Another example of an “early” Eberhard Faber Blackwing with an arrow cut from the ferrule, a reminder that the eraser is adjustable and can be pulled out. There is also a gold version with a painted black band.

One wonders how many ferrules were made during each production run, and to what extent design decisions were driven by cost (there were at least a dozen or more variations). To that end, how much did the cut-out arrow add to production time and expense?