Blade 2.50" (63.5mm)
Handle 3.13" (79.5mm)
Overall open 5.60" (142.2mm)
Blacklip Mother of Pearl is one of the most exclusive pearls in the world. It comes from small shells found in French Polynesia around Tahiti and its Archipelagos. Just under the exterior bark of the shell is where the real beauty of the Blacklip shell lies. A nice pair of Blacklip will have every color of the rainbow in its iridescent black background. We source our Blacklip directly from shell farmers in Tahiti to ensure sustainability and top quality material.
A ruby is a pink to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum (aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most historically significant colored stones. It is mentioned four times in the Bible, in association with attributes like beauty and wisdom. In the ancient language of Sanskrit, ruby is called ratnaraj, or “king of precious stones.”
The name ruby comes from the Latin word ruber, which means “red.” The glowing red of ruby suggested an inextinguishable flame burning in the stone, even shining through clothing and able to boil water.
Koftgari is the name for fine gold (and/or silver) patterns inlayed into parkerized steel. This ancient Indian technique, done entirely by hand, involves creating a very fine cross-hatch grid in the steel and then burnishing 24K gold (and/or silver) into a pattern that is bound by the cross-hatch. Parkerizing involves soaking the steel in a boiling solution of salts to oxidize the steel a deep brown/blue. Beautiful and timeless, koftgari is nearly a lost art.
William Henry's koftgari comes from 2 small villages in India, home of the very few Indian artisans that still master this technique.
