Pilot Automac

In 2011, Pilot released Automac Mechanical Pencil that features double knock and auto advance mechanism. The pencil continues the name from Pilot Automac E series from early 2000 combining the mechanisms used as early in their Automatic series in 1980’s. Automac is the kind of pencil that carries a rich history.

Auto advance mechanism doesn’t require any extra action to advance the lead. In another word, you can continue to write without clicking once for the whole lead. In 1980’s, Pilot, Pentel and UNI all came out with their own version of auto advance pencil, but Pilot’s vintage Automatic series seems to be remembered the most. The Automatic series was made in a small quantity and in recent auctions, they can go from 500 to 7000 dollars for a brand new condition.

In 2011, the release of Automac sparked a huge response among pencil collectors, but the pencil is much lesser known for everyone else 😅 But perhaps the release of Automac also inspired many brands. Shortly after Automac, many pencils with auto advance pencils were released — Pentel Orenz, Pentel Orenzenero, OHTO Conception, OHTO No-Noc, etc.