Robert and Tor Erickson – Erickson Woodworking

Robert and Tor Erickson produce some of North America's finest furniture from their workshop in the Sierra Nevada's.  Today, Erickson Woodworking builds some 75 pieces of furniture a year, mostly chairs and tables. Their work is represented in various collections, including the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Yale University Art Gallery. They still build every piece by hand, one piece at a time, just like Robert did more than 40 years ago when he started the business. They believe in craft, in investing everything in their work. They believe in beauty, in a fair curve and in perfect proportions.

Dalriada Sgian Dubhs became a reality with the help of Robert and Tor and their guidance during a two-week apprenticeship in 2015.  Tor continues to source some exquisite pieces of Pacific maple and claro and paradox walnut for Christopher to integrate into the sgian dubhs found in these pages.

Rene Landry – Hades roasted maple

Rene selects, roasts and creates some of the finest maple ever to grace a sgian dubh. His business, Hades Roasted Maple, provides highly figured roasted maple for guitars, violins and our sgian dubhs.

The roasting process stabilizes the wood by slowly heating the lumber to temperatures reaching 190 degrees Celsius. This collapses the cell walls and stops the moisture from re-entering the wood. The resulting lumber is dried to a moisture content of 4 to 6 % relative humidity. This makes for extremely stable wood and provides a glowing hue to the exquisite detail of the curly, flame and bird's eye maple that graces our sgian dubhs.

Dino Nardini – Nova Scotia Agate

If you want rare agates endemic to Nova Scotia, Dino is your man.  Dino collects agate, jasper and amethyst all from the Bay of Fundy region of Nova Scotia, Canada.  The Bay of Fundy region is an excellent location for mineral collecting (the Bay itself is world-renowned for the highest tides in the world). Each day vast amounts of water flow into (and out of) the upper Minas Channel area. This daily ebb and flow of the tide carves rock from the surrounding basalt cliffs, which exposes new agate seams and mineral pockets to Dino.

Christopher uses the rare and endemic Nova Scotia Agates such as Golden Flame Agate as well as Red and Cherry agate to make our sgians unique and one of a kind.

Susana Hernandez – SHS Designs

Originally, from Costa Rica, Susana is now based in Nova Scotia and produces handmade original jewellery from her studio in Halifax.  Her designs are made in gold and silver but often mix both.

Christopher uses Susana’s talents to set Dino's agate into the striking pommels that adorn the hilts of our luxury sgian dubhs.