The Staedtler Initium writing instrument line came out around 2015. I’m not certain but I think the mechanical pencil and ballpoint pens were made in a number of shared colorways. As far as I know, with colorway sub lines: Lignum (white maple, brown plum), Corium Simplex (beige leather, anthracite leather), Metallum (silver satin metal finish), and Resina (slightly different nose cone and several gloss resin colors–navy, green, white, black).
I picked up the one in brown plum. The overall feel of the pencil is pretty nice. It’s a little stubby looking but a good length and the weight is a touch heavy but very workable. The mechanism is very smooth and quiet. However, it’s a twist ratchet type… which presents a little bit of a cumbersome movement to advance lead (you can do it one handed, but you need to rotate the pencil around to perform it). Still, not bad if you can find one for under $50 USD.
Just a few more things:
Length: 5" or 12.7 cm
Weight: 32.75g
So weight ratio wise, just a touch heavy, but overall I have to say that it’s comfortable. 5.25 ~ 5.75" is the more common length I’ve come across for mechanical pencils, but I’m finding that based on the girth it’s nice to hold. Meanwhile, the LAMY Scribble is about 0.5" shorter, just to give you an idea of it.
And that clip. It’s an interesting design. Good tension. The “contact bump” isn’t your usual pip or bulb shape. It’s a long rounded ellipse. Looks super sleek and the contact works while also being gentle to cloth (no snagging).
No emergency eraser, unfortunately. And to refill the pencil, you need to unscrew the whole body to access the inter mechanism reservoir. I’d say the tube holds about 5 leads, maybe 6. So, not a tragedy.
That plum wood is splendid. It’s a nice texture that aids with grip. No cold metal resting up against your thenar eminence (whut? yeah, that’s the flesh between thumb base and index finger–I had to look it up, LOL). Overall? I paid about $42 after fees and shipping. I’m glad I took the chance.