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This shelf is made of a very fine piece of Hawaiian koa. The koa has several special features that make it a Lumbergem. First, the edge has a very unusual and intact live edge. This is the bark of the tree showing the angle at which this slice was cut.
Next is the iridescent curl figure that moves as you change your position to the shelf (like a trading card with multiple pictures viewable from different angles).
Finally, this koa has an incredible range of color from golden yellow to burnt orange with streaks of violet grain.
For those who want only the best, this is it.
Lumbergem™ Furniture
What is a Lumbergem? Most wood used in furniture is fairly plain. There are exotic species, however, which display different color and grain than normally used in mass produced furniture.
Within these exotic species, there are a few truly exception slices that stand above the rest in figure, color, and sometimes shape when natural edges are involved. Only those really spectacular examples of various species make the grade to be called a Lumbergem.
I liken Lumbergems to the gemstone minerals such as lapis lazuli, picture jasper, and jade that I used to work with as a jewelry designer of 15 years. These natural materials usually came to me already beautified by a lapidary. Here, exotic wood furniture making requires me to apply lapidary principles to raw unique wood specimens.
What is Lumbergem furniture? A Lumbergem is used in its solid form, not as veneer facing. This creates special challenges for the furniture it goes into. The functional challenge is that it should remain indoors and in a relatively dry environment because wood expands and contracts as its cells expand and contract. This is why we don't recommend using solid wood in bathrooms for instance.
The design challenge is matching different pieces of wood in the same piece of furniture, a problem usually overcome by using sequential slices of veneer. In Lumbergem furniture, the harmonizing of features is done at a design level, not at the materials level.
What is the value of a Lumbergem? Like a fine gemstone a Lumbergem can be pulled out of its current furniture and be reset. It also has the thickness to be completely refinished many times so that the furniture itself can last forever. It is an investment in the very best of a rare earth material that can be passed on from generation to generation.
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