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.From its earliest days in 1915 and the official opening of the company in 1924 by Arnold Schweitzer, Caran d’Ache’s development has reflected its passion for the most beautiful materials.Why Caran d’Ache? Because 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 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.Caran d’Ache, founded in 1915 by Arnold Schweitzer, was a product of Switzerland’s long history of watchmaking and jewellery manufacture. Today, it is the epitome of superior quality and recognized expertise.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.