been the kind used by Thomas Wolfe.
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Sean said:
Thanks for your comments. I realize that I’m going out on a limb by saying it was the first, but, to the best of my knowledge this is the earliest version. I sure hope some catalogs pop up some day that can settle everything. 🙂 The only indication that there might be another version comes from the score-keeping card in a previous post. The ferrule stripe is blue. I don’t know if it is representing an actual version of the pencil or not.
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chainoil said:
I think it’s great to see Blackwings from different years. It shows the evolution of the design and the product. Do you think you could post the Scientific American article? Thanks!
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Sean said:
I don’t have a scanner handy, but if you search for “Eberhard Faber” in google books, then choose ‘magazines’ on the left, you’ll come across it. That’s where I first saw it. And by the way, it’s Popular Science not Scientific American. I’ve made the correction in the main post.
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Matthias said:
This pencil and your photos look absolutely fantastic. I even think that for today’s taste the black ferrule looks much more modern – and a bit like the mean brother of the more tame, golden 602.
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Sean said:
Thanks, Memm. I agree that it does sort of look ‘mean’. The color in the picture might not be right, and my eyes might just be off, but does the barrel seem black to you (as compared to the ferrule)?
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Matthias said:
A shade of black, I would say.
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Gunther said:
What an amazing pencil – gorgeous!
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Futural said:
Sean, you write: “It was replaced by a brass-colored stripe, which was the base color of the ferrule and the rest of it was painted black.”, -replace- referring to the first version; I always wondered (since I have not a Blackwing) if the elongated black ferrule was painted or actually black metal, so I’ll thank you so much if you could tell me, is the first version painted too?, so did it has two paints on?, black and yellow on the ferrule?
Thank you so much, as always beautiful pictures.
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Sean said:
Thanks, Futural. From what I can tell, the Blackwings with black ferrules have been painted. Those that are gold/yellowish don’t seem to be painted. I thought perhaps that the older pencils had brass ferrules, but it seems like that would be rather expensive. It could be nickel or nickel plate, since the Eberhard Faber point protectors were nickel-plated. The ferrules on the older pencils are also a bit thicker, and harder to squeeze shut without the eraser–I sometimes do this so that there is a good grip on the eraser. Later models are easier to squeeze and appear to be thinner as well. I hope that helps!
But now you’ve got me curious. Maybe I can do a scratch test on the inside of the ferrules…
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Futural said:
Thanks for the answer. Good idea, I vote for the scratch test…. I’ll be waiting for the results…
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Sean said:
OK, scratch-test completed. I can say with certainty that the black ferrules are painted (they are a gold-ish color underneath) and that the gold ferrules are not painted. I did this to the first four versions (as pictured in the original post). The gold ferrules are more shiny on the outside, suggesting that they went through some finishing process. I haven’t done this to later models, and though I’m not sure, they don’t give me the impression that they are painted.
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Futural said:
Thanks for the results, very ilustrative information.
I’m accord with you when you say, “they don’t give me the impression that they are painted”, if you refer to all gold ferrules ones.
The fifth and sixth versions (as pictured in the original post) have a “black band” -painted?-but this band is just made in order to reveal the real Eberhard Faber band, the Gold Band, with help of the dark paint on the pencil itself.
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