What's that Little Black Rock?

The little black rock that features so prominently in our product photos is a bit of Lava rock.  We bought it from a stall outside Pompeii, in Italy when on holiday a few years ago.

When we started photographing our pens, we looked around for something to use as a prop.  Naomi suggested the lava rock and so we tried it out.  The great thing about it is that it closely resembles the size of a hand when holding a pen...this gives a great indication as to what a pen will look like in you hand!