A Snakewood Pen for Mr. An of Korea

April 2006

Korean | English

During a recent business trip to Korea, I had the opportunity to work with Mr. Brian An who it turns out, has a love of wooden pens. After lots of Soju (Korean Alcohol) and beer, and continuous praise from Mr. An, I decided to make Mr. An a special pen.

As it turned out, I had just come into possession of some new exotic hardwoods. Within the mix, I came across several pieces of Snakewood, a rare find. I suggested the Snakewood to Mr. An and recommended going with a Titanium Finish (my personal favorite and most expensive).

It took 2 attempts. Snakewood is extremely dense and the first piece exploded from over heating during the drilling process. But the resultant pen turned out as one of my most beautiful pens to date. It was truly a pleasure working on this pen, especially knowing how much Mr. An would treasure such a gift.

Below is a brief description of the wood and finish as well as photos of the pen and its creation.

Snakewood (Brosimum guinense)

The growth range of the species is limited to the South America irracticaly throughout the regions of Panama, French Guiana, Suriname, and the Amazon region of Brazil.

Snakewood, sometimes refered to as Amourette, Letterwood, Leopard wood, or Speckle wood is a truly exotic species, and probably one of the most difficult species to find.

This exotic hardwood has a heartwood wood, which is dark red or reddish brown with conspicuous, irregular black speckles or stripes resembling hieroglyphics or snakeskin markings. The jagged black blotches do resemble the skin of a snake, thus getting its name.

Black Titanium Finish.

This method produces the most durable plating. The black titanium process uses titanium oxide molecularly bonding called particale vapor deposition (or PVD). This plating is unbelievably hard and durable. It will last for many, many years. The black titanium plating process gives the pen a very unique and stylish look The process used is called PVD (particle vapor deposition).