For the chef it’s his Sabatier, for a musician his instrument, for an artist his brush. So what is the tool of the writer?

Is it the latest slimline, impossibly light i-notebook? Is it the hard-drive that stores the words for posterity?

Non, non et non.

For this écrivain, it’s her fountain pen.

Stop me if you’ve heard this all before. I have been known to rave about my gorgeous new pen on various social platforms but I just can’t help it.

It was hand-crafted by Jacques Chaigne – genius wood-turner and bel homme – and is made from French ash and 24 carat gold. The wood has unusual markings from the mushrooms that grow on the trunk of the ash. It is a beautiful thing.

But the best thing about my fountain pen is the way it writes: free-flowing and generous of ink, it encourages the same from the writer. You will have to take my word for it. No one will ever write with my pen except me. As Jacques tells it, once you write with one of his fountain pens it is ‘à vous pour l’éternité.’

Yours for life: a real match made in heaven.