Unique real limpet seashell...
UpperCase Craft£70.00
“Unique custom made pens made with natural seashells or traditional wood.”
£70.00
£70.00
£70.00
£70.00
£80.00
£80.00
£80.00
£80.00
£80.00
£120.00
£95.00
£95.00
£95.00
£95.00
£95.00
£80.00
£80.00
£35.00
£22.00
£22.00
£22.00
£22.00
£22.00
£22.00
£35.00
£35.00
£35.00
£35.00
My journey through life has led me to settle in the beautiful Orkney Islands. The island group lies off the north coast of Scotland, and while part of Scotland politically, Orcadians are fiercely independent, and being mostly of Viking ancestry regard themselves closer to Scandinavia than the UK. I came to Orkney a few years ago and fell in love with the peace and quiet of the Isles. I had heard much about the fabled light of northern lattitudes, so imagine my delight to discover it is true - the light here really is different to that "down south". My craft started many years ago in East Yorkshire with wood-turning and pyrography (a form of art where the subject is burnt into the wood), but I quickly became fascinated with the art of pen turning. The wood grain patterns make each wood pen unique, but I have always wanted to make my pens even more special. It took me a long time to discover how, and it took moving to Orkney to find that Eureka moment.
Since moving to Orkney, one of my favourite activities has become beach-combing for shells - happily we have a huge of choice of stunning beaches to walk on, and I slowly gathered an impressive collection of seashells. Looking at them one day, I wondered what on Earth I was going to do with them, when that Eureka moment hit me (as it does up here, regularly) - make pens with them! I then spent about 3 months re-learning the art of pen making as, due to the hardness of seashells, regular wood-turning tools and techniques are ineffective. I had to develop new tools as there are none suitable off the shelf. Part of the problem is that the very hard shells destroy the cutting edge of regular tools in seconds. After several months of head-scratching and patient (dogged?) determination, I have now perfected my techniques and made a complete set of home-made tools, the results of which you see here in my shop.
The seashell pens take around 4 hours for my one and two-piece twist pens, and around 10 hours to create my scratch-built pens. My wood pens take around 30 minutes to make. My twist-pens are kit-based, in that I buy in the metal components and then create the barrels on my lathe. My other pens are NOT based on any kits, the whole pen is made entirely from scratch (except the refills or the nibs). The body, cap and tip-sections are cast in resin (I make the moulds myself), which contains the seashells, old rope or any other material that I fancy using. My rollerball pens all use Parker refills (unless otherwise stated), and my fountain pens all use Bock nibs. All my scratch-built pens have triple-lead threads for the cap/barrel. The scratch-built pens are entirely customisable, so I can fit any make/size of nib to the fountain pens the customer wishes. Rollerball pens can be made to use any make of refill - just send me a message with your needs.
I am happy to accept private commissions, and have made pens with shells from as far afield as Bali. So if you have shells from a favourite beach, I can make you a wonderful keepsake or a very special (and unique) gift. You would need to send me the shells you wish me to use, and any unused shells will be returned to you with the finished pen. Just drop me a line!
UK sales ship Royal Mail Special Delivery, and will reach you the next working day.
Currently I don't ship overseas due to ongoing international postal issues.
Reviewed by Michele
Reviewed by Andy
The second order of this type of pen and again excellent quality and very fast delivery. Very happy
Reviewed by Andy
Absolutely delighted, the pen is really top quality and is even better than it looks lin the store photos. Quick delivery, faster than site estimated and it has been in daily use ever since. Thank you.
Find UpperCase Craft on social media