Bois de Rose

The name is already a promise: wood of roses. And Dalbergia maritima keeps that promise in every sense, when worked it releases a delicate, floral scent that follows every pass of the tool, a trait rare among woods and unmistakable to anyone who knows it. It grows only in Madagascar, endemic to that extraordinary island like so many other natural treasures found nowhere else on Earth. The forests that once held it have been devastated by illegal logging, and today international trade is regulated under CITES Appendix II, meaning every piece requires documentation, traceability, accountability. It isn't a wood you simply order.

The color fresh off the blade is a spectacle: vivid magenta, deep burgundy, with purple and black streaks running across the surface like brushstrokes. Over time and with light exposure it deepens toward darker tones, almost an oxblood red, though in some pieces it holds onto those purple highlights for a long time, setting it apart from any other rosewood. Every set is different, every piece has its own combination of colors and grain. Density exceeds 930 kg/m³, Janka hardness sits around 2,940 lbf, among the highest in the entire world of instrument woods. In instrument making it's used for backs and sides of top-tier acoustic guitars, fretboards, bridges, where its harmonically rich acoustic response, with deep bass and shimmering highs, brings it close to Brazilian rosewood, the absolute benchmark that can no longer be touched.

For laser engraving it performs well, but calls for care: the wood's different tones react differently to the burned mark, and in the darker areas fine lines can get lost. On medium-weight designs, where the mark has some thickness and room to breathe, the result is extraordinary, the contrast against the wood's natural color variation creates something unique, impossible to replicate on any other material.