Caran d'Ache () is a Swiss
manufacturing company of
art materials and
writing instruments. The company, established in 1915, produces a wide range of products including
colored pencils,
graphite pencils,
pastels,
fountain pens,
ballpoint pens,
mechanical pencils,
markers,
gouache paints, and ink cartridges.
History
The company was established as "Fabrique Genevoise de Crayons Ecridor" in
Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
in 1915.
[Meet the brand]
on Cult Pens When Arnold Schweitzer took over the company in 1924, he renamed it after
Caran d'Ache, the pseudonym of the Russian-French satiric political cartoonist Emmanuel Poiréwho in turn took his pseudonym from (), the
Russian word for '
pencil', itself of Turkic origin.
In 1974, the company moved its production center to
Thonex, a municipality of the
Canton of Geneva. The company is known to include precious diamonds in the pens, and for that, in 1999, the ''Modernista Diamonds'' pen was included in the ''
Guinness Book of Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...
'' as "the most expensive pen in the world".
[Band story - Caran d'Ache]
22 Oct 2019
In June 2012, the owner Jacques Hübscher handed over the management to his daughter Carole Hübscher.
Products
Some of Caran d'Ache products developed over the years include:
[Caran d'Ache celebrates 100 years]
on Craft Business, 2015
* ''Technograph'', the classic pencil introduced in the 1920s, the most longstanding product to date
* ''Fixpencil'', a
mechanical pencil invented by Carl Schmid in 1929.
* ''Prismalo'', the first
watercolor
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting metho ...
pencil in the world, launched in 1931.
* ''Neocolor'' (1952), a wax oil pencil, changed in 1972 to make it water-soluble
* ''Ecridor'' (1953), originally intended to a be an alternative to the ''Fixpencil'', then added a ballpoint pen to its line to redefine it as a luxury product
* ''849''
ballpoint pen of 1969, successor of the ''Ecridor''
* ''Madison'', the first
fountain pen made by the firm
* ''6901 Luminance'' (2010), a new range of colored pencils
Gallery
File:Caran d'Ache Farbstifte.JPG, Coloured pencils
File:Carandache Ecridor.jpg, A luxury pen
File:Caran d'Ache Filzstifte.JPG, Felt-tip pens
File:Caran dache fixpencil 0012.jpg, A type of mechanical pencil
File:Caran d'Ache (company) Pablo Paints - Feb 2013.jpg, Acrylic paint tubes
File:Caran d'Ache's NEOPASTEL 12 colors.jpg, Oil pastels
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caran D'ache (Company)
Manufacturing companies based in Geneva
Fountain pen and ink manufacturers
Pencil brands
Gouache brands
Design companies established in 1915
Swiss companies established in 1924
Swiss brands
Manufacturing companies established in 1915
Swiss companies established in 1915