Sơn Mài - Terraced Fields (The Landscape of Vietnam)

Important Note: Son Mai is an extremely complicated and painstaking process where every single step, from scratch to finish, is handled by hands. Therefore, distinctive traces such as dots, brush traits, or uneven surfaces, can be observed in the final product. This unique characteristic is an aesthetic factor of Son Mai, making each pen an one-of-a-kind artwork of your own.

About Son Mai

Son Mai (Sơn Mài) painting is made with lacquer created from resin of Cay Son (Cây Sơn) tree (known as Rhus succedanea) grown in Phu Tho, Vietnam. In this technique, many layers of lacquer are applied, left to dry, and polished over many months or even a year. Precious decoration materials such as gold, silver, seashells, or eggshells are also used together in the application process.

However, what makes this technique so different from others is the Mài - grounding step. In Son Mai, the final image is fully revealed only after the lacquer layers are ground back. Therefore, the work of making Son Mai is unpredictable, arduous yet rewarding if the artist is persistent until the end.

About Master PHAM Chinh Trung

In the first days of coming to Vietnam, we are honored and lucky enough to meet with master Pham Chinh Trung, who has spent almost 50 years mastering the Son Mai art. Living in Ha Noi, Pham Chinh Trung is a dedicated Son Mai artist and also a former professor from Traditional Lacquer Lacquer Arts Department at Ha Noi Industrial Arts University.

To Master Pham Chinh Trung's surprise, crafting Son Mai on a fountain pen is far more difficult and challenging than what he has been doing with a painting on large canvases. However, it has been an interesting and rewarding experience, because after months of process, now we can enjoy seeing how beautifully the traditional art and craftsmanship of Vietnam is conveyed through a writing instrument.

Collection: The Landscape of Vietnam

Dream Pen Son Mai by Master Pham Chinh Trung is hand-crafted with the Vietnamese Son Mai technique on the base of an ebonite fountain pen. These five are the first in the Wancher Voyage x Vietnam collection, marking another milestone in our journey of discovering traditional arts around the world.

Each fountain pen carries the signature style of Master Pham Chinh Trung, where the familiar scenery from the countryside of Vietnam is illustrated using only the main colors of Son Mai such as Black, Red, and Green in combination with gold powder. Featuring the iconic motifs from beautiful landscapes around Vietnam, each edition is an illustration of the atmosphere, the scenery as well as the people living here.

Every single fountain pen in this collection is crafted with the original idea and imagination of Master Pham Chinh Trung. They are limited to only 1 piece each and will never come back in the future.

Specifications

Base material: Ebonite

Art: Son Mai

Filling mechanism: Converter or Cartridge (European International Standard)

Nib: #6 Jowo stainless steel, Wancher 18K gold

Feed: Plastic, ebonite black, ebonite red

Compact air-tight cap: Preven dried-out ink problem

Size & Shape

Length: 154.6 mm (with cap), 135.5 mm (without cap)

Diameter: 15.5 mm (max)

Weight: 27 g (with cap), 18 g (without cap)

Packaging

Traditional Japanese Wooden Box + Pen Kimono + Instructional Materials + Converter + Cartridge