Faber Castell is the world's oldest and largest manufacturer of wood-cased pencils, and over the years has earned the respect and praise of many well known creative people - from Vincent van Gogh to Karl Lagerfield.

Since 1999 the Faber-Castell plantations have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, a demanding international standard for "environmentally compatible, socially equitable  and sustainable forestry" . The Chain of Custody certification guarantees futhermore that the origin of the wood in these pencils can be traced all the way from harvesting the timber to packaging the pencils.

The leads are made from a mix of graphite and clay, with different proportions varying the hardness (see image below). HB pencils, although a middle of H and B pencils, are about 75% graphite; B pencils have increasing amounts of graphite, 8B is the darkest, whereas H pencils have increasing proportions of clay, 6H is the lightest, but all the range still maintains it's stunningly high quality through the careful and sustainable manufacture.

Back in 1905 this now legendary green pencil was created by Count Alexander von Faber-Castell. In its jousting knights design it hints at the fact that the Castell 9000 has always stood for high quality, tradition and invincibility, and always will.