Wood

Wood is natural, and comes with many different "figures". Curly woods can exibit high chatoyancy in changing light. Burl woods have a great visual interest because of the swirly grain with "eyes". Straight grained wood can also be interesting - how about purple, or yellow? Some wood is stabilized - injected with plastic resin under pressure. This provides some of the characteristics of a plastic with the characteristics of natural wood, enabling the wood to have no finish so you can feel the texture of natural wood.

Advantages:

• The "classic" look. Richly elegant, and visually interesting.
• Make a "green" statement. Wood is the world's greatest renewable resource.
• The natural grain provides endless possibilities.

Trustone

This elegant material is made out of 85% real stone! Rough semi-precious stone ore is crushed, cleaned, and pigmented. This powder is then mixed with a resin binder and is compressed into blocks. The final product resembles genuine stone, creating a stunning, unique pen.

Advantages:

• If you like pens with more heft, Trustone can provide that.
• Stone gives pens a unique, elegant look.
• Gold & silver embedded patterns also make pens look very elegant.

Plastic Resin

Plastic resin is a general name for many types of plastic, from Acrylic to Epoxy Resin. Colors available are endless, and myriads of patterns and textures are available. Often, metallic or pearlescent powders are added to the resin during the manufacturing process. Glow-in-the-dark, color-changing, and other eye-catching effects are also possible with plastic resin. Plastic resin pens are generally polished to a high gloss to make the colors and patterns pop.

Advantages:

• Lightweight.
• Color selection is virtually limitless.
• Metallic and pearlescent effects add visual interest
• Special effects such as glow-in-the-dark or color-changing pens are available.

Embedded Objects

Typically manufactured out of some type of plastic resin, embedded objects can vary greatly. How about a coffee bean pen? Or one with pepper seeds in it? A real circuit board? How about snakeskin or cactus? Pine cones? Acorn caps? Flowers or feathers? The list of possibilities is only limited by the imagination of the artist creating the raw material.

Advantages:

• Very unique. Who else do you know that has a pen with pepper seeds in it?

M3 Metal

M3 metals were origianally developed for the aerospace and military industries. These materials are made out of high purity metals and other elements that have been deconstructed, and then mixed with chemical binders. This allows the manufacture of custom alloys that could not be made using natural metals. Also, owing to the binder material, metals like copper and silver will not corrode or tarnish. Pens made from this material often exhibit a "starfield" effect, and some types even change colors when viewed in different light.

Advantages:

• Real metal.
• Will not oxidize or corrode.
• The heavy material makes for weighty pens.
• Stunning starfield effect.