Lapworth II — Chechen Burl with Sterling Silver Accents

There are pens you buy because they're useful, and then there are pens you keep because they're extraordinary. This Lapworth II sits firmly in the second category.

Chechen is a timber that earns its reputation. Native to Central America and the Caribbean, it's a dense, hard wood with a figure that genuinely varies from plank to plank — and this particular piece has turned up something magnificent. The burl grain sweeps and swirls across the barrel in waves of warm amber, burnt sienna and deep mahogany, with darker figuring clustering in pools and eddies that shift as you turn the pen in your hand. Under good light it practically glows from the inside out. The surface has been brought to a high polish that lets every nuance of that extraordinary grain come through without distraction.

What really sets this pen apart though are the sterling silver accent bands. Properly engraved with delicate scrolling botanical detail — the kind of fine silverwork that you'd more usually find on antique jewellery than on a pen — they sit at the centre band and the lower barrel, catching the light with a softer warmth than chrome. Paired with the gold finial and fittings, it's a combination that feels genuinely luxurious rather than just decorative. The engraved floral clip on the cap is particularly lovely, and the daisy-wheel top on the cap finial adds one final considered touch.

The Lapworth II is a big, weighty pen — substantial in the hand, satisfying to post, and built for writing that deserves to feel like an occasion. This one, with that timber and those silver details, is in a different league altogether.

Hand-turned and finished in the West Midlands, presented in a gift box.

A26