Genius at work: close-up

’Sleepy Lagoon’ desk
’Sleepy Lagoon’ desk, £5,700, by Kazuhiro Yamanaka, for Kazuhiro Yamanaka Office.
(Image credit: Paul Zak)

For our W*133 issue we scoured the globe to find the hottest desks on the market - and now its time to throw the lens on the stationary that topped their surfaces. Here's our pick of the best buys to sweeten the daily grind.

’Ursuline’ desk

’Ursuline’ desk, finished in walnut, £1,580, by Pierre Paulin, for Ligne Roset.

(Image credit: Paul Zak)

Letter opener & walnut base

(Image credit: Dominic Bell)

Clockwise from top, ‘Yew’ paperweight, £49, from Liberty. Perfect Pencil set, £390, by Graf von Faber-Castell, from William & Son. Letter opener & walnut base, £825, by James Purdey & Sons. Horn Beaker, £145, by James Purdey & Sons.

Wall clock, Gold-plated pen rest

(Image credit: Dominic Bell)

Clockwise from top, ‘Anything’ tape dispenser, £29, by Michael Sodeau and Suikosha, from Twentytwentyone. ‘Grid tape’, $14, by Kamoi Kakoshi Co, from The Shop at Cooper-Hewitt. Wall clock, from £70, by Hundreds Tens Units. AlessiPhone, £115, by Stefano Giovannoni, for Alessi. Gold-plated pen rest, £340, by Minimalux, from Liberty. ‘Gold pot’ (gold plated), £460, by Minimalux, from Darkroom. 

’Adelchi’ desk in gold-plated brushed steel

’Adelchi’ desk in gold-plated brushed steel, £30,305, limited edition of 100, by Armani Casa. 

(Image credit: Paul Zak)

Black gloss notebook, Tea cup and saucer, part of the ‘Black Basalt Tea Set’ collection

(Image credit: Dominic Bell)

Clockwise from top, Black gloss notebook, £75, from William & Son. Tea cup and saucer, part of the ‘Black Basalt Tea Set’ collection, £110, by Wedgwood, from Harrods. ‘Sirius’ ball, £1,800, by Baccarat. ‘Half scissor’ paperknife, £27.50, by ATYPYK, from Paperchase. XS hard drive, £100, by Sylvain Willenz, for Freecom. ‘Encre Noire Pour Elle’ perfume, limited edition, £615 for 60ml, by Lalique, from Harrods.

’Cubo Libre’ unfolding desk with integral chair

’Cubo Libre’ unfolding desk with integral chair, €8,900, by Francèsc Rifé, for Artelano.

(Image credit: Paul Zak)

‘Pencil colours’ box, Water pitcher

(Image credit: Dominic Bell)

From left, ‘Pencil colours’, £60, box of 36, by Düller, from Present & Correct. Water pitcher, €94, by Lobmeyr, from Gallery Fumi. ‘Elementaire’ silver tray, €150, by Christofle. ‘Falling in love’ light, €248, by Tobius Grau. 

’Vernon 14’ desk

’Vernon 14’ desk, £3,532, by Matt Elton, for ME Design.

(Image credit: Paul Zak)

‘Standards’ rulers, Perforated Calendar, Flat metal letter opener, Mixed tapes

(Image credit: Dominic Bell)

From left, ‘Standards’ rulers, £40 each, by Louise Naunton Morgan. ’Perforated Calendar’, £17, by Harrington and Squires. Flat metal letter opener, £15, Paperchase. Mixed tapes, $14, by Kamoi Kakoshi Co, from The Shop at Cooper-Hewitt. 

’HS2-PR’ desk

’HS2-PR’ desk, from £1,295, by Peter Lassen, for Montana, from Aram. 

(Image credit: Paul Zak)

Diary, calendar, headphones

(Image credit: Dominic Bell)

From left, ‘Production for Graphic Designers’, £23, by Alan Pipes (Laurence King). ’Natural’ calendar, NTD.318, £7, by Agua Design. ’Tanto’ headphones, €40, from Urbanears.

’Spoon’ table

’Spoon’ table, £871, by Antonio Citterio, for Kartell, from The Conran Shop.

(Image credit: Paul Zak)

Black lamp, Patterned tapes, diary

(Image credit: Dominic Bell)

From left, ‘Jetz black’ lamp, €310, by Axel Schmid, for Ingo Maurer. Patterned tapes, $18, by Kamoi, from The Shop at Cooper-Hewitt. A5 watercolour book, £13, by Moleskine, from Paperchase.

Desk

Desk, €3,200, by Jörg Schellmann, for Schellman Furniture. 

(Image credit: Paul Zak)

stationary blocks

(Image credit: Dominic Bell)

Clockwise from top, stationary blocks: small, €17; medium, €21; large, €24, all by D.Lab, for Design Incubation Centre, from National University of Singapore. Urban picnic box, £6, from UP Box. ‘Anything’ scissors, £26, by Michael Sodeau and Suikosha, from Twentytwentyone. ‘Bank’ pen, £13, from Mar Mar Co. Headphones, DKK375 (€50), from Ai Ai Ai. 

Rosa Bertoli was born in Udine, Italy, and now lives in London. Since 2014, she has been the Design Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees design content for the print and online editions, as well as special editorial projects. Through her role at Wallpaper*, she has written extensively about all areas of design. Rosa has been speaker and moderator for various design talks and conferences including London Craft Week, Maison & Objet, The Italian Cultural Institute (London), Clippings, Zaha Hadid Design, Kartell and Frieze Art Fair. Rosa has been on judging panels for the Chart Architecture Award, the Dutch Design Awards and the DesignGuild Marks. She has written for numerous English and Italian language publications, and worked as a content and communication consultant for fashion and design brands.