A beautiful rollerball from this limited series made of palladium.
The asymmetrical Deep Guilloche design attracts and reflects the light along the entire length of its body (14.3cm) to create a modern decoration.
The Olympio collection brings back the essence of writing with sober and refined elegance, its simple and pleasant handling is well balanced.
ST Dupont, or better known as Simon Tissot-Dupont, is the man behind the famous Parisian brand of luxury cigar lighters and cigar cutters. Prior to this, he was the man behind the camera, the photographer of Napoleon III at the early age of 25. It was during this time, in the mid-1800s, that Dupont learned the ropes of Parisian luxury and high-end fashion. That same year, he began producing luxury travel boots for European elites. And so, this story begins in a workshop in Rue Dieu, Paris in 1872.
After a decade of manufacturing high-quality leather briefcases, Dupont’s products became a staple among the highest social circles. In 1884, it became a supplier to one of the world’s largest department stores, Les Grands Magasins du Louvre. For 35 years, Simon Tissot-Dupont led the industry as the leading producer of high-quality leather bags. He had established his market and solidified his personalised initials and intricate details as the trademarks of the famous ST Dupont brand.
In 1919, Dupont passed the company to his two sons, Lucien and André. The brothers, being naturally business savvy, changed the workforce at ST Dupont with a stronger staff of craftsmen including goldsmiths, carpenters, engravers, leather craftsmen, lacquer workers and locksmiths. Lucien and André continued to produce travel cases and accessories and eventually moved the factory to the family’s hometown of Faverges. The factory remains in Faverges, at the foot of the Alps. The municipality is close to Lake Annecy, the third largest lake in France. With its pure atmosphere and natural landscape, the lake was always something that inspired Simon Tissot-Dupont; a place that remains an inspiration for the company’s progressive environmental and sustainability ethos today.
10 years after acquiring the company and moving the workshop to the Alps, Lucien Tissot-Dupont went to New York to present the ST Dupont travel cases at Louis Cartier’s Fifth Avenue boutique. The trip was an extraordinary success and set another precedent for luxury travel accessories. With the market downturn in the foreground, Lucien was able to move his target market to an audience that was not affected by the depression. The consumer became even more elitist and, as orders soared, ST Dupont was ready for innovations. Lucien developed a new process for treating the fine leathers used in his boots and travel cases. The diamond tanning technique uses diamond powder to create a more durable and flexible effect on the leather, a procedure that is still used today.
By 1934, the brothers were 15 years old. Lucien’s motto became «Make it beautiful. Make it expensive. Make it innovative» and the client list was there to prove it. Among some of his notable creations were Humphrey Bogart’s lightweight travel bag aboard the actor’s yacht, the Santana, a custom travel case for the wedding of Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) and the «Riviera» bag for Miss Audrey Hepburn. When the Maharajah of Patiala ordered 100 solid gold cigarette lighters to be included in 100 evening bags, ST Dupont was challenged to design the world’s first luxury lighter.
What makes ST Dupont a luxury brand?
When the company began producing the lighter in the early 1950s, a mistake was made that caused excessive friction between two of its moving parts. Surprised by the error, the company distributed the defective production. Consumers received the lighters and noticed a delightful «ping» when they opened them. The noise quickly became the attribute that created the originality of ST Dupont. The «ping» is so popular that in later years their other collections would be inspired by the infamous noise.
What makes an ST Dupont product a luxury product is not just the brand noise or the signature logo, it’s the quality. It is no secret that the company is labelled as a luxury brand, but it is a number of factors that mark its high quality. Hours of work go into each item, handmade in the foothills of the Alps, one of the most exquisite natural environments in France. The materials alone are superb, carefully selected and assembled with the utmost care and attention to detail.
