Grifos Yggdrasil Walnut Wood & Silver Fountain Pen

Handcrafted in Italy’s Aosta Valley, this Grifos fountain pen is named for Yggdrasil: an immense mythical tree that connects the nine worlds in Norse cosmology. Yggdrasil has been the subject of countless poems and works of art since the 13th century—and now serves as a muse for this striking pen. The barrel is made, appropriately, of walnut wood and complemented by your choice of metal trim. The sterling silver cap and grip section both feature a guilloche pinstripe pattern, and the cap unscrews to reveal a stainless steel nib. Please note that, in order to avoid scratching the finish, Grifos doesn’t design its wooden pens to post.

The guilloche technique originated in the 18th century, and uses a manual diamond-cutting tool to engrave metals with elaborate patterns. Over the years, the craft has been handed down from generation to generation using machines that are operated the same way they were three centuries ago. Rare among pen companies today, Grifos has an in-house guilloche machine that allows its silversmiths to engrave on-site.