Caran d'Ache Grafwood 15 Piece Round Tube Set

If you're serious about your art, the Caran d’Ache Grafwood 15-piece set is what you treat yourself to when you're done messing around with bargain pencils. These are top-of-the-line, no question—every detail screams precision, quality, and craftsmanship. The set spans an impressive range of grades, from 9B to 4H, and each pencil is beautifully balanced, making long drawing sessions comfortable and controlled. The graphite is buttery smooth in the softer grades and crisp in the harder ones—perfect whether you’re shading subtle gradients or sketching fine architectural lines. There's no gritty texture or breakage, just pure graphite elegance. Even the pencils themselves look like luxury—each grade is color-coded in sleek, metallic tones. It's like holding a Ferrari in pencil form. These aren't just art supplies—they're tools for artists who care about their craft and know the difference that high-quality materials make. Whether you’re a professional illustrator, a sketchbook addict, or someone aiming to elevate their work, the Grafwood set delivers in every way.

I really like these pencils. I am not a great artist but I use graphite all the time and have several other sets, including Faber Castell 9000, Mitsubishi Hi Uni and Staedtler. I like these ones the best. I like their size (which is a little larger than normal), I like the way they are individually colored according to degree and I love their extreme smoothness. The 4H gets very light and only the Mitsubishi 10H is lighter in the mitsubishi set, in my experience. The only thing I don't care for with these pencils is the tin, which is a silly idea. You have to dump all the pencils out to see which one you are using and also, the pencils rattle around in it. That said, i am not sure that the set is worth the extra money it costs. I think the Faber Castell 9000 are very comparable, for a much lesser price. (I should say, however, that I have the Faber 9000 Jumbos, which only go down to HB and I don't know how smooth the Faber pencils below that degree are). I actually like these better than the Hi Unis and the Staedtlers--but again, not that much better. They are greatly superior to the Derwent graphic that I have used for many years--but so are all the other three brands. I guess I would say that if you have a little more money and/or don't use up graphite pencils very fast, these would be the ones I would get. However, you don't need to feel bad or as if you are missing out a great deal if you get one of the other high end brands, all of which are cheaper. ETA: I like the tin much better now than I did at first. And I still really love this set. As of 2020, these are now cheaper than the Mitsubishi Uni Hi Uni, at least in the United States. They have gone down in price and stayed the same quality. Wonderful!!

Recommended: I just started using these Caran d'Ache Graftwood pencils. I like the slightly larger feel of the pencil, the coloring of the barrels to indicate hardness of the Graphite and the smoothness of the laydown at lower pressures. The round pencil tin that it comes with is a good container with padded interior cap to help protect the sharpened leads.

I upgraded from a set of Amazon basics pencils and Derwent (lower quality ones) and these are the real deal. They are thicker and produce amazing, creamy lines on the softer side of the range. I am a novice when it comes to higher end pencils, but I was amazed there was such a difference. The tube seems like a good idea, but it sucks to have to find a pencil. I had a run from another set that I use instead. I wish they came in a flat tin.

Like that I can at least approximate the softness/hardness of the pencil lead by glancing at the shaft of these wood pencils instead of picking one up and looking at the rating (8B vs 2H, etc). Much more difficult to tell 8B from 7B from 6B (etcetera). For example, the color painted on the shafts of the 8B vs 7B vs 6B pencils are black, almost black and dark charcoal--you need a really strong light to tell them apart. I resort to reading the label printed on the pencil shaft if I really want a specific hardness. Great quality, but these are expensive even for this quality--Why? Because I have bought this brand before with simply yellow shafts for a fair amount less--not totally sure the color coding the color of the shaft to the lead softness is worth it, but they ARE good pencils, and it is nice to know I have a range. If my $ didn't allow this, for drawing I might buy 6B, 2B, HB, and a 2H and use my finger pressure to get the in between tones.

Caramel D’Ache graphite pencils are the best that money can buy. There are a few that come close, but all are battling for second place. I spend hundreds of dollars monthly as an artist, and new collector of sorts. I will always try new mechanical pencils and likely still buy other wood pencils but these are all that I will draw with for commissioned pieces. I want to rework all of my old drawings now to see how much they can be enhanced with these magnificent pencils. The 9b is a godsend!!!!! Do yourself a favor and Buy them!

These are the best graphite pencils I’ve ever used! The buttery smooth texture is lovely, and there is a higher definition between pencils. My previous set was nice but no comparison to these awesome pencils. My other set I could barely detect much difference between a few of the leads. There is no going back from here, I’m hooked.

The round tin containing the Caran D’Ache pencils arrived in a bad shape looking like crushed. Hopefully, the leads will not be damaged or broken into pieces in the inside of the barrels. If so, it’ll be frustrating as I love these pencils and it was my Christmas gift.