Plating and wood combos

[gcap74]

Hi all!

First time poster and very new to pen turning. I have turned 5 pens so far and each one has improved over the last thanks in great part to the great information I have read here in this site.

I have 2 pens I am making this weekend and I am running into the problem that i usually have when doing this and that is finding the best plating/wood combination. So I thought that maybe I would throw it out there to people to give some opinions.

I am going to be making 2 click pens for gifts for people. One is a Gatsby Click in Rhodium. The other is a Compson with Black Titanium plating. One will be for a woman, the other for a man (neither has asked for a specific style, only to be "surprised" and that they like click pens, so either could go to either one).

For the possible blanks I have the following:

Blue stabilized Box Elder Burl (from PSI)
Thuya burl (from Woodturningz)
Amboyna Burl (from Woodturningz)
Red Mallee Burl (from Woodturningz)
Tulipwood (from Woodturningz)

The Red Mallee can only be used for the Gatsby since it is left over and too short for the Compson.

What combinations would you think would look best? And which would be the more feminine of the options?

Thanks all!

 

[eranox]

The red mallee with the Gatsby was what I was going to suggest, for her.

For him, I think the blue BEB would look sharp paired with the black titanium.

 

[oneleggimp]

I'd go for a contrast between the plating and the blank. With the Black Titanium, I'd look for a light colored blank and wth the Titanium I'd look for a darker colored blank.