OLIVE

The Tree

Sacred to all Mediterranean civilizations and a symbol of peace from the earliest times, the Olive is an evergreen. Up to about ten years, its trunk is smooth, cylindrical, and gray-green. It transforms in the following years, becoming as we know it: gnarled, twisted, dark in color, deformed by deep grooves.

It fears the cold, excess moisture, and strong temperature fluctuations, but, in favorable conditions, can live for several hundred years, even reaching a thousand.

The Essence

Olive wood has a distinctive appearance with strongly contrasting grain patterns.

It is heavy, durable, and so compact that the growth rings are almost indistinguishable, making it suitable for exterior cladding in climatically unstable areas or for the creation of outdoor furniture pieces.

As the years go by, trunks become “enriched” with defects, making the supply of intact and straight logs scarce.