This hand crafted pen is made from two distinctive materials. The upper barrel is turned from a genuine Casein blank. Casein, or “French Ivory”, made from milk proteins, was manufactured in France and Germany around the end of the 1800’s. The material was hard, took a good polish and could be dyed to simulate ivory, horn and tortoiseshell. It was used in the manufacture of jewelry and fountain pens, but found its niche in buttons. Due to the introduction of modern plastics, manufacturing plants began closing in the 1960’s and most were gone by the 1980’s. Limited production of casein buttons continues and knitting needles are still made, prized for their tactile qualities-typically described as smooth, silky and natural.
The body of the pen is made from genuine watch parts removed from broken wrist watches. The sorted parts are bent to follow the curve of a painted brass tube. They are painstakingly glued to a hand painted tube and allowed to dry for 24 hours. The tube and parts are then cast in clear acrylic and held under pressure to prevent air bubbles from forming while the acrylic cures. Once fully hardened, the raw acrylic blank is turned on a lathe with super sharp carbide blades. The turned barrel is sanded and then wet-sanded to a glass-like finish. A final polish and buffing on a jeweler’s wheel is applied.
The finished barrels have been pressed into an impressive art nouveau style rollerball with a rhodium and 22kt gold finish. This elegant, postable pen uses Schmidt 5888 ceramic rollerball refills.