Tell me about Billes & Co !...
CHAPTER 1
The magic of marbles
The hypnotic power of marbles made us dream.
You know marbles, those little glass balls that all children have played with – us, you, your mom, your granddad, even your ancestors. Even for an adult, marbles are magic. We like to contemplate them in the light, touch them and roll them around. So, as we really liked marbles, we wanted to know where they came from and how they were played…
And we wondered how this game had made its way through the ages, across countries, and into your pockets. Especially nowadays, in France and many other countries around the world, the beautiful marbles are sold loose in nets or large plastic pots. And nobody ever sees how beautiful they really are.
CHAPTER 2
The explorers
Intrigued and curious, we set off to discover a world of our own... and came back with a head full of ideas!
As researchers, we went to see how marbles were used elsewhere, and in other eras. We met with enthusiasts, players and manufacturers, and did a lot of research…
A real adventure! And we discovered some incredible things! In the United States, marbles used to be offered to children in beautiful boxes, arranged in rows and sorted by marbles type. They were like “treasures of precious stones”.
It was a sight to behold. We wanted these boxes for ourselves, right here, right now!
So we thought we’d create some boxes to hold the most beautiful marbles. And we thought we’d organize the marbles into “universes”. Why? Because they are in fact like little pieces of the world, “molecules”. They make us dream and think of 1,000 and 1 things: animals, landscapes, stories…
CHAPTER 3
The treasure workshop
So we opened Atelier Billes & Co, the only marbles universe factory for light years!
To make up our boxes, we find the marbles in Mexico, which is currently the best manufacturer of quality glass playing marbles… We bring them all to France.
At our workshop, we take a close look at the marbles we receive. We arrange them by color, by texture, according to the worlds they inspire. Next, we create beautiful illustrations to decorate the boxes.
And we build these “mini-worlds” in boxes made from natural products: cardboard and paper. No plastic! We choose the most beautiful colors of paper to fold and make the marbles compartments inside.
We also put all the marbles away by hand, checking that they have no defects and are the right size (sometimes they’re missed…). Once that’s done, stick the label on and close the box…
CHAPTER 4
To toy stores
And the box leave the workshop for the beautiful toy stores!
The boxes are then carefully packed in cardboard boxes, and the treasures are sent off to the finest toy stores around the world. That’s why, afterwards, your mom, granddad or a friend can give you a nice box of marbles.
And when you, too, have your own Billes & Co box, I think you’ll definitely be done wondering why we did it: Because it’s obviously so much better to play with beautiful things!!!!
At the end of the tale...
It's a beautiful story, one that all lovers of beautiful things will be able to continue writing.
