HOUSE OF GRAPHITE

The Eberhard Faber Design Ebony 6325 was a single-grade "Jet Black Extra Smooth" drawing pencil, prized for laying down an exceptionally dark, smooth black line; period packaging billed it "for newspaper men, artists, proof-readers and all who want the blackest of black, smooth leads." Made in the USA, it became a favourite for sketching, layout and storyboarding work (famously Martin Scorsese's preferred pencil). It was discontinued after Eberhard Faber was absorbed in the 1990s and now survives only as the reformulated Sanford/Prismacolor Design Ebony 14420, which users widely regard as inferior to the original. This specimen: Design Ebony 6325 in grade Single Grade.