N^o 1: Snow Crystal

It is night, and snowflakes fall. Their magic is irresistible - white, pure, and sometimes, inlaid with gold to twinkle through the night. Our Maki-e artist has managed to catch the fragility and delicate structure of each snow flake on this extraordinary fountain pen.

In general, the artist works about two to three hours a day on one particular pen. If you include the waiting time to allow the Urushi lacquer to dry, the Maki-e fountain pen Snow Crystal took one month to be created.

The Maki-e Unique Collection model "Snow Crystal" was created using a combination of the following Maki-e techniques:

The Togidashi-Maki-e technique

In this technique, the rare Japanese lacquer Urushi is applied in a multitude of layers which are polished many times. The design is drawn first with tracing paper and then with colored lacquer onto the surface of the fountain pen. It is then sprinkled with a multitude of lacquer-layers or gold and silver dust.

The Chinkin Maki-e technique

Chinkin is the technique of decorating lacquer-ware by carving the designs into the lacquered surface using a sharp chisel. Gold or silver powder, alternatively black or colored lacquer, is inlayed into the carved design.