It’s the new release of the Japanese stationery youtuber Seasar. It looks like a hybrid between the Staedtler hexagonal and a kaweco special, I think it looks quite nice. It’s made of aluminium covered by neorabasan (the same material as the cover of zoom L2 I think) and the internals seem quite well made, including a rubber ring to avoid rattle when writing. I definitely like this design better than the aero.
Since he’s incredibly popular among kids in Japan I can imagine this will sell out in minutes, and resell in mercari for double the price, so its gonna be quite annoying to get for a while. But he plans on making a few thousands each month and hopes for stock to always be available.
I’m going to be honest on my thoughts about this pencil without ever holding it…
I’m getting kind of annoyed by it to be honest.
I’m sure he’s making a few thousand, like he said, because it’s literally on every search in auction or mercari no matter what you’re searching for.
It is EVERYWHERE and all of them are in between ¥8500 and ¥9000.
Just the amount I’m seeing it makes me not want it, as odd as that sounds, and I’ve yet to see anyone on here make a compelling case for it.
Mind you there are many compelling cases for pencils on here that I found I strongly disagree with but there’s something about this Gravium in particular, that not only doesn’t speak to me wanting to purchase it, it actually seems to repel me from wanting it.
This is a strong statement, but as much as I feel strongly about my refusal to buy the Kayou+ (and I’m really not ever buying it)
I’d buy it before I bought the Gravium.
Mind you, this whole rant is stemmed from purely emotion and ignorance, there’s got to be someone else that feels this way. I’ve got no reason to dislike it at all other than a “feeling” about it and it’s constant presence in everything I search!
Is its flood of the market a sign of success?
Are people only buying it to resell it because of what it is?
Maybe it’s a cultural thing that I’d have to be wrapped up in to understand.
I kinda get what you’re saying. I think the resell pieces are from folks who are trying to offset the cost of the one they bought to keep. They know there’s a market for people who can’t access physical stores in Japan.
Taste is really arbitrary. Both of his pencils haven’t appealed to me, despite the quality of construction. The Gravium seems to me like a riff on the Kaweco Special, maybe even made by the same OEM? It just doesn’t scratch any itch of mine.
I think you understand the essence of my post without the addition of the emotion. You probably read it and thought, “dang man it isn’t that serious.”
That’s what I thought when I re read it this morning after getting some sleep.
I maybe could’ve conveyed my message less emphatically.
Regardless, I agree it looks like the Kaweco and I do believe that to be a pencil more worth my attention if I decide to buy one. (Speaking of Kaweco, I just received a ball pen yesterday that was advertised in the listing as the old Kaweco logo. I really want to find out more about it because it is very interesting)
I didn’t know of the Parker Union until you just said it in this post but I will say that the Parker Jotter is such a nice pencil. Not the same family but both it and the Eversharp Skyline have such a perfect design that withstands time and trends. They’re slight in their overall form and design in comparison to many other pencils but imo theirs are perfect.
The HMM ballpoint / pencil is a very solid piece of design in aluminum. I love the feel of it, the subtle heft, the clicker… only ding is the pencil is, of course, a Schmidt unit. Here, I’ve got to give Seasar props for spec’ing high quality guts for his own pencils.
It’s a lazy way of designing mechanical pencils. They design a PEN first for the Parker G2 cartridge, and then simply slip in a Schmidt. Voila! Pencil is done. It takes a really nice design to overcome my disdain for the Schmidt solution.
Did I not read somewhere it is the Schmidt inside of the 0.5 pilot trusty?
If so, I hear your point on laziness and it follows with my thought process on some things but I do like that pencil
I understand your gut feel. You’re seeing the effects of a very big trend, without actually seeing what’s creating it, so it’s natural to feel like that
The gravium sold on the website in 5 minutes. I went myself with a friend to pick up one at the in-person release @ Nagoya Hands and it was madness. We waited for an hour before the shop opened and still couldn’t get one. Tons of kids running on the stairs, jamming themselves to get on the first elevator, security guards stopping people…
You know what really did it for me? After the gravium fiasco, I went with my friend to a watch shop for a battery replacement for his wife’s watch. During the small talk with the clerk, she tells us “ah yes, I saw that pencil on YouTube! So the release was today, I didn’t know it was being sold so close to my shop”.
Seasar is not just a stationery youtuber, he’s an influencer full thrust and there’s no stopping him. Anything he promotes sells out, anything he makes sells out. The Nohara Kougei madness is another example of this.
Leaving the hype out of the way. I think the gravium is a very nice pencil. It’s a kind of a hefty Staedtler Hexagonal x Kaweco, which isn’t a weird combo at all and it’s actually surprising nobody had done it before.
About the Kayou+, I haven’t tried it in person yet, but in my opinion the Pro version looks splendid. That lead hardness selector and grip are works of art. The non-pro version I don’t care about, way too expensive for a modern plastic pencil.
Thank you
I also think the Kayou+ appears to be a very nice pencil, though I am attracted to the lower model more. Both in my opinion are priced way too high for a risk. I think of it as a risk because of how picky I don’t intend to be but find that I am as soon as I have in hand a pencil that many may find to be awesome. Automac, Dive, Technica II are just a few examples of models I got so excited about and was largely disappointed.
I will probably remain without either of these pencils unless they come in a lot of others down the road and I’m ok with that.
I do very much appreciate your comprehensive reply!
100% agree. Sometimes I allow spite to override any other possible emotion towards a pencil simply due to its “release/expectations”…. I recognize it is irrational…. But I still stand by it
