The word “lead” is probably what one is most likely to think of when asked what the cheapest metal is. That’s inaccurate, as that crown goes to iron, whose price per ton is just $100 at the time of this writing while that of lead is over 20 times as much(!)

Still, even at $2,000 a ton, a small piece of lead could literally cost less than a penny. And unlike iron, which is used in steel which is in turn used to make many valuable objects, lead’s few uses in consumer products always tend to be relegated to the most menial class of goods including bullets, weights, toxic paint… the very opposite of glamorous. So no wonder the mental association with cheap.

But witness here this unloved member of the periodic table getting the deluxe treatment! Never before has lead been so lovingly polished and so fastidiously cut to a specific dimension. All in the name of achieving the ultimate showpiece; a decorative item meant to wow its owner and the few others who can appreciate the technical difficulty involved. Face it, we are terminally nerdy 😅

The 10mm comes in a 15*60mm flat bottomed ampule while the 25.4mm is housed in a glass dome. This is both for the protection of the finish (lead dulls to a dark gray in open air) and to protect the edges and corners from damage.