Any Harry Potter fan would agree with me that a day that starts with the gift of a wand is a great day. Anybody else just won’t understand. Cushioned in Chinese silk and wrapped in faux Dragon’s hide, the Kymera Wand is lovingly made (albeit in plastic) and you can’t help but begin brandishing it about. And all this before I even twigged that this wand could actually perform magic! The Kymera Wand was a muggle invention that appeared on Dragon’s Den and it was a device the millionaires all fancied a flutter on, once they witnessed the wand controlling DVD players, hi-fis and televisions.
Created by Chris Barnardo and Richard Blakesley, the wand can ‘learn’ up to 13 infrared codes and uses movement control technology similar to that on the Nintendo Wii in order to command your hardware, bringing magic to the front room. It comes with a folded piece of parchment detailing the different movements and the number of pulses you should feel coming from within the wand after each flourish. It took me a while to master wand play but now I can flick through the channels and turn up the volume like I’ve got an Outstanding in my Wand Owl Level. It’s not a cheap thrill by any means and it will cost you £49.95 (free p&p) from your online Ollivanders (www.thewandcompany.com). A fantastic novelty item, though, for young witches and wizards in the making.
