www.albicantes.com

Forest Industry:
Albicantes finds a worldwide audience
EACH PIECE OF WOOD IS UNIQUE

Albicantes is a new Finnish company that produces wooden design objects for markets all over the world. A satisfied Simo Lehtonen, the company’s founder and designer, says there will always be a niche for high-quality, individual wooden utility articles.

It was not so long ago that Albicantes first started exporting its products, yet there are already some ten countries on the export list. The pace will be increased in the near future, when the main markets in Japan, the USA and Great Britain are strengthened. For the time being the progress on other markets will be more sedate.

Finnishness is often strongly linked with the country’s natural surroundings and the pull of the North. So is Lehtonen’s Albicantes, which is Latin and means mountain peaks glistening white in the sun. Design, too, draws from nature and, of course, wood.

“Wood is an inspirational material. Each piece of wood is an individual, and the object that will be fashioned is considered on a case-by-case basis,” says Lehtonen.

The wood that has been accepted for production must be top-grade and the most suitable for its purpose. “We use mainly Finnish materials: birch, aspen, oak and maple. Walnut and mahogany are also used if the customer wants them, but threatened species never,” Lehtonen explains.

The chosen wood is worked with care. Before the finishing touches are applied to an Albicantes product, it goes through numerous work stages and weeks are spent on it. In this way the dishes, trays, candlesticks and vases designed by Lehtonen are unique. The items are finished with a non-toxic wood oil, which makes the surface not only beautiful and silk-softy but also practical. It is not surprising that people like to touch the products.

Lehtonen believes the world is his market, although competition is fierce. The material does not determine who the competitors are; the producer’s style and quality does. “I’ve grown very used to explaining why wood is just as good a material as, say, glass,” Lehtonen says with a laugh.

TURTLE tray in walnut and CIRCUS dishes in oak by Simo Lehtonen. (Photo: Jussi Vuorinen)

Photo on the top: AUSTER vase in Khaya mahogany by Simo Lehtonen. (Photo: Jussi Vuorinen)

Published 2004

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