Allegory Model F Workhorse Fountain Pen

Based in Chicago, Allegory Handcrafted Goods is a small company dedicated to making products from carefully sourced, sustainable materials. Its Workhorse Collection is rugged and minimalist, shining a light on the fascinating stories behind each of the materials used. There’s 50,000-year-old ancient kauri from northern New Zealand (the oldest workable wood in the world), which shows just the earliest signs of petrification. Then there’s Bethlehem olive wood from trees that saw the rise and fall of Rome. Finally, there’s bog oak that dates back to the end of the last ice age and, over time, has developed a deep black color with rich brown grain. Each Model F pen features a German-made stainless steel nib and comes with a leather sleeve and a piston filler for use with bottled inks.

Fifty thousand years ago in what is now northern New Zealand, a major natural event felled huge forests of kauri trees that had been growing for some 2,000 years. This event also created bogs in the area, which protected these giants from the elements. Today, these trees are typically found under farmland, where they are excavated carefully and the ground is returned to its previous contours.

Throughout Israel there are olive groves that have grown for more than 2,000 years. These trees saw Rome come to the area and eventually fall. They saw much of Biblical history unfold, and they still stand today to bear witness to the trials faced by the region. These trees are highly protected, and those who maintain them gather branch trimmings and deadfall and make them available to tourists and woodworkers.

At the end of the last ice age, rising water levels caused huge oak forests throughout England, Ireland, and other parts of Europe to die standing and fall into the muck. For the last 3,000 to 5,000 years, these trees have been preserved in anaerobic conditions underneath peat bogs.