I have titled this quartet ‘the San Carlos’ for two reasons; first, because I bought this extraordinary wood at a warehouse in San Carlos over 30 years ago.

Secondly, in honor of my colleague and friend, Charles Rufino, who has been a great supporter of my work over these same 30 years. Mr. Rufino is the Founder and President of the Long Island Violin Shop.

As a side story, my friend and colleague Doug Raguse and I spent a week standing on top of a shipment of 60 tons of pernambuco, selecting the best pieces. We took home about 1,000 lb each. At the end of the week we both looked like spent the whole week at the gym! The wood of this quartet came from that week in San Carlos.

This quartet is more than one of a kind. I can confidently assert that the world has never seen a quartet like this one, nor will it ever see one like this one again. This is so firstly, because of the extraordinary wood from which it is made. A single shaft of this quality is exceedingly rare; to find four such shafts in one, matched quartet becomes astronomically rare. Then to mount this rare wood in mother of pearl and French 18k gold places this four in an unmatchable, never seen before, never to be repeated category. Of course, one cannot avoid finishing the heads with mother of pearl as well.

Fortunate is the collector who understands and appreciates the rarity and beauty of this offering.

This quartet is executed in gold-mounted mammoth. It features intensely flamed, dense pernambuco; the frog is inlaid with an interiorly reflective compound Parisian eye. It is in the possession of a collector in Minneapolis. This pernambuco is extremely rare, and only a few sticks are available.

These images are of a violin bow, mounted in mother of pearl and gold; it features a one-piece mother of pearl headplate and dense, intensely flamed pernambuco. This bow is in the possession of John Waddle, violin maker of St.Paul,MN.