Vinewick originally began as a vision of a candle burning at both ends. One November day in 2008, a co-worker asked me what I was up to. In jest I responded, "I'm burning the candle at both ends". Unexpectedly, as soon as I uttered the familiar phrase, I saw a vision of a candle lying horizontally with both ends burning. Within a few seconds, I saw the two flames meet in the middle across the entire top of the candle, forming one solid flame. I knew instantly if I could imagine it, I could also make it.
The course from vision to working prototype seemed like a movie at times, maybe like a feel good Disney movie. There were definitely times throughout the many hours, tests and discoveries, I understood what Thomas Edison might have felt like. While he encountered similar troubles to find an effective incandescent material for bulbs, I too was working with light but rather to find an effective material for use in wax. Once I discovered how to make the technology work properly, I legitimately became part of the candle industry and candle making history.
In 2011, I sold the Ribbonwick trademark to a major candle manufacturer in Virginia. Through our exclusive licensing agreement, my invention has been sold throughout the world. In 2017, the initial version of my candle wick technology was awarded a patent by the United States Patent & Trademark Office. Also in 2017, the company that owns Yankee Candle Co. (founded by Michael Kittredge), purchased the brand I started back in 2009. Visit Vinewick Candle again soon, there are exciting products on the way with my latest 2019 patent pending wax & wick technologies!
-John R.-
The original vision became a reality in December 2008 through the shaping of paper and aluminum foil for use as a wick in wax.
Many burn tests performed and changes made to improve the wick burn performance. The discovery of creating 3d patterns "holes" in the wick material became the one simple factor that reinvented candle flame.
A video screenshot of the prototype candle used to present the technology to a Virginia based major candle manufacturer. Vinewick now uses an improved Sept. 2019 patent pending design.