Unique fountain pens aren't that easy to find – or to afford. Come to think of it, there are two options to get an absolutely like-no-other pen: either seek for some Mont Blanc Limited Edition with diamonds, produced in quantity of 3 items ever and never to be found in places other than high-rolling auctions like Sotheby's, or.. order the one for yourself. Surprisingly, the choice is nearly endless, and, unlike Mont Blanc works of art (I can't really refer to their diamond-encrusted models as to simply 'pens') costing hundreds thousands dollars, you can order a completely customized and unique fountain pen for under $200.

And for that price you're going to have a whole lot of aspects to control and choose to your liking. An experienced, skilled wood turner can create a wood fountain pen exactly to your highest expectations. You choose the origin of exotic woods – be it India or Africa.

Unique fountain pens made of wood, antler, rattlesnake skin and lots of other materials are guaranteed to have no duplicates. Imagine two hand-crafted pens – one is in slight details different from the other one. The engraving, the carving, the font and style patterns will differ slightly. Of course, hand-crafted fountain pens take time to create, so be prepared to give your patience a good training. In return, you get a totally awesome piece of art, item if elaborate craftsmanship.

However, it is unfair to say that hand-crafted fountain pens are just good lookers, but bad performers. Not at all! With solid nibs and quality plating these unique fountain pens are as good at writing as any other bearing the logo of a world renowned manufacturer.

And remember to add the personal attitude, face-to-face talk, customer-oriented support (usually a wood turner doesn't have thousands of orders pending simultaneously), and ability to discuss all aspects of pen producing on-the-fly, as things occur. Even if you can't make up your mind to decide what you exactly want to be transformed from wood into reality, the wood-turner will help you!

Probably you won't believe that for this type of service and quality of production you'll be charged a couple hundred dollars at most (often you can get by for under $100) – a price comparable to excellent performers by German Pelikan pen manufacturer.

So unique fountain pens can be literally like that – at an affordable price.

Dedicated pen collectors, passionate amateur lovers and all other "in-the-know" can easily draw a solid distinguishing line between professionally manufactured, mass-produces, mechanically engraved and encrusted writing instruments, and hand-crafted wood fountain pens. The latter items are pure gems in the eyes of connoisseurs treasuring the delicate uniqueness of each of the crafted pens.

When you buy a pen from a world-renowned manufacturer like Sheaffer or Waterman, you can't really expect to get a unique piece of art. With wood fountain pens crafted by passionate amateurs it is a whole lot different story.

You can communicate directly with the craftsman who produces wood fountain pens per order. You can order the material, the type of wood, the nib, discuss patterns of texture and shape, choose the filling mechanism (piston of converter), participate in designing the gift box, etc. That is, your input is significant at every stage of crafting the wood fountain pen. And you are in control of every step, from developing the concept idea into the final piece of art to presenting it to someone you care for.

If you choose a wood fountain pen as a gift to someone dear, a friend or a colleague, you may be 100% confident that your present will be like no one else's. It is just impossible to carve two identical pens from wood – at least the texture pattern will be different on each piece.

Another great thing about personalized wood fountain pens is that people tend to care more for such fine writing instruments because of the uniqueness the latter possess. Every such pen intensifies the emotional ties, accentuates the personal attitude, signify the strong friendship or respect, and lets everyone stand out from the crowd.

With the help of Internet, it is easy to find a skilled woodturner to do the job of creating a stunning wood fountain pen. Of course you should plan your order well in advance – a wood fountain pen can't be made in a hurry, it is a living material that needs special conditions to be prepared for crafting process. So if you think of presenting someone with a memorable gift, I suggest that you consider ordering a wood fountain pen.