Paul Smith customises Caran d'Ache’s 849 pen with colour

To celebrate Swiss pen makers Caran d’Ache’s 100th birthday, king of colour Paul Smith customises the brand’s iconic 849 design with ten limited edition colours.

(Image credit: Charlotte Crowston and Mihaela Berbecar)

By Ali Morris

last updated 23 August 2022

in Features

Design doyen Paul Smith has been a life-long fan of Caran d'Ache's seminal 849 ballpoint pen, so when the opportunity arose to create his own limited edition colourways for the Swiss brand's 100th anniversary, he jumped at it.

Famed for its hexagonal body and ultra-thin case, the 849 was first introduced in 1969 and has been gracing desks across the world ever since.

'I’ve used a Caran d’Ache pen for many years and to celebrate the 100th anniversary I have selected ten totally unique colours,' says Smith of his customised collection, which he has cannily coordinated with the muted pastel hues found in his S/S 2016 womenswear collection.

Packaged in a super-slim, embossed box wrapped with matching pink, blue, grey and green stripes, each pen is stamped with Smith's distinctive signature.

To further celebrate the occasion, Smith has gathered 100 of the Swiss brand's 849 pens in 100 different colours and presented them together in an exclusive box to form a Paul Smith stripe.

INFORMATION

The Paul Smith and Caran d’Ache pen will be available via selected outlets from October 2015

Ali Morris is a UK-based editor, writer and creative consultant specialising in design, interiors and architecture. In her 16 years as a design writer, Ali has travelled the world, crafting articles about creative projects, products, places and people for titles such as Dezeen, Wallpaper* and Kinfolk.