Seria Sesgrad Thick Grip Mechanical Pencil Review: What 110 Yen Gets You

Introduction

Budget stationery rarely gets a proper review, but 100-yen shop shelves are full of writing tools that deserve a closer look. This time the focus is the Sesgrad Thick Grip Mechanical Pencil, bought at Seria for 110 yen including tax. Sesgrad is the basic series of Lemon Co., a Tokyo-based brand founded in 1977 that pursues simple, practical designs suited to both business and everyday use.

First Impressions

The name says exactly what you get: a thick-grip mechanical pencil, and the packaging promises a comfortable, stable writing feel. That kind of clear, fast-to-read labeling makes sense for the quick-paced environment of a 100-yen store.

Out of the box, the first thing you notice is how light it is. The design has a vaguely familiar silhouette that calls to mind a certain position in a major manufacturer’s lineup, which is part of why it drew attention in the first place.

Build and Design Details

The body uses PVC and ABS resin, and the brand name is printed in large text on the barrel. At this size the printing feels unnecessary and contributes to the cheap impression the pen gives off. It comes in black and white, with 0.5mm lead as the only option.

A few finishing issues stand out. The silver center ring already shows paint wear, likely shaved down during burr removal. Worse, the grip has two visible burrs left on it, plus noticeable parting lines. Even at this price, quality control like that feels below par.

Not everything is rough, though. The grip is labeled as rubber on the package but is fairly firm, with almost no tackiness, so it should resist picking up dust. Four grooves near the grip add extra anti-slip effect, and the tapered section makes it very easy to hold. The mouth cone is a long resin piece with metallic-style finishing.

Inside there is a familiar two-prong resin chuck, with a three-prong resin structure inside the cone that supports the lead. The grip pulls off easily for access.

Mechanism and Operation

The package calls this a double-knock mechanism, but structurally it is not. A true double knock separates the actions of extending the sleeve and the lead: a strong click extends the sleeve, a soft click advances the lead, and another strong click retracts the sleeve. Here, both sleeve and lead move together with any knock, and the sleeve only retracts if you press the tip in while the knock is engaged. That is a pipe-slide mechanism.

The knock feel is muted and soft, with no crisp clicky switch sensation, and it is nearly silent, so it works well as a quiet-knock pencil. One knock advances a slightly generous amount of lead. The knock cap twists off, revealing a surprisingly thin eraser, and there are no lead size markings on it. The clip has an unusual shape with three lines running across it; it is long and reasonably flexible.

Specs and Balance

Key measurements: overall length 145mm, weight 14.6g, maximum barrel diameter 14.5mm, with the center of gravity near the middle. That balance is one of its quiet strengths, especially combined with the thick grip.

Writing Experience

The verdict: better than expected. For a lightweight resin-chuck pencil, the thick barrel and well-centered balance add up to a genuinely pleasant writing feel. The lead offers a soft, forgiving touch rather than a hard scratchy one, and the light weight makes long sessions less tiring.

One habit worth adopting: since it uses a 0.5mm HB-style lead, write with light pressure rather than pressing hard. Held lightly, it delivers a smooth, stable line with none of the wobble you might fear from a resin chuck.

Buying Advice

At 110 yen, this pencil manages to deliver the quality its price allows, and it is perfectly usable day to day. The main caveat is that it still feels cheap: the burrs on the grip, the rattling knock cap that clatters while writing (though vibration does not reach the tip, so the writing feel is unaffected), and the uninspired design all hold it back. A little more care would have made it something special even at this price.

Buy it if you want a comfortable, lightweight pencil for everyday notes and are not bothered by cosmetic flaws. Skip it if fine finishing and looks matter to you; spending slightly more elsewhere gets you cleaner execution.

Conclusion

The Sesgrad Thick Grip Mechanical Pencil has an almost toy-like, budget impression, but for the price it delivers the essentials: good balance, a grippy stable hold, and a soft, fatigue-resistant writing feel. Its flaws are real, chiefly the rough finishing and plain design, yet none of them get in the way of actually using it. As a first look at 100-yen shop mechanical pencils, it proves that affordable does not have to mean unusable, and this corner of the stationery market is worth exploring further.