Thanks all!
... GREAT selection of kit!!
Thanks! I'm glad you think so. I really went around in circles about what kit to put in it. The circle went something like this:
It needed to be a big pen to show off the pattern. PSI's Apollo would work well, but it's Gold Ti not Gold and, well, kind of a cheap kit (not poorly made or bad looking, but ...) This is a truly exotic material, and I didn't want just any kit in it.
I didn't think silver/ rhodium etc ... would work as the main plating, so that eliminated CS-USA's high end kits, except for their Gold Ti Gentleman's, but that plating has never looked great to me.
I finally decided to look around for some inspiration. I found
these piccies. Conway Stewart - the only major penmaker that's got a Casein pen at the moment - had the aesthetics nailed, I thought. One wants gold and / or black with it.
So Berea's Ultra Cambridge met most of the criteria. The silver might be a bit of a risk, but their Sterling Silver is wonderfully bright, and I thought it would work, as long as it was just the accent material. Otherwise Conway Stewart had the look I wanted. A warm gold with the warm off-white of the casein. The silver adds a nice, "icy" contrast, I think. I would have preferred a real, heavy gold plate, but, as I mentioned, Berea's Gold Ti is quite rich.
The only problem with the Ultra was the black at the base of the centerband. Either that had to come off, or I would have to add some black segments at the ends. Doable, but then the silver would be "too much."
So that's how I arrived at this.