I bought these beauties second hand a few months ago. A full 36 set of Karisma 'soft lead pencils of the finest quality'. Made by Berol in both England and the USA. They came in at £125 but I have seen them sold for much more. These highly blendable colours are highly sort after. The box contains:
Indigo Blue 901
True Blue 903
Light Blue 904
Peacock Green 907
Grass Green 909
Olive Green 911
Apple Green 912
Green Bice 913
Cream 914
Lemon Yellow 915
Canary Yellow 916
Yellow Orange 917
Orange 918
Light Green 920
Vermillion 921
Scarlet Red 922
Scarlet Lake 923
Carmine Red 926
Blush 928
Pink 929
Violet 932
Blue Violet 933
Black 935
Tuscan Red 937
White 938
Peach 939
Yellow Ochre 942
Burnt Ochre 943
Burnt Umber 947
Sepia 948
Silver 949
Light Violet 956
Light Aqua 992
Bright purple 995
Grape 996
Yellowed Orange 1002
To which I can add in loose format:
Chartreuse 989
Spanish Orange 1003
Violet 1007
Dahlia Purple 1009
Pink Rose 1018
Peacock Blue 1027
Warm Grey 20% 1051
Warm Grey 70% 1056
Cool Grey 20% 1060
Cool Grey 30% 1061
Cool Grey 50% 1063
Charcoal Medium
Which gives me a working set of 47 Karismacolor pencils, which should be enough for anyone. The Karisma box set is lovely, but the pencil design was probably more about selling individual units. Hence the slanted end. Each Karisma pencil would be stored upright in the display stand and the approaching customer would see all of the lovely colours without having to read the labelling or pick up the product. This kind of display meant that the tips weren't damaged during handling, which in turn could put off the next customer. I suspect that the compact upright display also lent itself to less wastage from theft as everything was highly visible and in your face. Another plus side was after sharpening a Karisma pencil past its label, the artist could return to the shop with the end bit and match it to a specific colour within the display.
So giving its display and other advantages, along with the awesome reputation that the Karisma pencil pigment and blending properties enjoyed; we just got to ask ourselves why on earth did they cease manufacturing the Karisma pencil in its original format. It seems so strange, especially when you look online and see that it costs circa £275 for a box of 76 Caran d'ache Luminance pencils.
There is of course a downside to my now lovely collection of Karisma pencils. Although they are really nice; I have no experience of using coloured pencils, other than when I was a child. Watercolour pencils yes, Inktense pencils yes, graphite pencils yes, pencil pencils no. So this could make for some interesting art as I flounder along on yet another self taught course.
