Accompanying the audacious Les Crayons de la maison Caran d’Ache series is a pencil box, offering four pencils that are adorned with palladium plated caps.
To my eye, the American Walnut box is very nicely finished:
The two parts of the box (closed by magnets) open to reveal a sloped pencil box:
If you are able to buy the pencils directly from Caran d’Ache, you can even get the pencils imprinted with up to six characters!
The palladium pencil caps are nice, and can be reused! Unfortunately the fit on one is not what I’d hope for:
The caps can be reused on replacement pencils:
Perhaps the nicest aspect of the box is the way it lines up (again held together with interior magnets). Caran d’Ache say the boxes are made by a professional furniture maker in Schwyz, Switzerland:
An overall assessment is challenging. The use of a precious metal (no doubt in minuscule quantity) to cap the pencils clearly brings to mind the superb silver capped Graf von Faber-Castell No. III pencil. The box is beautiful and practical. Yet in the end, we now know that the pencils are reconstituted wood, which I find innovative, but less than completely appealing.
Thank you for showing this nice set! The wooden box looks great with its slanted upper side, and the use of magnets is very clever. It’s a pity that one cap does not fit properly. Since this product is most likely not made in huge quantities it should have been noticeable in the final inspection. – Will you use these pencils?
Hello Gunther, thank you for the comment! It is indeed a nice box. I have used it, particularly the upper half, as a place to keep sharpeners and erasers handy. I’ve also used the pencils, but sparingly. I don’t really imagine purchasing replacements when they are gone, and part of their visual appeal may be lost when shortened. But, I am thinking I should be more active in using them. I wonder if a Tsunago could help fashion the replacement pencil?
What a beautiful box.
About the palladium plated cap – I wonder whether they thought ‘If Faber-Castell has silver plated we need to beat that’.
Hello Matthias, thank you for the comment! I wonder as well, and if we’ll see more in this line of products.
I recently got the 7th edition les Crayons de la maison and had the 4th edition for my 19th birthday. I didn’t even realize they are reconstituted wood and not the real deal. It’s kind of a disappointing revelation. Still lovely to look at but now I may actually use them as opposed to collecting them.