Thursday, August 29, 2013

PARAFERNALIA Linea Titanium 2mm leadholder

If this would be the Oscars, the brand Parafernalia would be my discovery of the year (I don't know if there even is such a category!) I found their pens while I was scavenging the internet for new pens (my daily activity!), and I honestly never heard of this Italian brand before! But after contacting Parafernalia, I received a truckload of information about their brand, together with two products of theirs!...
The first one being this super-sleek Linea 2mm leadholder! I mean, honestly, would you immediately notice that this is a pencil! It's design is actually quite old already, I don't know the exact date. But the person from Parafernalia that I contacted, told me that they actually used this pencil as a movie prop in the original Alien movie (1979), so it's design is at least 34 years old, Impressive! But the fact that it has been around for this long is hardly noticeable, as soon as I opened the bright orange box, i fell in love with the modern and sleek design. It is made to conceal the function of a leadholder when not in use.
They come in a variety of annodized aluminum colours, and a titanium version, which I got. The Titanium colour looks really cool, it's a warm grey colour. The build quality is excellent, the metal parts are machined to very high standards, which is clearly noticeable. I didn't find any flaws, aesthetically, nor mechanically. It operates smoothly, and the mechanism is very sturdy (no rattling noise of the mechanism) It's a rather long (15cm/ 6 Inches) and thin (8mm/ 0.25Inches) pencil, which is the ideal size for a leadholder if you ask me!
'Parafernalia- Italy', stamped at the top of the barrel
The rubber pieces are surprisingly soft, which is good, because it makes the grip area very comfortable to hold for a longer period of time. The rubber grip placed quite high up the barrel, which makes it great for sketching and drafting (what it's meant for basically!) I actually really like the lead they supply with the pencil, it is smooth and soft, I guess it is HB lead, but of course the leadholder can be filled with any 2mm lead you want!
The four-jaw clutch mechanism operates very smoothly, and the cool thing about it, is that the jaws are rounded off, so when the lead is retracted, the jaws sit flush in the barrel, and it seems like the pencil has no front or back!
I am really impressed about this pencil. It didn't take long for it to become my favourite leadholder, and I use it pretty much every day. I even went ahead and started a collection of these things (I have them in a few different colors now!). When it comes to price, they are a bit on the expensive side though: about 30 Euros/ 40 USDollars, and you can also get a luxury edition for 50 Euros/ 60 USDollars which includes a nice wooden gift box and a leather pouch! But if you like leadholders, this is definitely money well spent!

Note: this pen was sent to me by Parafernalia, so I could write this review.  I was in no way influenced in the making of this review, nor was I monetarily compensated. The opinions shared in this review are completely my own!

4 comments:

  1. Wow, nice find! Usually, I'm not a big fan of rubber parts but this leadholder really looks like a movie prop. Must - have - alien - leadholder!

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  2. Very interesting looking lead holder. A good score.

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  3. Also great to hear Parafernalia communicated with you - they've never answer anything I've ever asked :-)

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    1. Hi Dave, such an honour to have you read my blog! It is indeed a great find! I bought a few more af them just in case... And you should try to contact them again, they were very friendly to me, but it sometimes takes a few days or weeks for them to answer.

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