This cigar holder/divot tool is made from Snakewood (Piratinera guianensis), also called Leopardwood, a very dense and extremely rare wood native to South America, especially Dutch Guiana or Surinam, along the northern coast between the Amazon and Orinoco rivers. Snakewood is noted for its unique grain pattern of regular black markings on a background of red to orange and with a specific gravity that can reach as high as 1.37 it is arguably the hardest, densest wood in the world. It is often used for violin bows and conductor batons.
This is without a doubt the hardest wood I have ever worked with. Its hardness, combined with its uncommonly beautiful patterning and rich color, makes this just about the perfect divot tool wood. The extraordinary hardness also allows it to take a glass-like polish with a feel very much like Mammoth tusk ivory.
This is a particularly nice piece. The classic Snakewood pattern is very tight and even and the color is very rich. It comes from a very stable, crack-free section of log and has surprising heft. It is 3" long and just over 7/8" wide. The cigar cradle is 7/8" long, 3/4" wide and 3/16" deep. It will easily hold a large cigar up to ring gauge 60. The weight is a hefty 10.7 grams.
