The cartridges and refills – the ink in them, and the construction and materials of the tips – are what make Caran d’Ache pens more than just a beautiful object, but also a piece of transcendent functionality.

Fountain Pen
Cartridges can be used interchangeably with the pump mechanism of the Caran d'Ache pen. Cartridges are closed by a small ball of glass, held inside the ink exit hole by glue or a very thin layer of plastic. When the cartridge is pressed into the pen (you'll hear a small click), a tiny pin pushes in the ball, which falls inside the cartridge. Comes in a pack of five. Each cartridge is laboratory tested before being approved for sale. Available in blue or black ink.

Ballpoint Pen
Caran d'Ache ballpoint refills are manufactured by high-precision machines. They have a stainless steel tip and a tungsten carbide rotating ball. The ink does not smudge, and each refill lasts for 600 pages of writing which is an impressively long run. Fits the Ecridor and the all-metal ballpoint pens.

Blue and black ink pens are available with a medium tip. Each sold individually.

Mechanical Pencil

Standard 0.7mm HB lead. On the European gradient system, HB is the exact middle point of hard, light-marking lead, and soft, black-marking lead. In the American system, HB is equivalent to a #2 pencil. 

Since buying the original Ecridor pencil factory in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1924, Caran d'Ache has been perfecting the mechanisms and aesthetics of their pens and pencils. Trade secrets are closely guarded, craftsmen are highly specialized, and the machines that make the nibs and tips are calibrated to turn out parts that can only work when precise to the smallest fraction of a millimeter.