I didn’t need a new calculator. I have an HP 50g on my desk I hardly use. I work on a full-sized computer capable of unimaginably fast and intricate math. And yet, from the moment I saw a SwissMicros DM42, I had to have one. Then they recently released the updated DM42n version, which clinched it. I ordered.

It arrived today.

When I opened the small, heavy parcel, an owl greeted me. I don’t know why. It’s a fine-looking owl, though.

Color photo of an owl, captioned SwissMicros RPN calculators

Beneath the owl, there’s a meticulous little cardboard box. Ah, we’re so close now!

The front of a black cardboard box with an embossed SwissMicros label

Nope! Inside that box is another wrapper, with directions on how to open it.

Inside the black box, a tan cardboard wrapper with 2 curved tabs locked into each other

An Easter egg: behind the inner wrapper, there’s a nice picture of the Matterhorn.

A black and white image of the Matterhorn in the back of a cardboard box

The inner wrapper is also persnickety in all the right ways. I followed the diagram to carefully pull apart the sine wave-shaped flaps without tearing them.

The tan wrapper with curved tabs, but removed from the outer box

Now we’re down to the textured leather-like case.

A black case that looks like pebbled leather

And inside that is the beautiful little tool I’ve been drooling over for many months. That stainless steel obelisk is surprisingly heavy for its size. This isn’t a plasticky TI.

The front of black steel RPN calculator that looks nearly like an HP-42S but with a larger screen and the SwissMicros logo

For completeness, the back. It feels “soft” in a way I wouldn’t expect a steel case to, it’s assembled with beefy screws, and it has large rubber feet.

The back of a black steel calculator with rubber feet, small product detail labels, and a SwissMicros logo across the bottom

It’s a beautiful device, luxuriously wrapped like a piece of jewelry, but with the heart and mind of one of HP’s best-ever RPN calculators, except improved. This is a happy day.