Faber-Castell 26-Piece Pitt Graphite Set Review: Big Range, Real Value

Introduction

Faber-Castell needs little introduction. The brand is one of the biggest names in art products, and its 9000 range of graphite pencils has long been a benchmark. So when a 26-piece graphite set from the same company shows up at a very accessible price point, it is worth asking whether the value holds up in practice, not just on paper. After spending time with the set, doing swatches, testing every eraser, and completing a detailed drawing with it, the short answer is yes.

Who This Set Is For

This kit suits anyone building a serious graphite toolkit without buying each item separately. Beginners get a complete, coherent setup with no guesswork about which erasers or accessories to pair with the pencils. More experienced artists get a genuine range of graphite formats, including water-soluble pencils, jumbo pencils, woodless pencils, and pure graphite sticks, that are normally purchased piecemeal.

If you already own a full set of 9000 pencils, the overlap matters less and the appeal shifts to the water-soluble pencils, sticks, and accessories. For everyone else, it is a strong one-box solution.

What’s Inside the 26-Piece Set

Everything arrives in a well-made metal tin that feels appropriately premium for the brand. Along with a couple of informational pamphlets explaining where the graphite comes from and what else the range includes, the set contains:

• Three Faber-Castell water-soluble graphite pencils (2B, 4B, and 8B)
• A size 6 round Faber-Castell watercolor brush
• Seven 9000 range graphite pencils: 2H, HB, B, 2B, 4B, 6B, and 8B
• Three jumbo 9000 graphite pencils (2B, 4B, and 8B)
• Three Pitt Graphite Pure 2900 woodless pencils (3B, 6B, and 9B)
• A Faber-Castell kneaded eraser
• Three Pitt graphite sticks (2B, 6B, and 8B)
• A blending stump
• A two-hole metal sharpener that handles both standard and jumbo pencils
• A dust-free art eraser in dark green
• A Faber-Castell pencil eraser

The 9000 pencil selection is arguably the smartest part of the lineup. From 2H up to 8B, it covers the practical working range. Anything harder than 2H behaves more like clay than graphite, is brittle, and is a nightmare to sharpen regardless of brand, so skipping those grades is a sensible decision rather than a corner cut. On the dark end, 8B is a good ceiling for tonal depth.

The extras are not filler either. The included watercolor brush is genuinely good, which is rare in sets with water-soluble products, where the bundled brush is often next to useless. The kneaded eraser is among the best available, the dust-free art eraser performs excellently, and the pencil eraser is firm enough to lift fine details like whiskers without flopping or smearing graphite around.

Swatches and Tonal Range

Testing on Strathmore 300 series Bristol Vellum, a relatively smooth paper, the set shows a clear and consistent gradation. The water-soluble pencils offer a real distinction in tonal value between the 2B, 4B, and 8B, which is not always the case with soluble graphite, where lighter grades can end up looking nearly as dark as the darkest.

The 9000 pencils lay down smoothly with a clean progression from 2H to 8B. The jumbo pencils behave like their standard counterparts but with a much larger core that fills bigger areas far faster. The woodless Pitt Graphite Pure pencils go as dark as 9B and can be used on their side for broad, smooth coverage or on the tip for interesting patterns. The graphite sticks are chunky, fun to use, and produce rich dark values.

The swatch test also doubles as a demonstration of the pencil eraser, which lifts clean lines through dense graphite without leaving a smudgy mess.

Playing with Water-Soluble Graphite

The three water-soluble pencils are the most versatile item in the tin. Used dry, they behave like ordinary graphite. Activated with the included brush and a little water, they release a rich, dark wash that works beautifully for backgrounds and larger areas.

There are several ways to work with them. You can lay down tone and activate it in place, take graphite directly from the pencil tip for more control in smaller areas, or scribble the pencil dry onto a palette, mix with water there, and apply it like pan watercolor. That palette method produces a smoother, less patchy application and is a genuinely useful technique.

One important note: once water-soluble graphite dries, it does not erase. This makes it a much more permanent way of applying graphite, which is exactly why it works so well for backgrounds you want to layer on top of.

The jumbo and woodless pencils shine in a similar way. Lay them on their side for fast coverage of large areas, sharpen them to a fine point for detail, or scratch them on the included sanding block and work the resulting dust into the paper with a brush for smooth gradations. The blending stump earns its place too; it picks up enough graphite that you can use it to gently draw the faintest tones, useful for subtle shading on faces and skin.

Things to Consider Before Buying

The finished artwork drawn with this set came out well, and the process of switching between graphite formats, sanding off graphite dust, and layering values made the drawing faster and more enjoyable. Still, a few things are worth weighing up.

First, the 26-item count includes the erasers, sharpener, stump, and brush, not just pencils. That is normal for kits, but check the contents list so you know what you are getting. Second, if you already own 9000 pencils and standard erasers, some contents will duplicate what you have. Third, water-soluble graphite takes a little experimentation to use well, and the permanent nature of the dried wash means mistakes are harder to fix.

None of these are dealbreakers. The three erasers, in particular, are strong enough that they would be worth buying individually even without the set.

Buying Advice

For the cost per item, this set is excellent value for money, and that is hard to overstate. A single 9000 pencil plus a good eraser can cost a noticeable fraction of what this tin asks for the whole kit. If you are starting out in graphite drawing, replacing a scattered collection, or simply curious about water-soluble graphite and graphite sticks, buying the set is almost certainly cheaper and more coherent than assembling the pieces one by one.

If your needs are narrower, say you only want standard pencils, then a smaller 9000 tin may suit you better. But as a complete graphite studio in a tin, this set is easy to recommend.

Conclusion

The Faber-Castell 26-piece Pitt Graphite Set delivers a well-chosen tonal range, multiple graphite formats, and genuinely useful accessories, all backed by the quality the brand is known for. The water-soluble pencils open up fast background work, the jumbo and woodless graphite handle large areas with ease, and the eraser lineup is good enough to justify the set on its own. For most graphite artists, it is a purchase that will keep earning its place on the desk for years.