Graphite Darkness Comparison Chart
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A "6B" is not a measurement. It's a label each manufacturer prints to its own recipe, which is why one brand's 6B can be visibly darker than another's, and why "which pencils are darker?" has never had a tidy answer. So we took our own stock, laid every dark grade onto the same sheet at matched pressure, and wrote down what we saw. This is the darkest end of the major lines, set side by side.
Why the grade on the pencil can't be trusted between brands
The B/H scale (9H hardest and palest, through HB and F in the middle, out to 9B and beyond at the soft, dark end) is an industry convention, not a calibrated standard. No ISO says a 6B must reflect a fixed amount of light. Each maker blends graphite, clay and binder to hit what it considers a 6B, then numbers the rest of the range around that anchor. The result is that the ladders don't line up between brands.
Two things follow, and they are why this page exists:
- The same number means different darkness across brands. Japanese flagship lines in particular tend to run softer and richer for a given number than the older European drawing pencils.
- The ranges themselves stop in different places. Some lines top out at 8B, one reaches 12B, and one breaks the scale with a special black core. So "the darkest pencil" depends on whether you mean the highest number or the blackest mark.
The chart: darkest end of each line
This is the soft, dark end of the lines we stock and get asked about most. The "full span" column reflects the grades we list rather than every grade a factory has ever made. "Runs for the number" is our hand-comparison verdict from laying the grades side by side: whether that brand's number flatters you (runs dark) or plays it safe (runs light) relative to the pack.
| Line | Origin | Darkest grade we stock | Full B-to-H span | Runs for the number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mitsubishi Hi-uni | Japan | 10B | 10B–10H (22 grades) | Runs dark & smooth |
| Staedtler Mars Lumograph 100 | Germany | 8B single / 12B in the tin | 12B–10H (24 grades) | Highest number on the market; mid-dark per grade |
| Faber-Castell Castell 9000 | Germany | 8B | 8B–6H (16 grades) | Runs controlled; conservative dark |
| General's Kimberly 525 | USA | 9XXB | 9XXB, then 9B–6H | Breaks the scale at the top (special black core) |
| Cretacolor Cleos Fine Art | Austria | 9B | 9B–5H | Runs dark for the price |
| Bruynzeel Design Graphite | Netherlands | 9B | 9B–2H | Honest mid-range dark |
| Tombow Mono 100 | Japan | 6B | 6B–9H (17 grades) | Runs dark & very smooth for the number |
| Blackwing | Japan-made (US brand) | No B grades — sold by firmness | Firmness tiers, not a numbered scale | See note below |
Blackwing doesn't fit the scale. It's the cult name people expect to find here, so it's worth being straight: Blackwing pencils aren't graded in B numbers at all. They're sold by feel, from the firm 602 through the balanced Pearl to the soft Matte (the "original"), and even the softest sits roughly where a 2B to 4B drawing pencil would for darkness, not down at the 9B end. They're built for writing and an expressive line, not for the deepest blacks. If maximum darkness is the goal, Blackwing isn't the tool; if a dark, characterful everyday line is, it's hard to beat.
Which pencil brands run darker for the same stated grade?
If you put a Japanese flagship and an older European drawing pencil of the same number on the same paper, the Japanese mark is usually the darker, softer one. A Hi-uni 6B or Mono 100 6B lays down richer and creamier than a Castell 9000 6B or a classic Lumograph 6B, both of which feel tighter and a touch lighter for the number. That isn't a fault in the German pencils; it's a design choice. The 9000 and the Lumograph are built around consistency and point retention across a long range, so each grade is deliberately reined in. The Hi-uni and the Mono 100 are built to feel luxurious, so they lean soft and dark.
Rule of thumb from our bench: Japanese soft grades run roughly a grade darker than their European equivalents. A Japanese 6B reads close to a European 7B in real-world darkness. Paper and pressure shift everything, so treat it as a working guide rather than a law, but it's a reliable way to translate between brands.
How dark is a 9XXB versus a standard 9B?
This is the question that started the whole project. General's Kimberly 9XXB, sold as "extra-extra-black", isn't simply one notch past a 9B. It's a separate, extra-soft formulation with a higher proportion of graphite in the core, so it deposits more material per stroke and reads noticeably blacker and flatter (less sheen) than an ordinary 9B. On our strip it was the deepest single-pass black of any numbered wood-cased pencil we laid down.
The trade-offs follow straight from the recipe: it's soft. The point goes fast, it crumbles more than a 9B, and it smudges at the lightest provocation. It's a specialist for the darkest shadows and final accents, not a pencil you'd shade a whole drawing with. If you want the blackest possible graphite mark, the 9XXB is the answer. If you want dark you can control, a normal 9B is the saner choice.
→ See the General's Kimberly 525 9XXB and check the latest Amazon price
Is a Japanese 10B darker than a European 8B?
Yes, comfortably. The Mitsubishi Hi-uni 10B sits two nominal grades above an 8B to begin with, and because it's a Japanese soft grade it also runs dark for its number. Against a Castell 9000 8B or a single Lumograph 8B, the Hi-uni 10B is the clearly darker, creamier mark, and far nicer to push around the page.
The honest caveat: 10B is the darkest grade Hi-uni makes, but it is not the highest number on the market. The Lumograph range climbs to 12B, which you'll find in the 24-pencil tin rather than as a loose single. So a Lumograph 12B outranks the Hi-uni 10B on paper, though it's a firmer, more "German" dark than the buttery Japanese one. Darkest to draw with: Hi-uni 10B. Highest number you can buy: Lumograph 12B.
→ See the Mitsubishi Hi-uni 10B and check the latest Amazon price
→ See the Staedtler Mars Lumograph 100 8B (the easiest UK single buy) — or get the Lumograph tin of 24 (12B–10H) for the record-holding 12B
→ See the Faber-Castell Castell 9000 8B for the controlled European dark
Which is the single darkest wood-cased graphite pencil?
It depends on what you're asking, and the chart makes the two answers clear:
- Highest B-number you can buy: the Staedtler Mars Lumograph 12B. No mainstream wood-cased line prints a higher grade.
- Blackest mark on the page: the General's Kimberly 9XXB, thanks to that special extra-soft, extra-black core that lays down denser than the number suggests.
If we had to hand one person one pencil and call it "the darkest," it'd be the 9XXB for sheer black, with the Lumograph 12B as the record-holder by grade. One reality check worth keeping, though: even a 12B can't match the matte black of charcoal or a dedicated carbon pencil, because graphite always reflects a little light as sheen. Graphite's ceiling is "very dark with a slight shine". If you need a true light-swallowing black and don't need to erase cleanly, that's charcoal's job.
How do soft grades compare for smudge and sheen?
Darkness isn't free. The softer and blacker a grade, the more it smears and the more it can sheen, the silvery glare you get when packed graphite catches the light and your deepest shadow suddenly reads grey. Two grades that look equally dark can behave very differently here, and this is where the brands separate.
- Japanese soft grades (Hi-uni 8B–10B, Mono 100 6B) are dark and smooth, but that smoothness burnishes: lean on them and you'll raise sheen. Best laid down in light layers.
- General's 9XXB is the standout for matte black. Its formulation reads flatter, with less sheen, which is exactly why it's reached for in the deepest darks. The catch is that it's the worst smudger of the lot.
- European soft grades (Lumograph, 9000) smudge a little less and hold off sheen reasonably well because they're firmer for the number. The same conservatism that makes them look slightly lighter makes them better-behaved.
- Cretacolor Cleos and Bruynzeel Design sit in the sensible middle: properly dark at 9B without the drama of a specialist black, and good value for filling sketchbooks.
Practical upshot: work light-to-dark, save your darkest grade for final accents only, keep a barrier sheet under your drawing hand, and fix the finished piece if it'll be handled.
→ See the Cretacolor Cleos Fine Art 9B
→ See the Bruynzeel Design Graphite 9B
Grades and their uses, at a glance
If you came here to work out which grade to actually pick up, this is the short version. Darkness rises left to right; control and erasability fall the same way.
| Grade band | Character | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 9H–3H | Hard, pale, fine, holds a needle point | Technical work, light construction lines, transfer |
| 2H–HB | Balanced, clean, erasable | Writing, exams, drafting, everyday notes |
| B–3B | Darker but still controllable | Sketching, general drawing, expressive writing |
| 4B–6B | Soft, rich, starts to smudge | Shading, tone, life drawing |
| 7B–10B | Very soft, deep, smears readily | Deep shadow, dramatic contrast, final accents |
| 12B / 9XXB | Specialist extremes | The single darkest marks; accents only |
If you're shopping specifically for the deep end, see our companion guide to the darkest pencils you can actually buy, and explore every grade we've catalogued in the Specimen Data-Base.
How we built this chart
Everything above comes from our own stock, compared by hand: each line's grades laid onto the same paper at matched pressure and read side by side under flat light. The ranges shown are the grades we stock and list; the "runs dark / runs light" verdicts and the cross-brand comparisons are House of Graphite's hand assessment, not lab instrument readings, so treat them as a trained eye's calibration rather than a spectrophotometer's. If you spot a discrepancy with a pencil in your own hand, tell us. This chart gets better the more eyes are on it.
Frequently asked
Which pencil is darker, 9B or 12B? The 12B. It's the higher grade and, in the Staedtler Lumograph that makes it, the darker of the two. The number isn't the whole story, though: a special core like General's 9XXB can out-black a plain 9B, and a Japanese soft grade can out-black a European one of the same number.
Do all brands' grades match up? No. The B/H scale isn't standardised, so a 6B from one maker can be noticeably darker or lighter than another's. Japanese flagship lines generally run roughly a grade darker for the number than older European drawing pencils.
What's the darkest Japanese pencil? The Mitsubishi Hi-uni 10B, the darkest grade of the Hi-uni line and the soft pencil most artists end up reaching for.
What's the darkest pencil overall? By grade number, the Staedtler Mars Lumograph 12B. By sheer blackness of mark, General's Kimberly 9XXB. Both beat any standard 9B.
Why does my darkest pencil go shiny and grey? That's sheen: packed graphite reflecting light. Use lighter layers, ease off the pressure, and reserve your softest grade for final accents. Matte-black specialists like the 9XXB sheen less than smooth Japanese soft grades.
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