CREATIVE ART MATERIALS Caran D'ache Luminance Colored Pencil Sets Set of 80 Wood Box (6901.476)

The media could not be loaded. I'm like those fraud guys who don't know anything about tennis and arrive their first class with equipments making them look like pro...^^;;My first time trying color pencils (not counting junior school...) and i bought Caran d'Ache Luminance, Prisma Colors Premier and Faber Castel Polychromos...I still 'd like to try Derwent LightFast, cs i took their 100% cotton paper and it is so amazing!Now back on the product:Luminance are super high end. First of all, the price now around 250 USD is by very far the best offer. (sort of half price compared to other shops).I was worried it would not be an original product but it seems totally legit to me. Sure i never had color pencils before, so can't really compare. But it looks really original from the flyers inserted in the box, to all other details and quality.+ Texture is great, soft, blendable et overlapping easily+ colors are strong and vibrant+ The pallet is enough for pretty much anything+ The reference of the pencil is quite easy to read+ They dont brake easily eventhough they are quite soft- The price is also impacted by the luxury American wood shipped to Switzerland to build those pencils. I am more interested by the color istelf and would rather not pay the high price for wood that finishes in shards in my trash.- They are consumed pretty fast- If you use them alone, not easy for small details- Only the top of the pencils shows the color. It is still OK but not the easiest pencils to chose the color quickly.*Summary: definitely a high end product with great performence. If you want them, in 2023 the best price by far is on this page.Before i finish, let me give a few insight how they compare with others i have:Faber Castel PolychromosPolychromos are great and their 120 pcs box got such a great choice of colors. They are also quite hard, with the benefit of being a lot better for smaller details andto last a lot longer.But they also are the worst pencil to read the reference on. They definitely require you to print and stick a label with their name on it for easy reading.I would not have Polychromos alone, they are not versatile enough. Great for details and shapes. But not easy for blurr effect and the drawing movements are very hard to hide. Not smooth enough.However, used with any soft pencils, they are an amazing addition!PrismaColor Premier:Build quality is clearly under the other brands, but they are also cheaper so this is fine. I did not have the same issues than some other people mentionned (twisted, broken, excentred, missing colors and duplicate colors etc.).I found them to be the most versatile. If i could have only one brand would probably be this one, because they can do pretty much everything. Their covering power is also so strong, they can mark above pretty much any layer.But man... Their life span is really short. They consume themselves faster than a candle. In that regard i am not sure they are the cheapest in the end.Sure buying the Prisma Color official sharpener helps. But it is still very quick to finish. Not mentionning that with so many colors and the need to sharpen them every couples minutes, manual sharpener is a real pain.

although not cheap by any means, the best pencils on the market. Vibrant colors, blends amazingly. Like butter on paper. Others I have used are scratchy and dull. I will not use anything else from here on out.

Very happy with the pencil set. Arrived in perfect condition thanks to being very well packed.

What a wonderful colored pencil s eat. Heads and tails above any other brand. I love the way they shade and blend. What a joy to work with. Makes my art look so professional. I love these pencils.

If you're on the fence about "investing" in this set of colored pencils in the wooden box, don't hesitate. It's absolutely worth the price. If you're going to spend over $200 on pencils, you want them to be protected from breakage during transit. I would've been sick if I got a crushed cardboard box or broken pencils. The photos don't do justice to the beauty of the box. The latches are heavy brass. They look kind of cheesy in the photos but they are strong and snap shut very securely. The pencils are all uniformly sharpened and glide across paper like a dream. So glad my mom endorsed my decision to spring for the presentation box set.

Wonderful pigment. Good feeling pencil. Treat yourself.

Beautiful in all ways! Love everything about my order and these pencils and the lovely case. No cons...just pros. Arrived on time. One pencil had shifted forward and its tip was slightly broken. Not a deal-breaker for me.

I know there are a lot of people out there that think spending this kind of money on colored pencils is just a waste of money and in all honestly, depending on just how serious you are about your artwork and the quality of your artwork....well, you may just be right. If you just want a cheap set of pencils to play around with, especially with adult coloring becoming so popular, you can buy a set of Crayola colored pencils for like $5-$10. That being said, if your really serious about your artwork and want the highest quality, make no mistake about it, spending this kind of money on colored pencils is worth every last cent. Many of the great techniques one can use with colored pencils isn't even possible with the cheaper pencils. Things like layering, blending, etc.Personally, I started out using Prismacolor pencils as they are a good mid quality pencil and are much more affordable than your high end pencils like Faber Castell and Caran d'Ache. I went to art school for photography, but I also love to draw and have been doing so for most of my life, although I really didn't get serious about it until I went to art school. Pretty much everyone in the drawing department used Prismacolor pencils and copic markers so my first big set of colored pencils was naturally from Prismacolor. They are great pencils and I actually still use Prismacolor pencils from time to time even to this day, but as the years went on I got curious about other brands and started experimenting with higher quality brands like Faber Castell and Caran d"Ache and I am really thankful that my curiosity got me to do so as the difference in quality from the mid level pencils to the high level pencils is really something to behold. Yes, they are expensive, but once you start using them and you see first hand the difference in quality...well, chances are you will wind up buying more, not look back regretting the money you spent. Of all the different colored pencils I have tested, my single favorite is without question Caran d'Arch Luminance. I also really like Faber Castell Polychromos, but Caran d'Ache's Luminance line is the line I use when I want the absolute best possible quality. The pigments are just absolutely beautiful and they have the perfect smooth feel to them, not to hard and not too soft.Honestly, even if your only into adult coloring, I would recommend at least testing a few of these pencils out. You can buy them individually from various art stores like Dick Blick so you don't have to spend a fortune to be able to buy a small set of primary type colors. I openely admit, even I have enjoyed some of the adult coloring books that have come to market. I am a big comic art fan and I really enjoyed the Marvel Civil War coloring book and DC's Batman Hush coloring book. And yes, I still used my higher end pencils even for those.Bottom line - In my opinion, Caran d'Ache Luminance pencils are the best colored pencil's on the market and I have tested pretty much every brand I could get my hands on over the last 10 years. The pigment is stunning and they really do have just a perfect smooth feel to them. The lead is perfectly bonded to the wood all the way through the pencil, which is actually California Cedar, so you won't have pieces of your lead falling out like you can get with cheaper pencils. I highly recommend learning how to hand sharpen pencils if your going to use these. Electric sharpeners will just chew through them really fast. The only downside to these pencils is once you get used to the quality, its very hard going back to cheaper brands.