GorillaSharpener

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the M.A.D.Gallery, MB&F and Caran d’Ache have transformed one of Switzerland’s most familiar childhood objects into an unexpected piece of art. Meet the GorillaSharpener: a fully functional Caran d’Ache pencil sharpener reimagined as a muscular, knuckle-walking mechanical creature.

Released on World Gorilla Day, September 24th, it is inspired by MB&F’s mantra “A creative adult is a child who survived” and supports the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.

Since 1933, the Caran d’Ache Sharpening Machine has been a fixture of Swiss classrooms, helping generations of children turn their imagination into words and drawings. In the hands of MB&F creative designer Maximilian Maertens, that utilitarian object takes on an entirely new character: lifted onto powerful gorilla-like limbs, the sharpener tilts forward as if poised to move across the desk.

The GorillaSharpener began as a series of 2D sketches capturing the animal’s distinctive stance, before being translated into a 3D artwork. Maertens then worked through the technical constraints of moulding and construction to make that posture possible. Unlike Caran d’Ache’s traditional Sharpening Machines, which are designed to rest flat on a surface, the GorillaSharpener appears to hover above the desk on its stainless-steel and cast-iron limbs.

Finished in Alpine Frost blue, the GorillaSharpener combines zinc alloy, steel and chrome-plated mechanical components. Each piece is delivered in a special case, complete with an instruction booklet, a clamp for securing it to a desk or table, and a set of Caran d’Ache wooden pencils presented in special packaging featuring artwork by Maxime Schertenleib, a regular MB&F collaborator.

“I’d had the idea for the GorillaSharpener for quite some time,” shares Maertens. “Gorillas are fascinating animals – one of those animals you probably don’t want to encounter unexpectedly in nature. There was also another connection in my mind: our earlier DinoSharpener reminded me of Godzilla, and Godzilla needs a counterpart. Which is, of course, King Kong.”

The GorillaSharpener follows an earlier collaboration between Caran d’Ache and MB&F around the same iconic Sharpening Machine. In 2024, the two brands created the DinoSharpener, adding dinosaur-like legs to the familiar object to turn it into a light-hearted mechanical sculpture. The relationship between Caran d’Ache and MB&F goes back even further: in 2016, the two Swiss brands created Astrograph, an extraordinary rocket-inspired writing instrument.

Now the GorillaSharpener sits on your desk – where ideas are born – as a quiet reminder that even the smallest rituals can still carry a little wonder.

The GorillaSharpener is a limited edition of 300 pieces, available exclusively through the MB&F eShop, M.A.D.Galleries, MB&F LABs and the MB&F Lounge in New York.

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