Matite portoghesi: Arancione

The wood smells faintly of cedar as soon as you open the box, and the orange paint is a lovely, muted retro tone. I've been using one for sketching and it sharpens to a fine point without snapping, which is more than I can say for most modern pencils. There's something satisfying about writing with

Wrote a grocery list and a few doodles with one of these, and the graphite glides so smoothly it almost feels like a mechanical pencil. You can tell a century of craft went into the wood—it sharpens to a perfect point without snapping once. Definitely my new desk favorite.

The handcrafted feel is obvious the moment you pick one up—these have a warmth that cheap factory pencils just don't. Sharpening them is a breeze and the orange color is far more vibrant in person than the photos suggest.