These pens feature a round shape and a smooth, glossy finish that brings out the deep undertones in the Tahitian mother of pearl. There is no clear coating on top of the pearl material; it is instead a result of an intensive hand-polishing procedure that showcases the pure beauty of untreated, polished oceanic mother of pearl. Mother of pearl is not only beautiful - it's also known as one of the most durable natural materials. Xezo uses a grade of mother of pearl with a hardness of 4.5 on the Mohs scale. There are makers who can produce pens with short pieces of mother of pearl. However, we believe that the hard-to-achieve aesthetics of single-cut, long panels of black Tahitian mother of pearl are well worth the cost and effort. Each pen has 18K gold-plated brass fittings. This fountain pen is fitted with a 0.35 mm fine-point, silky smooth, stainless steel nib. Each pen is serialized and entirely handmade.