The “Fixpencil” is an umbrella term for a longstanding series of 2.00 mm Swiss leadholders, which over the years has gradually expanded into a complex family tree of ballpoint pens, 0.7 MP’s, and — obviously — limited series of writing instruments.
What is largely lost now, and frequently forgotten by the larger audience, is the part of that history when the manufacturing company, Caran D’Ache, was producing interesting 0.5 mm thin lead mechanical pencils with various features. Today, I’d like to share with you all a small fraction of that story.
Over the last months, I’ve had the chance to come into possession of a few 0.5mm Fixpencils, and the variety of available models have quite surprised me. To begin with, I’ve come to know the two basic models of 0.5mm MP’s, namely the Fixpencil Metal 0.5, and the ingenious Fixpencil F-S Metal 0.5 with cushioning adjustment, which has been discussed elsewhere here on the board. See the picture below.
The image shows the iconic tip of the F-S Metal, and a “sanded grip” version of the ordinary Metal — I think I have also a non-sanded version, which arrived after I took the pictures, but you get the idea.
What really changed the game, however, was the finding of the Fixpencil 75 0,5mm: it is a veeery long thin-lead MP, as can be seen by this picture, and it looks and feels exceedingly over-stretched in one specific dimension. See pictures here, with and without the ruler to appreciate the actual size of the item. I think it sports a semi-sliding sleeve (the ordinary Metal has one).
After pondering and testing the Fixpencil 75, with its 16cm length to be handled properly, I have questions: what was the true purpose of this pencil? It seems too long to be used as a daily writer, and my gut feeling is that it ought to be gripped like an artist’s pencil, from the tail, and used as a pointer to trace thin strokes rather than a regular MP — but then again: why putting the sanded area close to the tip, as if the intended position is just like any other writing tool?
This pencil suggests mixed feelings, and I like it precisely because I can’t figure out exactly what to do with it; it is my “Spear of Longinus”, as long as a rOtring Art Pencil, but lacking the tapering and overall flare of some more drawers’ oriented tools.
Maybe it’s the nemesis for the Fixpencil 23, a super-short stub pencil (which I’m currently looking for, should any of you have one to trade for something) produced as well by Caran D’Ache, and designed precisely to compensate for the reduced size of the latter.
Any help to better understand this pencil, its history and features, would be greatly appreciated… 
