I believe Rotring 500 was released somewhere in the world in 1985, so it is 39 years old now.
When was Staedtler 925 25 released?
Zebra Sharbo?
Zebra M-301?
Pentel Smash?
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The Pentel Smash (0.5, 0.7 & 0.9) came out in 1986.
The Pentel Smash (0.3) came out in 1988.
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925 25 came out in 1990. (34 years)
Sharbo from 1977 according to official catalog. (47 years)
M301 since 1983. (41 years)
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@pearsonified Are there any executive models you can think of that had a very long run or are still in production?
Another note: Pilot seems to not have very long runs compared to Pentel.
YOL Diplomat began 1934. Quite a run.
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The S55 form factor is certainly the archetype for executive pencils, and I don’t think any other manufacturers produced comparable pieces for anything close to that length of time.
Pilot killed off a ton of pencils in the 90s and early 00s.
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Yes 1934 is quite the run. This post has inspired to get out my Diplomat and I’m using it at the moment. Mine is 1948 so not quite as old as the originals, but it is in excellent condition, almost “as new”.
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Do we already have a conclusion?
P20x for MP?
For lead holders i have doubts about the fixpencil‘s continuity … is it really the same model today as in 1929?
YoL has same lead size, mechanism and design right from the start (afaik).
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Hmm. Perhaps you are right. Model name and model number make a difference in these things, just as with cars. The Fixpencil may have been the longest model name, but the original Fixpencil may be similiar to or different from a Fixpencil 22 or a Fixpencil 77. BMW M3 has been around for a long time, but ‘e30’ is a lot more helpful designation when discussing production runs, engines, and body styles.
So maybe P20X is the thin lead winner from 1970, YoL Diplomat is the medium lead winner from 1934, and FC TK 9400 is 2mm winner from 1948.
Fixpencil (1929) and Criterium (1939) get 2mm holder honorable mentions for model name continuity.