In 1872 Simon Tissot Dupont bought a workshop that created leather briefcases for diplomats and businessmen, thus founding the company that took his name. In 1919, he handed his business over to his two sons, who redirect the company into a focus of high quality travel cases and accessories. They gathered together a group of highly skilled craftsman so that by 1930, the company was using only the most noble of materials: crocodile skin, ivory, tortoiseshell, gold and silver. They were producing about ten elaborate cases per month, which all went to supply their clients: the French aristocracy, kings, emperors, maharajahs, and bankers. In 1935, concerned about reducing the weight of their cases, they replaced the enamel with lacquer, enlisting the assistance of a Russian who had learned the craft on his travels to China. He trained the workers and S.T. Dupont’s trademark has ever after been the precise art of lacquer. As wars and years went by, with fluctuations in available materials, they diversified by developing lighters, and launching their first gas lighter in 1952 and their first lacquer pen in 1976. From there, they secured their reputation with luxury pieces made from precious metals and some of the finest Chinese lacquer work in the world. The company is still based in Faverges, Dupont's family home at the base of the French Alps. Here you can expect to find only the best in personal luxuries, including writing instruments, smoking accessories, and watches.