The Wand Maker Chris Barnardo found this old piece of parchment containing instructions for the Kandela (magical wand with enchanted candle).

Perhaps it is useful for you too.

Antique Parchment with Kandela Instructions

Chris also copied the text from the old parchment, so that it is more readable:

One of the most basic and yet desirable uses to which a wand may be put, is
the creation of light. Casting illumination into dark corners brings
comfort, often banishes the unknown and frightens away all manner of
malevolent spirits and creatures. The Kandela wand and candle permits the
novice witch or wizard the ability to master quickly this amazing spell.

Charms to create light

Fashioned from a specially created polymeric ivory analogue, you will love
the quality look and feel of the wand. Further, upon ownership you will be
pleasantly surprised to discover that the Kandela wand has been thoroughly
pre-trained with all the commands required to work its light-creating magic.
Thus very little practice will be needed to master its wily ways.

A single flick is all that is required to cause the candle to light. This
magical feat may be performed at up to a distance of four large paces, and
is quite sure to amaze and delight all onlookers, regardless of their age.

Blowing the candle out The Kandela employs a peculiar form of luminous
enchantment that provides light but not heat. Nevertheless this curious
device flickers exactly like a candle and may even be blown out in much the
same way that one might extinguish a traditional candle.

Due to its enchanted nature the candle may also be put out by the use of the
wand, in such a way that it does not extinguish immediately, but remembers
the command for a period of 60 minutes, at which point it automatically goes
out without any further instruction from the wand or the wand bearer. This
capacity makes it ideal as a bedroom adornment, as the beneficial effects of
falling asleep bathed in the gently flickering glow of soft candlelight are
well known.

Be sure to read the main Kandela review, with images, my video and the manual first.

Kandela Showing up at TheWandCompany.com

Chris Barnardos art skills are really impressive. He just finished the graphics for the thewandcompany.com website featuring the Kandela. All the subtle lighting, flickering and cast light and shadows is really impressive. There is also a separate Kandela page, that shows a parchment Kandela manual with a candle and wand on top. It announces availability of the Kandela from Sept 28th 2010.

Kandela Candle and Wand on Welcome Screen

Lighted Kandela Candle on Welcome Screen

Kandela Wand and Candle on Kandela Manual Scroll

Kandela Announcement on Manual Scroll

Kandela Video

ShinyShiny recorded a video with Chris Barnardo’s partner Dawn who presents the Kandela at the firebox press event.

Win a Kandela

And please don’t forget to grab your chance to be the first to own one – win a Kandela.

Press responses

As with the Kymera about a year ago, the Kandela has spawned quite a lot of press responses.

Most blogs just recite OhGizmo or CoolestGadgets but there are some independend responses as well.

• Firebox
• BBC newsround
• Shiny Shiny (w/ video)
• OhGizmo
• ZitZot
• Coolest Gadgets
• The SUN
• TrendHunter
• Global Post

Kandela Wand and Candle Pack

Today, on Sept 15th, the wand makers, Chris Barnardo and Richard Blakesley, wizards of The Wand Company, funding dragon Duncan Bannatyne of Dragon’s Den fame and the Firebox crew, present the new magical device.

The Kandela is a great, magical package of a Magic Wand and a vanilla colored candle. The wand has an antique bone finish and is set with a blue jewel.

Actually it is a infrared remote control wand, a simpler, non-programmable version of the Kymera Wand and an infrared controlled, blow-out LED candle.

You can use the wand to lighten and extinguish the candle. It can also control how long the candle burns. But like any real candle it will cease to glow when you blow at it.

Duncan Bannatyne and the Wand Makers present the Kandela

Win a Kandela

When you’re active on twitter, your chances to win a Kandela from us are high. Drawings are held every month.

Product Video

As I didn’t get a sample in time for recording a product video I just to my stock Kymera Wand and used a set of IR candles to demonstrate the "Lumos" and "Nox" spells. Please keep in mind – this is a different set of candles that works a bit differently, so it is just a substitute for a real Kandela.

We’ll offer the Kandela as soon as it is available for resale, for about EUR 39,50. If you want to preorder a Kandela just comment on this post and well figure it out. Firebox also offers it for pre-order right now.

The Kandela Candle and Wand

Kandela User Manual

Kandela User Manual Illustrations

KANDELA

Magical Wand & Enchanted Candle

Light the candle with a flourish of your wand, blow it out just like a real candle.

The Wand Company Ltd
Makers of the World’s finest Magical Instruments since AD 2009

BEFORE FIRST USE

Install batteries (not included) in the wand and candle before use. Use only alkaline LR03 (AAA) batteries, and do not mix old and new batteries.

OPERATION

The wand does not have a power button; once you have installed batteries in the wand, it is automatically ready to use.

After installing the batteries turn the candle on at the power button located on the candle base; the candle will illuminate. Blow the candle out to put it into standby mode.

Use a short sharp flick of the wand to illuminate the candle from up to 4m away.

The Kandela candle flickers just like a real candle.

To extinguish the candle either:
a) blow it out
b) wiggle the wand while pointing it at the candle within 4m of the candle
c) a 60 minute sleep timer mode may be activated by tapping the wand twice on the crisscross area whilst pointing it at the candle when the candle is illuminated. When sleep timer mode is activated the candle will automatically extinguish after 60 minutes.

To extend battery life, always turn the candle off at the power button when not in use.

TECHNICAL

• Wand needs 2x AAA (LR03) alkaline batteries
• Candle needs 2x AAA (LR03) alkaline batteries
• Batteries are not included
• The wand is about 35.5cm long
• The candle has a diameter of 11 cm and a height of 6.5cm

As the Kymera Magic Wand and a new product were shown at the Birmingham Autumn Fair, I asked the Wand-Maker Chris Barnardo to send me a report of his experiences there.
I was overwhelmed by the amount of information I got back. Big Thanks to Chris for taking the time to write it down.

Report from the Birmingham Autum Fair

Awareness and Dragons Den Effect

Both products performed flawlessly extracting squeals of delight from anyone
that stopped by the stand to have a go. Passing interest was limited as the
stand was crowded out by people who had targeted us to come and see the wand
for the express purpose of stocking it. I guess it was a huge benefit that
Dragons’ Den had been aired only a couple of weeks before. This is one of
the luckiest things to happen to us. If it had been aired after the show,
awareness of the wand would not have been as high. If it had been aired the
week of the show we would not have been able to cope with both. In business
you always need a bit of luck.

Sir Barons Study

Magical Applicances

On the TV on our stand we had a dvd playing a loop from a promotional video
of surfing huge waves in Hawaii (I think, although Richard will know
exactly), that incredible footage was a draw and the TV was very useful to
demonstrate the functions of the wand. We also had what looked like a real
fire. It was a Dimplex Optimist and uses atomised water to look like smoke
and when lit by hidden light, like flames. Quite convincing it is too and if
we had been agents for the fire I’m sure we could have sold a load of those
too. The fire had the benefit of being remote control so the Kymera had no
trouble learning the codes and with a simple pull back gesture we were able
to put out the fire. The powerhouse of any demonstration was the iPod dock.
The iconic iPod has an interface made for the wand. The wands 13 functions
map well to the iPod interface and allow a great deal of control. We played
magical type music from the playlist that we had used in the Dragons’ Den.

Great Support by Dawn

Richard and I were joined by my partner Dawn on the stand for the whole
show. Dawn works in the Wand Company on the financial side making sure that
the accounts are kept up to date and as a result of the show is also working
with some new customers. Dawn was a great asset on the stand, capable and
confident there was no way Richard and I could have handled the wave after
wave of interested prospects on our own. The show is not one for the general
public, it is a trade show, so each person that comes to the stand is a
potential customer and needs individual demonstration and a discussion about
their particular needs.

Dimishing Stocks

After the first day it was clear that we were going to sell out of the stock
we had in the UK. Signing up numerous resellers who wanted stock immediately
gave us the pleasure and problem of working out how we were going to supply
them. Luckily we had been holding a large number o units for a French
customer of ours and a quick phone call assured us that he wouldn’t mind if
we dipped into his stock, in the knowledge that more stack was arriving next
week (before he needed it). By the end of the second day we were getting
dangerously close to selling out of that too.

Birmingham Autumn Fair Hall 5

After Fair

Long days on the the tiny stand were tiring but huge fun. We didn’t stay at
the NEC but at Birmingham’s trendy Mailbox. So at the end of each day we
drove back there and had a nice meal and then staying up until 2.30am
writing invoices to make sure that our customers got the best service. We
had thought that we might go out and explore Birmingham, but we had so many
emails to catch up on and so many invoices to write that there was not time
for that.

Trade Shows

Autumn Fair was a test for us, it was our first trade show and we wanted to
see if it was going to be worth doing Spring Fair 2011, which is much
bigger. We had a great time, we did a sizable amount of business, we signed
up a good number of new customers and made some heavyweight contacts that
will result in big sales later, so all in all a great success and even
discounting the result slightly for the exceptional effect of Dragons’ Den
(which of course no other subsequent show will have directly) we have to do
more of this sort of thing and Spring Fair looks like a definite date in the
calendar.

Preparing the booth

Notes about the stand itself

Given its small size (perhaps the smallest at Autumn Fair, 1m x 3m) we
managed to pack a lot into it. The design itself was carfeully though
through and I build a special faux old bookcase with a hollow cupboard (and
locakable door) behind and there was the fire place, which itself is very
big. So to make sure that it would all fit and to help with the design, I
built a one tenth scale model. It was very useful in deciding what extra
accessories to get. I attach a picture of the stand model.

Stand Model 1 in 10 Scale

Richard has tweeted pictures of the empty space and the stand build and the final stand
on @thewandcompany.

Chris Barnardo

Today Chris and Richard went to Birmingham to set up their stand for the Birmingham Autumn Fair that starts on Sunday, Sept 5. The fair is really big with about 4000 exhibitors.

This fair is for business only. So there will be lots of resellers that will be able to take a first hand look at the Kymera Wand and another new product of The Wand Company. If you’re there too then just go to hall 5 stand EE52 and say hello to the conquerors of the Dragon’s Den.

The booth looks very comfy, like the study of Sir Richard Barons. Hope the two have a great time there presenting their products and talking to potential wholesale customers.

So Chris and Richard the Wand Makers from The Wand Company, took the step and offered investors a possibility to invest their money in Magic.

The Dragons were left spellbound by duo Richard Blakesley & Chris Barnardo and their universal remote control which looks like a magic wand.

Well done Wand-Makers, I hope the investor money will allow you to continue to invent and create such awesome products. All the publicity through the show should empty your stocks quickly.

You can see the video here:

If you don’t know Dragon’s Den Show on BBC TWO – here is a short description from their website:

First launched in Japan, Dragons’ Den is now an international brand with versions airing in countries across the globe.
Entrepreneurs pitch for investment in the Den from our Dragons, five venture capitalists willing to invest their own money in exchange for equity.
Since series five, the five Dragons have been Duncan Bannatyne, James Caan, Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Kymera Wand is featured prominently as gift-bag item of this years TED Global 2010, which started today in Oxford, UK.

The WandMakers Chris and Richard were happy to provide 800 Kymera Wands as gift to the TEDsters. Here is their warm, welcoming note:

Technology Entertainment Design

TED started out in 1984 to bring people together from these three worlds. Today, these fields have been combined in many fantastic ways, so we were honored when the nice folks at TED invited us to participate in this gift bag. We’ve taken a little of todays technology, applied creative design, and developed a product which has already entertained customers in more than 50 countries around the world.

It’s been a great start for our fledgling company, and we’re really excited about the future possibilities with help from people like you. That’s why we’re delighted to present you with your very own Kymera Magic Wand, and would love to hear your comments, thoughts and ideas – so please drop me a note at chris.barnardo(at)thewandcompany.com, or visit our website here: www.thewandcompany.com

Chris Barnardo, CEO

They created a great looking package specially designed for TED. The same kind of packaging is available for corporate customers that want to give away the Kymera Wand as a gift – to customers, partners or employees.

There are already the first tweets about it:

@PaulRieckhoff
Best gift bag item of #TED: a Kymera Magic Wand-”not a toy, a finely tuned instrument of control” http://twitpic.com/24okbb

Kymera Wand @TEDGlobal2010 by @PaulRieckhoff

@whiteafrican: #TED Fellows can practice their quiddich with their new wand in the Harry Potter dining room. #Oxford http://twitpic.com/24b8xh

Harry Potter dining room by @whiteafrican

@freeworldmedia: Opening up the famous TED Gift bag. The highlight is the magic wand that controls anything from the TV remote to… http://fb.me/CgZcExin

@paulrieckhoff: @thewandcompany Thanks for the cool gift. After some drinks, there will be TEDsters running all over Oxford screaming “Abracadabra”! #TED

@gregorymiller All but the floating candles & white owls at #TED. http://twitpic.com/24×3xl

TED Magic Lunch by @gregorymiller

@giorgiotedx TEDxDubaiLive – TED Magic Wand ,inside delegates bags. Will need to try it on a couple of folks back in #DXB http://twitpic.com/24wcbs

@rodrigocvc: Refeições a la Hogwarts no TED Global. http://bit.ly/a2ECOR (expand) #ted [afichacaiu]

Hogwarts at TEDGlobal

Gift bag contents

Look out for TED content anyway. These are the worlds best presentations on various topics online, collected for more than 25 years and available for free (Creative Commons).

Wishing all TEDsters much fun at the event.