We find ourselves in one of the remotest parts of Chile that has preserved its centuries-old tradition with an ironclad fervour. It is here that Pablo Guerrero has set up his own commissioned-knife artisan workshop, by combining his self-taught passion with an area-typical rare material: the fossilised wood of the Monkey Puzzle Trees, also known as Araucanía amber.

The tree’s condensed resin - known as Picoyo - is obtained from fallen branches after a centuries-long natural process. It is just as distinctive as the forest itself: an expanse of canopies, surrounded by volcanoes, which seems to sit like graphic designs atop the enormous trunks covered with a thick and prickly bark that resembles the skin of an ageing elephant.