As per a report by Al Jazeera, the Kynam wood costs $10,000 (more than Rs 8.50 lakh) per gram, while 10 grams cost around Rs 85 lakh, making it one of the most expensive materials on Earth.

Some materials are synonymous with luxury — marble, lacquer, mohair. Then there’s burl wood, the most characterful of them all, despite its rather unfortunate backstory. Technically a tree’s tumor, it ...