Posts filed under Drehgriffel

Leuchtturm Drehgriffel Mechanical Pencil Review

The fact that I’m sitting here thinking about if the Leuchtturm Drehgriffel Mechanical Pencil is better than the Drehgriffel Ballpoint pen I already love tells you what I think about this pencil. Is it better, though? Maybe. Is it better than a traditional mechanical pencil? That’s a tougher question to answer, but I’m going to give it a shot today.

The Mechanical Pencil was a surprise entrant into the Drehgriffel lineup, at least for me. The Ballpoint seemed to be a success, so why not a pencil? From standard colors, to gel ink refills, to building your own pen from an array of colors, I’ve enjoyed all things Drehgriffel. Would I enjoy the pencil? Clearly, yes.

What is it about this lineup that I like so much? The design is wonderful. It has a vintage feel with modern colors. It’s small and slim, so it fits in many places, including in the hand nicely when it’s time to write. The aluminum barrel feels sturdy, and both models - Ballpoint and Mechanical Pencil - use a twist mechanism to extend and retract the tip or graphite.

Leuchtturm Drehgriffel Ballpoint and Mechanical Pencil — *My custom built ballpoint.*

The pencil ships with 0.7 mm HB graphite, and it does a nice job. I do find it to be slightly on the Hard side of the scale, but that works well if you are looking for a portable pencil. That’s where this Drehgriffel thrives. In other areas, like when compared to more traditional mechanical pencils, it falls a bit short.

For starters, there is no eraser. That’s not a deal-breaker for me, but is mandatory for others. What may be closer to a deal-breaker, is the aforementioned twist mechanism. To extend the graphite, you give the mechanism on the end of the pencil a quarter-twist, counter-clockwise, for each stage you would like to extend. For me, that’s two clicks (it’s a ratchet-style mechanism that snaps back after each twist,) to get my preferred writing length.

Leuchtturm Drehgriffel Mechanical Pencil Comparison — *Rotring 600, left. Pentel Sharp, right.*

While this mechanism is functional, it becomes weird when it is time to retract the lead. For that, you will hold the twist instead of letting it go, and push the graphite back in, either with your finger or on the page or desk. It’s easy enough, and it feels weird to complain about something that works fine, but decades of standard mechanical pencil operation had me overthinking this.

Leuchtturm Drehgriffel Mechanical Pencil Grip — *You may have to grip the Drehgriffel further back on the barrel.*

Another design element to consider is the grip section. While it matches the entire Drehgriffel design aesthetic, the large nose cone is more befitting of a traditional wooden pencil than a mechanical one. Most typical mechanical pencils, especially of the engineering variety, have some form of straight-sided grip section. There are some notable exceptions - the Pentel Sharp is a big one - so keep that in mind if that is important to you.

With all of the pros and cons laid out, there is of course one more detail to consider: price. This is a $34 mechanical pencil, which puts it well into the upper end of the price spectrum for mechanical pencils. I think that limits who this pencil is for. Leuchtturm fans will enjoy it, as will stationery nerds like myself. It would also make for a good gift. Otherwise, I think it might be a tough sell for a user needing a mechanical pencil, or a random stationery purchase.

Leuchtturm Drehgriffel Mechanical Pencil Writing

For me, I enjoy it and I can see using it frequently. It will be a nice travel companion since it doesn’t have a lead pipe on the front that can get bent, and it is more writer-ish than my favorite travel pencil, the Caran d’Ache Fixpencil. And who knows, if Leuchtturm ever offers the opportunity to build your own, I may add another one to the arsenal.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Leuchtturm Drehgriffel Mechanical Pencil Close

Posted on July 14, 2025 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Leuchtturm, Drehgriffel, Mechanical Pencil, Pencil Reviews.

Leuchtturm1917 Drehriffel Gel Ink Pen Review

The Leuchtturm1917 Drehriffel Gel Ink Pen is a tale of two pens. One pen is a clean, beautiful, classic design that I love using. The other pen is when the gel ink refill hits the page and I want to put it down and move on to something better. But I try again, because the first pen makes me happy.

That happiness for Leuchtturm began in 1920 when the original Drehgriffel was launched. 2020 marked a return for the modern interpretation of the pen, with many design accolades following. Leuchtturm had an instant hit on their hands. Importantly, as you will see later in this review, the new Drehgriffel shipped with a ballpoint ink refill.

The gel ink version followed a year or so later, although it took me until this year to pick up one of my own. The London Graphic Centre turned out to be an epic stop during my Relay 10th Anniversary trip, where I picked up this beautiful Aquamarine model. I put it immediately into the rotation on that trip as I was writing a lot about my adventures, and it was … meh.

*The model number on the refill, BP-G-B-0820.SQ, only exists on the Drehgriffel product page.*

The gel ink refill is nowhere as good as I expected it to be. Who makes this refill? I can’t say for sure. I’d like to say it’s a Schmidt, but I just downloaded their product catalog and they don’t offer gel ink refills, in any shape or size. So your guess is as good as mine. Also, I didn’t discount that I got a dud (it does happen, even to the best,) but I received a lot of feedback on this refill once I shared my experience, and nearly everyone else shared similar experiences.

My expectations from gel ink refills (in any line width,) are that they are smooth, dark, and lay down clean, sharp lines. I don’t think one of those expectations stands above another as the primary feature, but if any one of the three are off it throws the whole experience off. For the Drehgriffel, it’s the clean, sharp lines where this refill primarily fails, with smoothness causing problems, too.

*I don’t expect that you can see what I feel in a static image, but this refill does not spark joy.*

I have a ton of experience writing with gel ink refills, so I know right away when one isn’t up to my standards. Sometimes the refill will work its way into form, but most of the time you get what you get from the jump. This one has never been good - so what do we do? Well, since I love the barrel so much, we change the refill.

I’ll admit, I don’t love doing that, despite being a frequent refill swapper-outer. Why not give yourself a better writing experience? Sometimes I think a pen should stand on its original configuration, especially as far as reviews go. If this is the retail experience, that’s what I want to share, even if I might make the pen “better” for myself going forward.

Either of my favorite Parker-style options - the Jetstream SXR-600 or Ohto Flash Dry - make for a great choice. I’ll probably mix one of those into this barrel since this refill has to go, but what saved my love for the Drehgriffel lineup as a whole was a second model I picked up - with the stock ballpoint refill.

I mean, we're sitting here, and we're in here talking about gel ink. I mean, listen, we're talking about gel ink. Not the ballpoints! Not the ballpoints! Not the ballpoints! We're talking about gel ink. Not the ballpoints, not the ballpoints, we're talking about gel ink, man. I mean, how silly is that? We're talking about gel ink.

It’s time to talk more about ballpoint ink. And how, in this case, the Leuchtturm1917 Drehgriffel ballpoint is the better choice.

Should we talk about the pen barrel now? Definitely, because this is not a pen shape that is for everybody. I love thin barrels and lightweight pens. The Drehgriffel is both of those things, plus has a reasonably long front nose cone and taper, which shrinks the diameter further the lower you grip it. Again, these are all things that work for me, along with the twist-to-deploy refill mechanism. Any one of those things could be a dealbreaker for many users.

The other dealbreaker could be the price. At $27.50, this is an expensive pen, especially on the store shelf next to a rainbow of Leuchtturm1917 notebooks. For an aluminum barrel pen with a brass tip and solid twist mechanism, the price is fair in my book - especially with all of the fun color options.

I had fun with this review, and I’ll continue to have fun with the Leuchtturm1917 Drehgriffel gel ink pen, but with a different refill. The ballpoint stays. The ballpoint always stays.

(I bought this pen at the London Graphic Centre at regular retail price.)

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!