Comments about Pen Blank Certificates, "Special" Olive Wood, Irish Bog Oak, etc.

[penicillin]

I posted the text below as a response in another thread. I know that people are interested in pen blank certificates and the special olive wood from Bethlehem and Jerusalem, so I decided to start a new thread to make it easier to find. Whether there is any worth to it has yet to be determined.

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There have been discussions in other threads about certificates of authenticity. Some people think that some certificates are fake, but I am the trusting type and tend to believe them if they were purchased from a reputable source, like Exotic Blanks or Penn State or Rockler. I am not so sure I would trust random individuals on eBay or Etsy as much, but truth-be-told, your recipients would never know if they were fakes anyway.

Not all olive wood from Israel comes from the Bethlehem area. Usually those certificates say "Holy Land" without mentioning Bethlehem. Furthermore, I have a feeling that the boundaries of "Bethlehem" are somewhat generous for the purposes of olive wood certificates. Each source has its own certificate design, although they are similar to one another. In my opinion, some certificates leave room for improvement in both wording and art design.

I bought some of the ancient bog wood from Ireland that came with a downloadable certificate, but that certificate was a full page and looked like a lab report, so I designed and made my own small card size certificates to include with the pens. The pen blanks were authentic, but the certificates were my own. The certificates looked good and conveyed the information by telling the story of the wood. The gift recipients liked the pens and certificates. That is all that mattered. By the way, I looked at many different pen blank certificates to source ideas and inspiration for designing my own. None of them had a copyright mark.

Some olive wood suppliers try to distinguish between different grades of olive wood pen blanks, labelling the more grainy, colorful, figured wood "premium" or "select" or "Grade A" and charges more for them. I doubt that there is any objective standard. My hunch is that the youngest kid in the family that harvests the wood gets the job of eyeballing and sorting the pen blanks into different boxes.

In general, olive wood pen blanks come from pruning the trees, which continue to grow and produce every year. They set a good example of sustainable use.

I have had good luck with the 1 pound bag of olive wood cutoffs from Penn State, which seem to be reasonably priced for what you get. They include enough certificates, and also stickers (like small envelope seals). Many stickers on the small sheet were cut in half by accident, and others had peeled off during shipment. In my opinion, the stickers are useless. The wood and certificates are what matter in the package.
https://www.pennstateind.com/store/WXPR01BP.html

Photos: The same 1 pound bag of olive wood cutoffs from Penn State, showing each side of what I received.

 

[egnald]

I would classify myself also as the "trusting type" when it comes to these claims of authenticity and I also trust the reputable sources like Exotic Blanks, Penn State, Rockler, etc. as I have a difficult time believing that they would have any kind of motivation for deception.

I am certain of the authenticity of my Olive wood stash as nearly if not all of it was purchased from Israel businesses back in 2018 and was shipped back to me here in Nebraska. Before retiring I was fortunate to be able to travel to Israel at least once a year to meet with my engineering departments in Beersheva and Dimona with an occasional trip up to a sister plant in Migdal HaEmek.

On the chance that I do decide to sell some of my pens, I did cut out the shipping label and kept the import duty paperwork from customs so I would have something I could show as proof to potential customers, along with the little business card COA that they could take and keep.

Dave

 

[walshjp17]

Rather than a cerificate of "authenticity" perhaps a certificate of "origin" would be more appropriate. Authenticity implies some sort of ruling body has made a claim (refer to the appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) which signifies that the grapes in a wine were authenticated or certified to come from a specific region in France). Origin, on the other hand, IMHO, is a more generic term and may not carry an "official" stamp of approval that the "authenticity" stamp implies. Just some contrarian food for thought.

 

[penicillin]

Rather than a cerificate of "authenticity" perhaps a certificate of "origin" would be more appropriate. Authenticity implies some sort of ruling body has made a claim (refer to the appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) which signifies that the grapes in a wine were authenticated or certified to come from a specific region in France). Origin, on the other hand, IMHO, is a more generic term and may not carry an "official" stamp of approval that the "authenticity" stamp implies. Just some contrarian food for thought.

I like your comment. It makes perfect sense, but most people won't care. The ones who would care are lawyers. Pen blank authenticity is just too small a market for anyone to bother with AOC, etc.

The certificates in my photo that say "Certificate of Authenticity" are from Penn State. Obviously Penn State has the certificate cards printed with their name at the bottom. My hunch is that they want to prevent customers from knowing the actual sources of Bethlehem olive wood, and to make it seamless to switch sources in the event of a future contract dispute. I bet those companies also sell directly to US customers or through other distributors.

In case it matters, our homemade "certificates" don't have any such wording related to "authenticity" or AOC. They are more "informational cards" than an attestation of true origin. The goal is to help the recipient learn about the special wood in their pen, to enhance its uniqueness.

Here is the text from one our homemade certificates:

"This pen was made with ancient bog oak from Ireland, a limited resource. An acorn sprouted 6,500 years ago. It grew into a mighty oak. After it died, the oak tree fell into a peat bog where it was covered and preserved. Dissolved tannins darkened the wood over the millennia. The wood in your pen was dated by matching the tree ring spacing.
"Treasure it. It took 6,500 years to make!
"Lovingly handcrafted by [name] and {name]"

None of the gift recipients ever complained. Who complains about gifts.

 

[walshjp17]

I like your comment. It makes perfect sense, but most people won't care. The ones who would care are lawyers. Pen blank authenticity is just too small a market for anyone to bother with AOC, etc.

The certificates in my photo that say "Certificate of Authenticity" are from Penn State. Obviously Penn State has the certificate cards printed with their name at the bottom. My hunch is that they want to prevent customers from knowing the actual sources of Bethlehem olive wood, and to make it seamless to switch sources in the event of a future contract dispute. I bet those companies also sell directly to US customers or through other distributors.

In case it matters, our homemade "certificates" don't have any such wording related to "authenticity" or AOC. They are more "informational cards" than an attestation of true origin. The goal is to help the recipient learn about the special wood in their pen, to enhance its uniqueness.

Here is the text from one our homemade certificates:

"This pen was made with ancient bog oak from Ireland, a limited resource. An acorn sprouted 6,500 years ago. It grew into a mighty oak. After it died, the oak tree fell into a peat bog where it was covered and preserved. Dissolved tannins darkened the wood over the millennia. The wood in your pen was dated by matching the tree ring spacing.
"Treasure it. It took 6,500 years to make!
"Lovingly handcrafted by [name] and {name]"

None of the gift recipients ever complained. Who complains about gifts.

Thanks for the response. I really like your certificate's wording.

 

[Fulmaduro]

I like your comment. It makes perfect sense, but most people won't care. The ones who would care are lawyers. Pen blank authenticity is just too small a market for anyone to bother with AOC, etc.

The certificates in my photo that say "Certificate of Authenticity" are from Penn State. Obviously Penn State has the certificate cards printed with their name at the bottom. My hunch is that they want to prevent customers from knowing the actual sources of Bethlehem olive wood, and to make it seamless to switch sources in the event of a future contract dispute. I bet those companies also sell directly to US customers or through other distributors.

In case it matters, our homemade "certificates" don't have any such wording related to "authenticity" or AOC. They are more "informational cards" than an attestation of true origin. The goal is to help the recipient learn about the special wood in their pen, to enhance its uniqueness.

Here is the text from one our homemade certificates:

"This pen was made with ancient bog oak from Ireland, a limited resource. An acorn sprouted 6,500 years ago. It grew into a mighty oak. After it died, the oak tree fell into a peat bog where it was covered and preserved. Dissolved tannins darkened the wood over the millennia. The wood in your pen was dated by matching the tree ring spacing.
"Treasure it. It took 6,500 years to make!
"Lovingly handcrafted by [name] and {name]"

None of the gift recipients ever complained. Who complains about gifts.

I think bog oak looks like ebony, or blackwood, and I wood (pun intended) not seek it out (paying a premium, more for a certificate of authenticity). I have some beautiful solid black ebony (old stock @ cheap price) that finishes up much smoother, but costs even more nowadays. I have very little use for black wood, except for knife handles. Maybe I'll save for a bespoke kitless pen when I get to that level. I love the beauty of olive wood. But I can see the beauty. Enjoy your Bog, not a Bog man.

 

[penicillin]

Sometimes the beauty is not in the look of the pen, but in the story behind the wood that it is made from. Bog oak may not make the prettiest pen, but it makes an interesting story to tell others and gain their interest.

 

[dbeck03]

I've been thinking of making up a fancy certificate testifying that the wood comes from a genuine city park compost pile.

 

[penicillin]

I've been thinking of making up a fancy certificate testifying that the wood comes from a genuine city park compost pile.

"Congratulations on your purchase of this beautiful, handcrafted pen made with 100% genuine, all-natural San Francisco wood. The trees themselves are grown within the San Francisco city limits using nutrients extracted from the finest discarded meals and other natural biodegradable waste products, which are 100% sourced from San Francisco residents through generous donations to the official Golden Gate Park Community Gardens compost heap. This pen is a true one-of-a-kind San Francisco artifact. Treat it like the true trash-to-treasure that it is!"

 

[dbeck03]

"Congratulations on your purchase of this beautiful, handcrafted pen made with 100% genuine, all-natural San Francisco wood. The trees themselves are grown within the San Francisco city limits using nutrients extracted from the finest discarded meals and other natural biodegradable waste products, which are 100% sourced from San Francisco residents through generous donations to the official Golden Gate Park Community Gardens compost heap. This pen is a true one-of-a-kind San Francisco artifact. Treat it like the true trash-to-treasure that it is!"

If I could afford a marketing department, you'd be it.

 

[penicillin]

If I could afford a marketing department, you'd be it.

Even if you could afford a marketing department, you would not want it to be me!