NatarajBold Super Black Pencils - 1 Pack X 10 Pencils + Eraser & Sharpner Free

Love these pencils. Write smooth and dark.

Very nice pencil, sharpens to very sharp point with long point sharpner. Very smooth overall but with occasional grittiness as if an impurity in the lead though this is based on one pencil. Striking red and black stripe, and cool box. I bought the Apsara Absolute, Apsara Platinum and this pencil at same time. Apsara Absolute a bit smoother and darker. The Nataraj will take a bit sharper point and hold it longer. Makes a nice dark line while still lasting well between sharpenings. The Apsara Platinum is comparable and has not shown occasional grit. This is based on only one pencil from each set. Overall a very nice pencil at a good price. Compares well with General, Golden Bear and such. Addendum: After using two more of Naturaj Bold, there was none of occasional grittiness I found on first pencil. It's become a favorite for crosswords and Sudoku for its dark line and easy erase on newsprint.

Beautiful dark graphite core. Writes smooth and consistent with a great glide. Fine grained wood that sharpens flawlessly. I'm only knocking off a star because the paint finish isn't up to the standard set by pencils in the class of the Tombows and Blackwings.

This appears to be the bottom-of-the-line pencil from Nataraj. There is good news and bad news with this pencil. The "fit and finish" is quite poor. The red and black paint scheme for the barrel would make for an attractive pencil if there were any precision at all in its application. Alas, there is none. Paint stripes are crooked, thin here and thick there -- a mess. The pencils themselves look like a truck ran over them, with smudges of something on many of them, and nicks in the wood case. Of the ten pencils, one has an off-center graphite. The box, which looks so cool in the advertisement photo, also is scuffed and smudged, and the lion portrait has inventory stickers over almost all of it. Attempts to remove the sticker results in tearing of the box. Note too that there are ten pencils in the box, so don't be expecting a dozen.As for using the pencils for writing, the news is better. The graphite is not rated on the pencil or the box, but it is soft, making for a dark mark and a smooth feeling when writing. There is very little scratchiness, if any. Naturally, this means the point retention is not very good. You'll be sharpening these often, and that's not the easiest thing to do with these. They are not made of cedar.A pleasant surprise is that the included eraser and sharpener are both very good. The sharpener gives a nice long point.I am a fan of Indian pencils, and instead of these pencils, I would recommend the Apsara Platinum Extra Dark, the Apsara Absolute Extra Strong, or the Nataraj Ruby 621 HB. The Ruby is great for writing with better point retention than the others.

Another wonderful drawing pencil ... great darks.

I have used a lot of different kinds of pencils for drawing and I was pleasantly surprised by this pencil from India. It held its point for a long time and gave a good range of values from light to deep dark. If you haven't tried Nataraj pencils, treat yourself to a box of ten and see how you like them.

Love this dark smooth pencils.

Disappointed that they weren't super bold at all. No better than any other pencils.