Ich ♥ Bayern

What Ich ♥ Bayern is

Ich ♥ Bayern, German for "I love Bavaria", is a handmade pen holder for the desk. It is made as intarsia in real wood veneer: the woods, mainly walnut and ash, are cut precisely, fitted together and pressed onto a stable substrate. The motifs are not printed pictures and not milled engravings; they are the material itself.

Four motifs cover the sides of the cube: the words Ich ♥ Bayern, a mountain panorama in a circle, the Bavarian lion in front of the diamond pattern, and the saying Dahoam is Dahoam, Bavarian for roughly "home is home". A small desk object is treated here not as a mass-market item but as a piece of precise craft. Every edge, every joint and every face of veneer is visible within a few centimetres.

The design

The design of Ich ♥ Bayern relies on clarity. Each side carries one motif that reads completely on a small surface. There are no decorative flourishes; the effect comes from the pairing of woods, how the areas are divided and the contrast.

Each motif has its own visual language. The lettering is set into the surface as a veneer inlay. The mountains and the lion are silhouettes that read through contrast and the cut edge. The diamond pattern orders the areas and binds the four sides into one object.

The grain direction is a deliberate decision on every piece. Whether the fibres run along the shape, across it or diagonally changes how the object looks in different light.

Why intarsia and not print or engraving

Printed, engraved or milled wooden objects have surfaces that were worked afterwards. The base is a neutral board or a blank; the pattern is applied, not built. Up close the difference shows: printed colour has a layer edge, engraving leaves torn fibres, CNC milling leaves tool marks.

In veneer work, the motif is the material itself. The line between light and dark wood is a hand-fitted edge between two real sheets of veneer. Under a magnifying glass or a macro lens it shows no layer edge, only the structure of both woods directly side by side.

The pattern changes with the light. In raking light, pores and waves of grain appear that fade in diffuse light. That liveliness is not a property of print or engraving; it is a property of real wood.

Precision on a small surface

A pen holder about 10 cm across leaves little room for error. A joint that still looks respectable on a one-metre panel is visible up close on a 10 cm object, and edges that a large surface can hide are all on show on a small one.

For Ich ♥ Bayern that means the whole process runs to the same standard as large veneer work, on a surface where every deviation shows at once. Cutting and fitting has to be accurate to a tenth of a millimetre, pressing must not let anything drift, and sanding has to keep the edge, not round it. The result is either clean or visibly wrong; a precision object has no middle ground.

How the choice of wood shapes the piece

Ich ♥ Bayern comes in two versions, dark and light. Both carry the same four motifs and use the same woods, walnut and ash; what changes is which wood forms the body and which the drawing. So the choice is not only a matter of taste but a decision about how the object will look where it stands. The first pieces used maple instead of ash for the light parts; today they are walnut and ash.

Lightness and contrast are the most important variables. A dark body carries more weight and looks calmer from a distance; a light body shows the motifs more openly and brings out the detail of the grain.

Colour temperature affects how close the object feels to the room. Warm browns blend into settings with a lot of wood; light wood looks more precise and modern. The finish shifts it too: the hard-wax oil warms the light woods slightly.

The versions

Each version is its own decision about colour temperature and contrast. Here is what each is like and where it suits.

Dark: walnut with ash

A dark, warm brown walnut body with the motifs in light ash. The lettering and the diamond pattern read clearly, and the red-brown areas of the mountains and the lion add warm accents. This version looks calm, traditional and refined and suits warm desks with a lot of wood. The oil deepens the tone of the walnut further.

Light: ash with walnut

A light ash body with the motifs in walnut. The drawing looks more graphic and open, and the grain of the light wood stays visible. This version suits bright, clean workplaces. The satin finish keeps the light character of the ash.

Dark or light

The dark version looks calmer in dim surroundings; pores and grain stay visible, but the object does not push itself forward. The light version is more present in bright, daylight-cool offices and makes the motifs easier to read from a distance.

Finish and depth

Both versions of Ich ♥ Bayern get the same finish: hard-wax oil, satin. It shapes both the visual depth and the feel of the finished object.

Oil deepens each wood's own colour. Dark woods gain weight and their pores stand out more; light woods stay more transparent but still gain depth. Because oil can shift the contrast between light and dark, the effect is best judged on a sample of the actual combination.

The satin sheen keeps the lightness of the ash and avoids reflections that would flatten a motif in side light. Reihax does not use shellac or lacquer; how they compare is covered in finishes for wood art and oil, wax and shellac.

Handmade versus mass-produced

Most pen holders in the shops are made of MDF, pressed wood, pressed bamboo or plastic, with patterns printed, stuck on or milled by CNC: repeatable, but without the character of wood.

Ich ♥ Bayern is not different in size or weight but in where every visible quality comes from. The contrast between light and dark is not paint but the difference between two real woods; the edge between them is not a printed line but a hand-fitted border between two sheets of veneer; the surface has no coat of clear lacquer but is the wood itself, oiled and satin. Picked up, moved and seen from every angle, Ich ♥ Bayern shows how it was made by itself.

How Reihax builds Ich ♥ Bayern

Ich ♥ Bayern is made in small batches, usually two to five at a time (small-batch production). The laser cuts the pattern pieces straight from the design file; a knife takes care of straight edges and trimming, and pieces cut with the knife get a printed paper template stuck on first.

Then the pieces are fitted by hand and taped together, one by one; assembly and sanding are the steps that take Reihax the most time. The finished veneer faces are pressed onto the substrate with PVA wood glue in a veneer press. Depending on the piece, the substrate is raw particleboard, MDF, plywood or multi-ply board (substrates).

Sanding goes on until the surface is flat, the edges stay crisp and no dark dust is left in the light wood. The finish is the same on every version: hard-wax oil in a satin sheen, two thin coats with a light rub between them with a fine abrasive pad (hard-wax oil). After that, dusting is all the care it needs.

Size

Ich ♥ Bayern measures roughly 10 by 10 cm (4 by 4 in) and stands about 10 cm (4 in) tall. The exact size varies slightly between versions and batches; handmade objects do not hold industrial tolerances. The exact dimensions of the piece on offer are given on the sales listing.

Where to buy it

Ich ♥ Bayern is available through selected marketplaces. Current availability, versions and shipping details are on the listings.

• Amazon: the listing will be linked here soon.
• CherryCut: see Ich ♥ Bayern on CherryCut, where you can choose between the dark and the light version and see the price straight away.

For special versions, larger quantities or gift wrapping, use the contact details given on the marketplaces.