Polychromos are oil-based colored pencils built for permanence — pigments rated for unsurpassed lightfastness, meaning artwork made with them resists fading for decades rather than years. A 3.8mm SV-bonded lead, secured the full length of a Californian cedar casing, gives them the same break resistance Faber-Castell built into its graphite line.

Buttery, soft color laydown blends and layers without the waxy bloom that develops on cheaper wax-based pencils over time, and the full 120-color range is coordinated with Faber-Castell's watercolor pencils and pastels for mixed-media work. Colors are individually rated for lightfastness, so professional-grade permanence isn't a guess.