Raden/螺鈿. The making of Raden technique involves the placement of hand-carved and hand-laid abalone shells into carved materials. The earliest Raden technique was found around 1000 BC in China during the Western Zhou dynasty. Traditionally, pearl shells were used as currency in China. In many Chinese characters that represent money today such as “財”(money), “購”(buy), “貪” (greed), the common root is the word “貝” (shell). When using shells as currency became obsolete, the symbol of wealth still remained. Traditionally and even today, in China, Japan and across many East Asian cultures, Raden techniques have been applied to many objects such as furniture, plates, music instruments, and fine objects. With Pilot Vanishing Point Raden pens, tiny pieces of carved abalone shell have been inlaid in to the pen and then finished with hand-lacquered and Urushi. The Raden design along the pen barrel is meant to evoke the visual effect of light reflections at different angles. As you rotate the pen and light bounces off each shell piece, it appears as if the pen is changing colors.
Raden/螺鈿
