At the 2026 edition of Maison&Objet, Seletti unveiled a project that feels both obvious and unexpected. To mark the 75th anniversary of the Bic Cristal pen, the brand transformed the world’s most familiar writing instrument into a monumental lamp.
Simply called the Bic Lamp, the piece is produced at a 12:1 scale. Standing just under six feet tall, it dwarfs the original Bic Cristal, which measures roughly 5.8 inches with its cap. Despite the dramatic enlargement, the design remains faithful to the pen’s original proportions. The transparent plastic body becomes a light-diffusing tube, while the ink cartridge is reinterpreted as a linear LED element. Electrical components are concealed within the colored plastic sections, preserving the pen’s unmistakable silhouette.
The lamp will be released in red, black, and blue, and offered in floor, wall, and pendant versions. According to Seletti, the pen’s construction made the transition to lighting unusually straightforward. “The structure of the pen was absolutely perfect for this project,” Stefano Seletti told Fast Company, pointing to the transparency and modularity of the original design.
The Bic Cristal itself has a long industrial history. In 1938, Hungarian journalist László Biró developed the first ballpoint pen, inspired by the rolling motion of marbles. A few years later, French entrepreneur Marcel Bich acquired the patent and refined it using Swiss manufacturing techniques. The resulting pen introduced a stainless-steel ballpoint tip and a small air hole that prevented vacuum buildup, allowing ink to flow consistently. That design remains largely unchanged today.
For curators and designers alike, the Bic Cristal is more than a disposable object. Paola Antonelli, senior curator of architecture and design at MoMA, has described it as a pivotal moment in the history of plastic. Its transparent body gave the material a clarity and precision that felt almost precious.
That glass-like quality is central to Seletti’s reinterpretation. The project aligns closely with the brand’s ongoing interest in memory-driven design. Over the years, Seletti has turned everyday objects into lighting fixtures, from shopping bags and toothpaste tubes to animals clutching glowing bulbs. As the brand explained to Wallpaper, the Bic Lamp takes a universally recognizable form and shifts it into a new context without erasing its past.
The Bic Lamp will launch in the U.S. later this year with a retail price of $350. Initial colorways are already sold out, though a waiting list is open on Seletti’s website.
