Royal Rod: Smythson's Wafer Gilt Pencils
Although
best known for the leather-bound notebooks which we covered in Top Three:
The Best Fine Stationery Notebooks, those who use Smythson products know
that many of their journals, leather writing folders and other products often
come with one of the Bond Street icon’s classical gold-plated mechanical pencils.
Slender
and compact, Smythson’s Wafer Gilt Pencils are designed to slip into a diary or
organizer. Featuring a twist action mechanism to expel their large 1.18 mm lead
refills, these mechanical pencils are ideal for jotting down notes or sketching
in a notebook.
Like the
Mercedes-Benz Galenderwagen to SUV enthusiasts and Richard Mille watches to
serious watch collectors, the Smythson Wafer Gilt Pencil easily flies under the
radar, but to those who know, it is a truly royal writing implement. How often
have The Prince of Wales and The Duke of Edinburgh reached for a Smythson Gilt
Pencil at their desks? How familiar must they be to the Queen, whom Smythson
supplies with stationery by Royal Warrant? The throngs outside of Buckingham Palace
wonder with amazement at the royal lifestyle, but in reality, the accessories of
royalty are available to those who seek them out.
Even the
refills for the Wafer Gilt Pencil come with extraordinary pomp. Arriving from
London in Smythson’s famous blue boxes, wrapped with tissue paper, swaddled in
a blue fabric dust cover, and encased in a glass bottle with a cork stopper. Just
having these object lying around on one’s desk creates a sense of connection to
something older, something special, to a time and place where the rituals of
life where grounded by the beautiful, not liberated technology. Where the
substance and weight of quality mattered more than the efficiency of accomplishing
something rapidly. And for those who know, it is this link which is most special
of all. It is not merely a lifestyle, but the richness of life, itself, which
is the goal of the true connoisseur.
Smythson
www.smythson.com