HISTORY
Staedtler Mars GmbH & Co. KG is a German stationary and art supplies brand established in 1835, although the origins date back to 1662 in the city of Nüremberg, with Friedrich Staedtler determined to fully handle the process of manufacturing pencils from the lead to the wood, something that the council of the city disapproved. But Friedrich’s efforts were proven fruitful and obtained the permission to be in charge, so he could produce graphite, red chalk and pastel pencils in his industrial plant. This achievement opened new possibilities for other manufacturers in the same city, which is well-known for holding several famous pencil companies such as Stabilo and Faber-Castell.
I have been wanting to buy pastel tone pencils for a while, but the most interesting ones to me are quite expensive (Holbein set of 12 for around 40 euros). Then I saw some promising ones by Scriptract that were 9 pounds but with a watercolour touch, so I wasn’t quite convinced. When I had lost hopes I ran into this Staedtler set of 12 in Ryman (British stationery) for 3,99 pounds original price and a bargain of 1,99. For such price I didn’t have much expectations and since I haven’t bought any art material for months (it is time to use what I have and stop accumulating) I decided to indulge myself in a cheap way and bought them. I was almost convinced they would end up in the charity shop, but once again, destiny surprised me. Staedtler rarely disappoints anyone.
With a similar packaging to this one, there are some woodless pencils that didn’t receive many good critics because the colours aren’t strong enough (since this is exactly the problem with my Conté Evolution I start to suspect this might be a general problem of synthetic pencils). But these have nothing to do. It is true they are not professional pencils, but you can’t ask much more for that price.
SPECIFICATIONS
Staedtler pastel tones are hexagonal pencils that come painted on a colour matching the lead. On one side of the barrel there is the brand name and the number 175 engraved, which is the series number. The top side is open, exposing a medium-sized and well-centered lead. Because they are school pencils there is no available information, but we can’t go wrong if we say they are wax-based pencils.
PERFORMANCE
When being pressed against the paper they sometimes release a fine dust, but it truly depends on the surface (I noticed it only on shiny paper). These pencils can be blended and they offer a good coverage, without wax excesses. It surprised me they are really pastel tones, particularly the pinks and blues, which are gorgeous. I still didn’t sharpen them, but I have the impression doing so won’t be a trouble. The only thing I didn’t like is that they have a somehow artificial touch, very plastic-like. Thus, they are light and easily manageable.
SETS AND PACKAGING
These pencils come in a shiny carton packaging that don’t include any information, so we can’t know which wood are they made of, nor the manufacturing country (it should be Germany, but it doesn’t say). They come pre-sharpened and arranged by colours. I ignore if there are smaller or bigger sets, since, like I said, I couldn’t find relevant information anywhere.
COLOUR CHART
The colour chart for this set is the following:
The initials after the number don’t appear on the barrels, it was something I did to tell the colours apart (Y for yellow, P for pink, etc). As can be seen, the colours are vivid and they cover the paper well.
WHERE TO BUY
These pencils can be purchased in Ryman. I couldn’t find them in Amazon, nor in official shops.
CONCLUSION
This set is an amazing value for the price. Of course they are not suitable to work on a commission, but if you are not ambitious and are just looking for some pastel-tone pencils to throw some extra shades in your pictures, these are for you.
PROS, CONS AND RATING
The best: the price and the colour palette.
The worst: not enough specifications.
Rating: 8/10
MORE INFORMATION
Learning to draw 