Hiromi Hirayama, a female blade smith, has been creating art swords for decades. As an Eastern woman, she remained unmarried for sword – making art and gained high international recognition. Today, female blade smiths aren’t rare, yet they’re often just praised as “as good as men”. However, Hiromi Hirayama’s works possess a unique artistic sentiment from a female perspective, which sets her apart from others.
Her works showcase the application of traditional Japanese metalworking techniques such as gold inlay and carving. Since 1998, Hirayama has stopped accepting any custom – made orders, and obtaining one of her handmade works is a matter of pure luck.
This knife belongs to Hirayama’s high – relief PICO series, which combines precious materials and is a truly rare find. It weighs 55 grams. We crafted the blade from 440C stainless steel and gave it a satin finish. We engraved Hiromi Hirayama’s English name on one side of the blade. We selected aged deer antler to make the handle, and utilized the natural texture to mimic the appearance of a tree trunk.
We placed a longhorn beetle at the handle’s end, as if it were on a tree trunk, searching for food. Its body is turquoise, legs are 18K gold, and eyes are opal, making it incredibly lifelike. We exquisitely carved the long antennae of the longhorn beetle from pure gold. The antennae extend from one side of the handle to the other, approaching the resin it is seeking. We inlaid amber, which is indeed a fossilized resin, into the resin, demonstrating a unique and ingenious design. This knife also comes with a hand – painted and signed certificate by Hirayama. We include a spare piece of the gold antenna left over from the production in the certificate. The style of the certificate is reminiscent of a child’s naive drawing, complementing the style of her works.
