Life-Long was a Mentmore trading style, although Conway Stewart became the sole agents for Life-Long pencils in 1933.
This pencil is constructed in Silver, it is clearly stamped 'Sterling Silver' around the finial. In excellent, fully working condition, the pencil is free of any dints or personalisation.
The pencil is longitudinally engraved with groups of fine wavy lines and has a blank cartouche.
The mechanism is a 'continuous twist' type, it operates by turning the cap clockwise to expel and anti clockwise to retract the lead. A new lead has been fitted and it works well with a smooth action. It is a very tactile item, solid Silver has a distinctive 'warm' feel.
Mechanical pencils have seen an upsurge in popularity recently with new models ranging from a few pounds to over two hundred pounds. The vast majority of these new pencils, however, use the simple, and cheap to make, 'click action' clutch mechanism. The original rotary mechanism, as in this pencil, is much more robust and is generally only found on the more expensive models. Only the very best modern pencils can compare with this Life-Long.