Caran d'Ache (company)


Caran d'Ache is a Swiss manufacturing company of 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 Fabrique genevoise de crayons was founded in Geneva in 1915 when Arnold Schweitzer purchased the Ecridor Pencil Factory. In 1924, Arnold Schweitzer named his new company after Caran d'Ache, the nickname of the French satiric political cartoonist Emmanuel Poiré.
In 1929, Carl Schmid invented the Fixpencil, one of the first mechanical pencils which has been trademarked by Caran d'Ache. Caran d'Ache launched its watercolour pencil Prismalo in 1931 and its wax pastel Neocolor in 1952. In 1969, it created its emblematic office metal ballpoint pen 849.

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