First official store Caran D’Ache to open in Bucharest

The well-known writing instruments Swiss based company has opened its first official store in Romania, in Bucharest, on 118 Calea Victoriei. The total investment was almost EUR 100,000 and the brand is distributed exclusively through Exenza Concept.

Caran d’Ache has a special link to the worlds of design, painting and writing: its name is a reference to the most important tool in drawing. A leading artist of the time was a Russian, Emmanuel Poiré, and in his native tongue, “Karandash” means a pencil. It is possible that neither he nor Arnold Schweitzer, the founder of Caran d’Ache, knew the true origins of the word and they would be delighted to know that it comes from the Turkish “kara tash” meaning “black stone” the natural pigment that makes marks. It is graphite, the material that helped to develop drawing and writing and is so valuable for artists and for Caran d’Ache pencils.

The company is the country’s only manufacturer of pencils, fine-arts materials and luxury writing instruments. It is a symbol of Swiss technical excellence, precision, reliability and innovation.

Each product is created by hand in the Geneva workshops and brings together the traditional expertise of master craftsmen and the performance of computer-assisted machine tools.

In the Bucharest store, the latest limited edition was brought: the Caelograph (in picture), a RON 13.000 piece that is an instrument for writing and for observation, symbolizing the union of arts and science, a compelling tribute to astronomy. Caran d’Ache Caelograph Alpha 30 limited edition Fountain Pen features a chart of the sky that is delicately engraved on night blue Chinese lacquer impregnated with silver particles. The grooves on the cap and writing block are the hour lines and the pens tip is embellished with a compass rose. The barrel has 51 constellations and 353 stars are delicately engraved on midnight blue Chinese lacquer impregnated with particles of aluminium. A semi-transparent sleeve is superimposed on the sky chart indicating the horizon line, the other compass points, the Zenith and the latitude.