Idea 63 of 500. Cluster 3: Souvenirs that are actually from here
Graphite pencils and artists' sets made from Sri Lankan vein graphite, the purest on earth
The mechanism, from the book
The Zermatt water bottle. Sigiriya has not got a stone with its own name on it.
Every idea in cluster 3 uses this mechanism.
A first step
Source a small quantity of vein graphite and ask a woodworker to case a dozen hand-made pencils as a sample. Send three pencils each to artists and art teachers in Colombo and abroad, and ask them to draw with them and name a price for a set. Three artists naming a price, or one art shop asking to stock, is the proof.
- Who pays first
- Artists and art shops who value pure graphite and a clear origin, and will pay a premium for a proper set.
- What leaves today
- The purest graphite on earth leaves as raw mineral; a pencil set sells it as a finished, named product.
The idea and the mechanism are from the book. The first step was written for this site as a suggestion; if you know a better one, say so.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
The only test any idea on this site has to pass. The four rules that go with it are here.
In the book
- Ch. FiveThe Most Photographed Rock in the World
The Matterhorn water bottle and the souvenir that is from there
More from cluster 3
Idea 63 of the 500 in the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? Every one can be started by one person, one family or one small firm.