There are makers who can produce pens with short pieces of mother of pearl. However, we believe that the hard-to-achieve aesthetics of single-cut, long panels of black Tahitian mother of pearl are well worth the cost and effort. Not only was sourcing the longest Tahitian mother of pearl available a serious issue, but the technical skill involved with carefully cutting, cementing, and polishing the mother of pearl on each barrel was the greatest obstacle of all. It took us years to be able to overcome these issues and produce these pens. These pens feature a round shape and a smooth, glossy finish that brings out the deep undertones in the Tahitian mother of pearl. There is no clear coating on top of the pearl material; it is instead a result of an intensive hand-polishing procedure that showcases the pure beauty of untreated, polished oceanic mother of pearl. Mother of pearl is not only beautiful—it's also known as one of the most durable natural materials. Xezo uses a grade of mother of pearl with a hardness of 4.5 on the Mohs scale. For comparison, a fingernail has a hardness of 2.5, a steel blade has a hardness of 5.5, and copper or brass have a hardness of 3. We use this tough grade of mother of pearl in our luxury pens because we believe that the best gift is one that represents enduring love and care. Each pen has 18K gold-plated brass fittings. This fountain pen is fitted with a 0.35 mm fine-point, silky smooth, stainless steel nib. Each pen is serialized and entirely handmade. The barrel of the pen is round and smooth.