Faber-Castell 9000 Pencils

An all-time classic among pencils, the Castell 9000 has been in production since 1905, which does suggest it's doing something right. Mainly, being a pencil. It does that very well. The 9000 is a reasonably-priced pencil, with a huge range of lead grades available, which makes it great for writing as well as art. And there are a few matching accessories too, if you like your sharpener to match your pencils.

There's even the basic 9000 version of the Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil - almost all the functionality of the super-fancy platinum-plated versions, but at a way lower price.