HISTORY

Koh-I-Noor is a Czech brand that was established in 1790 by Josef Hardmuth. It is famous in countries such as Poland or Sweden, but less known in West Europe because of brands such as Faber-Castell. Koh-I-Noor is one of the worldwide leaders in art supplies and is popular for producing quality products for reasonable prices. It is also an innovative brand, as the pencils that I am going to talk about today demonstrate.

SPECIFICATIONS

Tri-tone pencils are considered a hobby product, so we cannot expect professional specifications such as lightfast degree. In addition, these pencils are absent from the official catalogue, which leaves us with little to discuss. I contacted Koh-I-Noor brand to enquiry about the Tri-tone series (February 2019), and they let me know that these pencils had been specifically created for the American market, but that they would be soon available in the European one. That explains why I couldn’t find them in Prague physical shops or why in Amazon USA are cheaper than in any other Amazon branch. It also explains why most of the reviews I find come from American sites. By the way: Tri-tones are manufactured for the Chartpak brand.

Tri-tones have 5,6 mm leads and are made in cedar wood. They are wax-based and have thin, rounded barrels (thinner than the standard Koh-I-Noor pencil). Their barrels have a transparent lacquer that exposes the original colour of the wood, and end on a closed tip painted with the 3 colours that each lead features. On one side of the barrel we can read “Koh-I-Noor – Hardmuth – Tri-Tone” and on the other, the country of origin (Czech) and the colour name. The names are fantastic and exotic, such as “summer sky” or “ocean”. These pencils are light and handy, and they have a certain nice scent similar to the Polycolor series.

PERFORMANCE

Tri-tone pencils cover the paper well, and they are not too creamy nor too hard. The performance also varies depending on the colour, being better (as usual) in darker colours. For the paler ones, you simply have to be more patient to apply more layers. Red tones, on the other hand, work quite well.

Tri-tone pencils don’t smudge, but they can occasionally spread some crumbs if the point is too sharpened and too much pressure is applied. They blend well, and I have sharpened them many times (as I use them quite often) and they have no problems at all.

SETS AND PACKAGING

Tri-tone come in tins of 12 and 24 units. They include a blender that can be used for polishing the colours, although I personally don’t find it particularly useful. The pencils come in the usual beautiful and practical tin without hinges that can however be dented, so, considering these pencils are thinner than usual, careful when transporting them is advised. They come pre-sharpened and arranged by tones. Unfortunately, they cannot be purchased separatedly.

COLOUR CHART AND DEMO

Here is the colour chart for the 12 pencils set:

Blender / Maddigold / Flame / Evening / Vulcano / Summer sky / Ocean / Evening storm / Meadow / Forest / Rainy forest / Tiger

Here is an illustration I partly completed using Tri-tone pencils (inspirational source: Qinniart):

WHERE TO BUY

Tri-tone can be purchased both in the official site and in Amazon. The best Amazon deal is the one in Amazon USA, where they have the 24 pencils set for 28 dollars. In Amazon UK the same 24 set costs over 50 pounds.

Tri-tone pencils in Amazon UK | Tri-tone pencils in Amazon USA

CONCLUSION

Let’s be honest: the Tri-tone pencils are a beauty, especially the green tones mixed with yellow, which work wonderful for landscapes. It may not be a too practical pencil for a professional artist, and can also be an unpredictable pencil because you don’t know which colour is going to come off the lead, but that doesn’t diminish its beauty and uniqueness. They are certainly attractive for fantastic illustrations and are a special gift for any pencil lover.

If we want to make the most of the Tri-tones, we must frequently twist the pencils. Sometimes the tonal change will be quite obvious, but in other cases it will be barely noticeable.

These pencils are one of the latest acquisitions of the brand and, like I discussed in the Magic pencils entry, some people may be wondering what is the difference between those and the Tri-tones. It is not specified anywhere, but my personal opinion is that Tri-tone is a more adult version of the Magic series, with more suitable barrels for adult colourists and more coherent colour combinations.

PROS, CONS AND RATING

The best: the colour combinations. They are handy and beautiful.
The worst:  they are expensive to get from European Amazon branches.
Rating: 8/10

MORE INFORMATION

Official site