Longitudinally challenged clutch pencils

General Mechanical Pencil Discussion Lead Holders
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Hi everybody! I hereby evoke the experts in the field travelling through and across this board, in order to settle a couple of questions I have been pondering about since the moment this sub-category was opened. :slight_smile:

Here are my doubts, in no particular order — the main theme is: short & stubby 2.00 mm lead holders:

  1. Apart from the extra-short Criterium 2313, possibly my favourite tiny 2.00mm holder, is there a full-metal analogue? I know that Conté-Gilbert-Blanzy-Poure had in its lineup some interesting pairs of short plastic-barrel and aluminium-barrel pieces, such as e.g. 2401 and 2411 (1.18mm), 2403 and 2413 (2.00mm), and so on, but I wonder whether they ever made any extra-short Criterium 2303 (???) piece in metal.
  2. Apart from the marvellous KIN 5627 (smooth body, short 2.00 holder), are there any other non-knurled holders in shorter size from the brand? I know of many with hexagonal barrel — e.g. 5328 without rear pointer, and 5338 with rear pointer — but not that many in round form. Also: how many holders did KIN make during its glory days? New product codes for old models keep on cropping up, and I fail at finding comprehensive catalogues.
  3. Has Caran d’Ache ever produced a short (or even long) round leadholder? I have converted a non-functional Ecrifix 24 pen (?) into a magnificent lead holder, but I hope there is a cylindrical-barrel model out there — short or long, it matters very little at this point.
  4. (Partially off-topic, but since we talk about super-short models…) Has ever been a clip-less version of the Caran d’Ache Ecridor XS? I can only find models with a soldered clip, but I hope to find one item with a standard removable clip.
  5. Is the KIN 5991 “Toison d’Or” for 1.18, 1.8, or 2.00mm lead cores? My model seems to best accommodate 1.18 lead, even though it was sold in a box with some 2.00mm lead.
  6. Which were the short models produced by Baignol & Farjon? I think I remember a 237 (with removable clip), but I think there were more, maybe even for larger lead — the “Bull” model?
  7. What would you consider the best short clutch pencil ever made?
  8. Is it just me, or it seems the Japanese big companies never truly jumped on the bandwagon of short 2.00mm lead holders as the European brands did? Any counterexample to prove me wrong?
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Some short answers to a long-ish (and good) list o’ questions:

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Thank you very much @lsd300 for the compact but evocative reply; a couple follow-up questions/comments, while possibly someone lese wants to jump on this track for further exchanges on a topic I find particularly fascinating:

  1. The pencils in the first picture, upper portion, seem colour variants of the same model, but… are they really the same? They all look like KIN 5627, but given the known love of Koh-I-Noor for variations, I would not be surprised if I discovered that they are, in fact, different models (also, that creamy white piece is gorgeous!)
  2. The Baignol & Farjon 235! I had missed that one, but it surely looks fantastic. I may make an exception for that one, it seems a hexagonal barrel with the same appeal as a round one;
  3. What in the world is that black, round, short Criterium in the second picture? Seems like a 2613, but the proportions are a bit off. I am afraid I am falling in love — again…

Thank you for sharing!

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Did you notice the black criterium? 2215 I think it is?

It’s hexagonal but the nose tapered to a round cone.

You might like that one!

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As much as my eyesight is slowly but steadily declining, that one is very hard to miss. So beautiful, so unique: the shorter cousin to the 2513, perhaps? :slight_smile:

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Some CRITERIUM '13’s

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Not much (Euro vintage) to contribute here. Tombow’s early H-100 Clip might qualify, as well as the newish KIN 5608 ‘notebook pencil’… especially if it has the older style of markings. And of course, the modern Kaweco Special Short 2mm… the original vintage Sport models are something I’d love to get a hold of someday.

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