Kaweco Aluminium Special 0.5mm mechanical pencil review

The Kaweco Aluminium Special pencil is a mechanical pencil available in 0.5, 0.7, 0.9mm and 2.0mm sizes. This is the 0.5mm version. The matt black anodised aluminium body feels wonderful to hold, is a good length and reassuring weight, and looks great. The cross-section is the classic Kaweco rounded octagon, although it’s significantly slimmer than a Sport. The branding is tasteful.

I appreciate the absence of a clip with a mechanical pencil as it makes it comfortable to turn the pencil to keep a sharp point. However, a clip is available to buy as an extra if you want one.

Unfortunately the knock is plastic and rattles and wobbles. This isn’t like Kaweco at all and it shouldn’t happen when you’re spending this much money on a pencil. It’s distracting and disappointing.

The eraser… well… I know that the eraser you get with a mechanical pencil is there for emergencies rather than regular use but this one is tiny. So tiny as to be almost useless.

From the tip to the end of the barrel this is a gorgeous pencil. Unfortunately the last centimetre lets it down.

Thank you to Kaweco for sending me this pencil for free to review and to keep. I’ve tried not to let this influence this review.

(I shall review the 2mm version of this pencil sometime in the future because it has a few differences to the other versions. Spoiler: the differences make the 2mm version a very nice pencil.)