Shaping Beauty

img.0Mario Botta, Swiss Architect

The Fixpencil® isn’t simply one more writing and drawing tool. It is an exceptional invention founded on one hundred years of Caran d’Ache know-how.

Invented in 1929 by Carl Schmid, an engineer from Geneva, the Fixpencil® was developed in an era when supplies of the cedar wood, needed to make pencils, were beginning to dwindle. Hence the idea to create a very precise writing and drawing instrument making simple and efficient use of the graphite leads directly. As the world’s first mechanical pencil fitted with a patented clutch mechanism, more than 25 models have been developed throughout its life, enjoying global success.

img.1The Fixpencil®, a Swiss icon

img.2The Fixpencil®, a Swiss icon

The innovative hexagonal shape of the Fixpencil®, inspired by the shape of the pencils, has become the essential DNA of Caran d’Ache writing and drawing instruments. Its unparalleled technical features, its versatility and the diversity of the leads available have impressed generations of architects, students, engineers and designers including renowned professionals.

img.3The Fixpencil®, a Swiss icon

Having become a genuine icon of Swiss design, it was honoured in 2005 with a stamp issued by Swiss Post.

img.4The Fixpencil®, a Swiss icon 

Fixpencil® and Mario Botta, a daily symbiosis

A fan of the Fixpencil® for decades, the famous Swiss architect Mario Botta uses his favourite instrument every day to draw, sketch and invent. Seeing it literally as an extension of his hand, the architect admits that it facilitates a “direct link between thought and the result on the paper” while maintaining a crafted proximity “that does not give way to a global approach”. Through its design and qualities, the Fixpencil® therefore becomes a genuine source of inspiration. 

img.5The Fixpencil®, a Swiss icon

img.6The Fixpencil®, a Swiss icon

img.7The Fixpencil®, a Swiss icon