The pen with the Thames running round the barrel
Six landmarks run round the barrel in enamel, from Battersea Power Station to Big Ben. The pen was used to commemorate the sale of the Ritz London.
What the pen is
The barrel and cap carry a continuous 360-degree panorama. The sky is a textured, guilloché-inspired ground in cerulean, azure and white, and the skyline sits against it as a sharp black silhouette.
Turning the pen walks you along the river. Battersea Power Station and its four chimneys, the suspension cables of Tower Bridge, the dome of St Paul’s, the curved glass of the Gherkin, the wheel of the London Eye, and the face and spire of Big Ben.
The London Pen was used to commemorate the sale of the Ritz London.
How we made it
A panorama that closes on itself is harder than a panel. There is no edge to hide a join in, so the painting has to arrive back where it started at exactly the right point on the curve, and the enamel has to be laid so that the sky looks continuous rather than painted in sections.
The cap is finished with a deep polished blue dome that sits against the brighter sky on the barrel. We made the pen in two versions, a sunrise and a sunset, which are the same six landmarks under different light.
The Silk Road Pen, one of three ever made
A pen carrying the road between Palmyra and Xi’an, hand-painted in vitreous enamel, commissioned to mark a company’s journey from Greater Syria to China.
2023The pen that was made in a week
Just one week before the coronation, Cleave received a call from the palace to create a pen for His Majesty King Charles III.
2012The bouquet Her Majesty carried
For the Diamond Jubilee of 2012, the coronation bouquet was rebuilt as an articulated brooch in white gold and diamonds, and presented in a rock crystal box.