Sơn Mài - Ruby (The Jewels of Vietnam)

Name: Sơn Mài - Ruby (The Jewels of Vietnam)
Brand: Wancherpen
SKU: WF-UR-DRVIE-RU24-A
Price: 550.0 USD
Availability: InStock

$550.00 USD

Sale Sold out

Type A B

Quantity

Description

Only one piece per model available

Important Note: Son Mai is an extremely complicated and painstaking process where every single step, from scratch to finish, is handled by hands. Therefore, sometimes 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.

Collection "The Jewels of Vietnam"

Using four important elements of nature as inspiration: crane, lotus, goldfish, and Son Ta, Master Pham Chinh Trung has brought us a new collection - The Melody of Nature. Eight distinguished pens - each with a one-of-a-kind look - represent Master Pham Chinh Trung's committment to sharing the beauty and grace of Vietnam's nature through the art of Son Mai.

Inspired by Ruby

For decades, Vietnam has been well known for having some of the finest rubies in the entire world, including the vibrant Star Rubies. The majority of rubies are extracted directly from the Luc Yen district of Hanoi, and like the Son Mai - Ruby, these rubies are notable for their bright red color and beauty. In Vietnamese culture, rubies are especially important due to their red color being a symbol of luck, good fortune, and victory. The eggshell inlay (Son Ta) represents the difficulty in finding such pure rubies without blemishes and imperfections, but in this fountain pen design, the pure white of the inlay is our way of signaling that even imperfect rubies can be as visually arresting as a flawless one.

Eggshell Artwork - SƠN TA (Son Ta)

SƠN TA (Son Ta) is a type of Vietnamese traditional paint used in Sơn Mài. The resin is made from the tree called Toxicodendron Succedaneum.

Due to the transparent nature of Urushi (lacquer), the Son Ta technique does not have a white color, which led to artisans in Vietnam inlaying eggshells directly onto the object as a complementary or contrasting decorative aspect to the artistic design.
The most challenging part is attaching the eggshell piece by piece before applying many layers of lacquer to in order to flatten the surface.

About Master PHAM Chinh Trung

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.

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

Product Care

Some models of Son Mai is crafted and decorated with real gold leaf and gold powder. Please handle with extra care to avoid damage to the surface. Please refrain from exposing your Son Mai pen to strong impacts, sharp objects, or objects that can peel off the finish such as sticky tape.