I was doing some last-minute Christmas shopping, and stopped in a local cigar shop called Club Humidor. They had a huge stack of empty cigar boxes for $2 - $10 each. I found this massive one for $10:



The trays inside are perfect for holding pens:



The lid closes with little magnets in each corner. I don't know what kind of wood it is, but it's beautiful (and heavy). I'm pretty happy with my little find (Merry X-mas to me ).

I never realized that cigar stores sold the empty boxes...I guess I never thought about it before.

Hey thanks, wackyjacky1. That is a great idea. Now I will look for something similar myself.

Nice purchase! (you didn't even need to purchase liners to hold the pens -- )

Most likely the wood is Spanish Cedar. That is the preferred material for cigar boxes. I keep a lot of my writing accessories in cigar boxes.

Partagas! Wonderful cigars.

Sure does make for a lovely display case.

Ya know, I hate cigarette smoke, and I'm not overly fond of cigars, but I really like the smell of pipe tobacco. I almost wish it weren't considered "unladylike" to smoke a pipe!

See, I can't stand the smell of tobacco smoke whatever the form, but I really like the smell of virgin cigars. I wonder why anyone goes and lights 'em! ^_~

Pens are such enablers of my cigar box habit, too...

Ah, my lady. The pleasure only starts with the initial aroma. Then comes the ritual of carefully snipping the cap and taking a few draws through the cigar before putting a flame to the foot. The latter opens up a new hobby. I cannot bear to light a high quality cigar with anything other than a Davidoff or Dupont soft flame lighter. To use anything else is like writing on a Big Chief tablet with a fine pen. After slowly toasting the foot of the cigar, I gently blow on the foot to ensure that it has been lit around the entire periphery. Then the first draw . . . just like the first kiss. The entire length of the cigar is like a relationship, with each puff building in excitement. In the end, the cigar is gently laid to rest, never snuffed. Each cigar is one of the best hours of my life. A good hand rolled cigar takes me away from the plastic mass produced world that I live in. The goodness of nature wrapped in a bundle of joy to be enjoyed slowly and deliberately. Yes, the initial aroma of a freshly opened box is only the beginning. It is only the beacon welcoming you into the fullness of life's pleasure!

Ooooh that's pretty!

Did this post make anybody else want to light up? Pure poetry!

Which Club Humidor did you find it at? Curiously, I work near both of them. My full time job is near the one @ Huebner Oaks, and my part time job is at the Satrbucks across the corner from it @ Quarry Market.

The one at the Quarry. (Howdy to a fellow San Antonian, BTW! )

Wacky I've met several lady pipe smokers from around the globe on the various pipe smoking forums. The carver at http://www.bonfigliolipipe.it/ actually designed a special pipe for one of my pipe smoking lady friends.

The Partagas Penbox is a wonderful idea, if I ever get more than 3 pens I might have to try that

I went into a local tobacconist emporium this afternoon to try this for myself and found that all of the boxes they had on hand did not have the wooden liners with the troughs. They had a variety of cigar names including Partagas, but the liners were all cardboard. When I explained what I was looking for, I was told that the manufacturer's have all "gone cheap" lately to reduce overheads. Apparently none are shipped like that anymore.
Maybe if I keep looking, I will find some old stock somewhere.

The person who found the pictured box was quite lucky. Those Limited Reserve Paragas are from the 1995 batch, and remaining stocks with that box (I was wrong earlier when I said it was Spanish Cedar, it is Mahogany) run for around $450.00 a box, provided that the merchant knows what they have. There are some Limited Reserves from 1998 floating around for a lot less (around $160.00 a box), but they are not packaged nearly as well as the 1995. You could check e-bay for some boxes. I see quite a few high end boxes for sale there at times.

Just checked e-bay. There are at least three Partagas boxes with inserts for sale. Around $25.00 each.

If you want to buy liners for your cigar boxes - or any other box/tray/drawer/etc - to to Gary Leher's site and order:
https://www.gopens.com/Parts/12X16Trays.htm I've used them to line the drawers of DMC embroidery floss cabinets - works great.

If you want to purchase pre-lined cigar/pen storage boxes, check out Richard Binder's site - his son-in-law Don Fluckinger makes & sells them - I've never bought one, but they look to be top quality. Go to the Accessories & Tools page and scroll down, you'll see the selection. Don also has a great article in the Extra Fine Points section on how to make your own.

Yeah, I guess I just lucked out. The sticker on the box had the cigars for something like $20 apiece, and $350 for the whole box.

It smells cedar-y...I wonder if the liners are cedar while the box is mahogany? But wouldn't mahogany be darker?

These are the other two boxes I got. They were $2 each.

The first one had a plastic tray inside:



And this one had no tray, but was just cool-looking. Might be good for holding a few bottles of ink:

You could probably make a small but mildly profitable business out of re-selling those to FPN people.

Wow, thanks for the idea I have to look for some.

I would not doubt that the liners are cedar. Spanish cedar is THE material for cigar boxes and humidors. However, that being said, a lot of top shelf cigars came in cedar lined mahogany boxes. I have not actually seen the box you have, so I cannot be 100% sure. However, I have been told by some more knowledgeable than me that the particular line of Partagas that were boxed in the 1995 time frame were boxed in mahogany. One of the reasons that later version sell for less is that they are packaged a bit more plainly.

As for color, that can vary. I have cigar boxes that vary from almost white (unfinished Davidoff #2 boxes) to nearly chocolate brown (heavily varnished Fuente Opus X boxes). Even among different boxed of the same cigar (like Opus x), I have seen wide variations in the color of the wood. Keep in mind that the wood for cigar boxes is not so much used for its beauty, but for humidity control. Spanish cedar and mahogany tend to absorb and release water near the magical 65 - 70% range that most people like to keep cigars. The mahogany used for cigar boxes, while high class for a cigar box, is not the same quality of wood you would use for furniture or trim in a house (although some may argue this point). And the Spanish cedar used for cigar boxes is NOT the cedar that you use for hope chests and to keep moths out of the clothing. You don't want that anywhere near a cigar!

This is awesome! I've been looking for one (or two) of these. Shouldn't be too hard to find considering my locale.