Berol Turquoise TM-5

Hi, I’ve gotten a couple of these bugs and I’m trying to locate them in space-time. In 1977 Design News magazine included it in a list of new pencils launched on the market (Eagle changed its name to Berol in 1969). Clip says Japan. I have not been able to find a single sentence that contains the words Berol and Japan. No historical review of Eagle-Berol that I have read refers to Japan. Kotobuki doesn’t have Berol among their customers, well they do have Newell Brands but Berol was sold to Newell in 1995, long after this pencil was made. If any of your pleasant people have any good information that you would like to share, I would really appreciate it and give you a mechanical pencil.

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The defunct leadholder.com site has a page (Wayback Machine Link) that says this about the TD3/5/7/9 which is also listed on your sheet:


BEROL AUTOMATIC DRAFTING PENCIL SET (TD3, TD5, TD7, TD9)
Empire Berol, Brentwood, Tennessee, USA
lead diameter(s): 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, or 0.9 mm
mechanism: pushbutton incremental advance clutch, 4 mm fixed sleeve
composition: plastic barrel, metal fittings
variations: none
production date: (1980s)
origin: Japan

I have seen other Berol Products from this timeframe, lead holders, that say Japan on them as well.

Hope that this helps maybe point you in the right direction.

Good Luck!

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Very good information, thank you. I think the TDs changed their name from Turquoise to Automatic at some point in the 80’s.

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