Precious Wood Luneville Hook

Crafted from precious treated Karelian (also known as Curly) birch wood, this Lunéville hook is designed to accommodate needles up to size 90 and comes with one needle in size 70. It features a hand-carved handle that offers a comfortable grip. Each hook takes one week to make. 

Precious Wood 
Karelian birch is renowned for its striking and beautiful wood grain, which features intricate patterns, including "flame" and "curl" patterns.

Birch wood is known worldwide for its unique trunk shape and patterned texture. The wood of the birch is incredibly hard and dense. It is resistant to drying out, rot, and corrosion, and it rarely splinters.

Due to its high density, birch wood is challenging to process, so items made from it are considered some of the most durable and are valued incredibly highly.

Karelian birch wood is unique in that it is measured on the global market not in cubic meters, but in kilograms!

Furthermore, this type of birch is almost impossible to cultivate artificially. When sown from seeds, only 30-40% of the plants inherit the characteristics of Karelian birch.

Moreover, the quality of the wood is not determined until the 7th to 10th year of growth. Therefore, it truly represents immense value.

Process
Before carving, the wood is prepared in a chamber with a special solution, which is then fixed. This process somewhat replicates how wood is formed in nature after being submerged in a riverbed for hundreds or thousands of years.

So, what distinguishes regular wood from prepared wood? The main difference is that prepared wood is practically eternal; it does not dry out or crack, allows for polishing to a shine, and is significantly denser (it sinks in water).

Care Instructions
The fixators may darken over time as they are made of bronze. While bronze is more resistant to oxidation than brass, which is typically used in holders, it can still darken from contact with hands over time. Interestingly, the degree of darkening varies among individuals; some experience little change, while others see significant darkening. This is related to the different levels of ammonia in the skin. However, many find this aging process charming, resulting in a vintage patina.

To restore the shine, you can rub the fixator with a cotton pad using toothpaste, automotive polish, or lemon acid.