Koh-I-Noor and the Olympic Games PyeongChang 2018

It is very hard to find a connection between the sports world and the stationary world. But somehow there is such a connection, in the Czech Republic. Continuing the posts about Koh-I-Noor... 

It is very interesting to see how much the Chech company is tied to the country. In Prague, there are several Koh-I-Noor stores in very central locations. They are in the old part of the city, where it is full of tourists. I would expect to see a bar, a tourist trap or some fashion shops instead of a stationary shop, but they promote themselves very well and want to show the ties of the company to Prague and the Czech Republic. It like bohemia glass, when you say it, Czech Republic comes to mind. To show how "Czech" they are, they closed the production facility in China, so all the Koh-I-Noor products are made in EU.

So since 2016, Koh-I-Noor is a partner of the Czech Olympic team. I think this is the only stationary brand that promotes itself by partnering with the Olympics or with any kind of sport.

Koh-I-Noor in Prague

This is one of the many Koh-I-Noor stores in Prague, close to Charles bridge. It was closed, but luckily I managed the next day to catch it open. 

As the sign says Art Materials inside, so for the no art persons like me the selection was a bit limited. I could not find fountain pen ink unfortunately but I added to my collection a Koh-I-Noor 5219 blue clutch pencil.

A fun fact about this particular Koh-I-Noor store, it is right near the Romanian embassy and the Gingerbread museum

The pencil looks nice and feels nice in the hand and the knurled grip feels a lot better than the Versatil or the thin barrel of the Koh I Noor Notebook pencil

The price for it was 75 CZK which is about 2.95 euro or 3.65 $

Not all the products were cheaper than what I can find in Romanian stores but this was about half the price.

A more in-depth review of the Koh-I-Noor 2 mm clutch pencil will follow.

Until then here is a little of the Prague's beauty.

Even though there are impressive architecture and imposing churches in Prague, the Czech people according to Wikipedia are not that religious.
34.5% non religious
44.7% undeclared
the biggest number of followers has the Catholic Church with a little over 10%
So there should be no surprise if you see a church converted into a hotel or a bar/restaurant.

Koh-I-Noor lead holder & leads preview

After publishing the post about the vintage Koh-I-Noor Versatile lead holder I got into a Koh-I-Noor frenzy. Even before I got it published I started seeing cool items from the brand in local stores and I just had to have them all.
All this, is just a preview of what is about to be featured on this blog, a few items that I picked up.
Also this has to be a huge coencidance as shortly I will make a trip to Prague, the home town of the brand, so I am a bit exited.

Stay around to see all this goodies in action and more, maybe even a post about the Prague trip and the Koh-I-Noor store.
But for now I am preparing the posts for:
Koh-I-Noor 5340 5.6 mm lead holder in gold and the Gioconda 5.6 mm artists leads
Koh-I-Noor 2 mm color leads
Koh-I-Noor notebook 2 mm lead holder
Koh-I-Noor inks
Koh-I-Noor notebook 2 mm clutch pencil

Koh-I-Noor Versatil lead holder from 70s

A short history on the subject:
-In 1946 the introduction of metal mechanic pencils Versatil
-In 1957 the formation of the export subsidiary company Bohemia Works

The pencil I have is a Bohemia Works Toison D'Or Versatil 5900 made by Koh I Noor. There is nowhere the Koh I Noor name on the pencil. That is because the branding for exported products was Bohemia Works.
It is a 2 mm clutch lead holder, produced in the early 1970's. The pencil has an all metal body, painted black and a lighter color detail at the top. It has a hexagonal shape, the clutch system is brass and has a self sharpening system in the cap (unscrew the cap, and it has a 4 arm fork that sharpens the lead)
There were other models that featured a clip.
This pencil has seen a lot of action all these years. The writing on the side is gone, you can see where the writing was if you shine a light on the body. When it was new, it would have an embossed gold writing. The black paint is coming off in some parts and the barrel metal is showing. The detailing at the top part is mostly gone, showing the black paint beneath.

Koh I Noor Versatil 5900 70's design

The cool part is that even today you can buy the same Versatil pencil, in the same color you could get it 40 some years ago.

mechanism of Koh-I-Noor Versatil 5900 from 70's

Inside the pen. It is a basic design. You have the body of the pencil, which is metal. The mechanism that holds the lead (clutch) made out of brass. The mechanism is gravity aided, meaning it holds the lead in putting tension on 3 arms. When you press the advance button, the tension is released and the lead can advance. It is not an incremented advance system as in more known mechanical pencils, it just slides out. How much is up to you.
The last part is the cap of the advance system, which has a trident with which you can sharpen the lead (now it is a bident :) as one of the arms is broken). Even after all these years and use the pencil works as it should. One of the design flaws of the lead holder, in my opinion, is the smooth paint finish which tends to slip from your hand after a longer writing session.

If you are in the market for a pencil with a lot of history, this could be the one. You can buy vintage from eBay or new. Whatever pencil you will choose, it will be a "Versatil" one.
Looking at what Koh I Noor has to offer I found a very beautiful pencil with an old-modern design, knurled grip, the Koh-I-Noor notebook 5600. I will make a review of it shortly.

Koh I Noor notebook lead holder

Modern Koh I Noor Versatil