I love and admire mechanical pencils almost as much as fountain pens but demand for them is low. Such pencils as I have dealt with have come in a batch with fountain pens that I wanted. I have never bought a vintage mechanical pencil for its own sake – until now!

I saw this splendid Mabie Todd Fyne Poynt propel-repel pencil in eBay the other day and I was determined to have it. I paid a reasonable price for it and count myself lucky to have obtained such a fine pencil. This would match a 1920s fountain pen in the SF range. I often have those pens but they are mostly in the more common black hard rubber material. The mottled hard rubber ones go for quite a lot more nowadays.

No matter, it’s a very fine writing instrument in its own right and I will enjoy it for as long as I have it.