5 Questions, 5 Answers: What You Need to Know About Rosewood

What does rosewood look like?

The colour palette of rosewood is almost as broad as the list of its countries of origin. Grenadilla, for example, shows a deep dark brown to almost black colouring, whereas Honduras rosewood has a comparatively light, rather unusual rosy-red tone for this type of wood.

Sheesham, another rosewood variety originally native to India and now cultivated on vast plantations in Pakistan and Bangladesh owing to strong demand, is a dark wood that can develop violet tones.

High durability

Extreme hardness

Elegant design

What can rosewood be used for?

To speak of rosewood is almost automatically to speak of “musical instruments” and “furniture”. Rosewood is especially popular in instrument making because of its density and hardness, and thanks to its acoustic properties it is used, for example, in xylophones. It is also found in the backs of high-quality guitars and in recorders.

The furniture industry, in turn, values rosewood for its hardness and substantial character. This gives rise to exclusive solid wood furniture that proves especially durable and resistant to fungal attack and termites.

But that is not all. Premium handles for tools such as knives can also be made from rosewood, and jewellery made of rosewood is sometimes produced as well. At Hörner, you will find a high-quality ballpoint pen with a barrel made from rosewood.

What makes rosewood so special?

Quite simply, its exceptional durability and resilience, which make rosewood a truly high-quality timber. Even oak, long regarded here as almost untouchable, cannot quite compete, as some rosewood varieties prove to be 50 per cent harder.

There is also the diversity within the Dalbergia family, which creates an almost endless variety of grains and colourings. Every piece of furniture and every product refined with rosewood is therefore individual in character and becomes an object of lifestyle that its owner is pleased to display.

Rosewood is no passing fashion, but has long been known as a durable and high-quality fine wood. The properties of this tropical tree speak for themselves: high density, hardness, extraordinary variety of colour and a natural resistance to pests that is difficult to match.

Another advantage is that, with its dark base colouring, rosewood blends beautifully into settings featuring other dark woods such as teak or oak. An elegant Hörner Legno rosewood ballpoint pen will certainly make an impression on your solid wood desk.