About
The Wooden Monarch is a hand-turned fixed-axle yo-yo crafted by Tom Holmes in Santa Barbara, California. Holmes began making yo-yos in 1988 and started selling them publicly in 1990 at Santa Barbara art shows and selected galleries. Each yo-yo was produced individually on a lathe from boards milled to 5/8″ thickness, with a beeswax finish applied to the final piece.
Holmes selected dense tropical and domestic hardwoods known for their stability and visual character: African ebony, cocobolo rosewood (including two-tone ebony and cocobolo striped variants), purpleheart, Brazilian tulipwood, teak, cherry, African wenge, and white oak. Many editions featured vintage coins inlaid flush into the yo-yo faces — Indian head pennies in the cocobolo rosewood variant and mercury dimes in the purpleheart and white oak variants — making each piece a functional collector’s item.
Wooden Monarch yo-yos carry a fixed wooden axle with no bearing, relying on friction and the player’s string tension for response — the classic fixed-axle mechanism that predates modern bearing yo-yos. Their dense hardwood construction made them notably heavier than typical plastic yo-yos of the era.
World yo-yo champion Bunny Martin used Wooden Monarch yo-yos in his one-handed string-trick performances. Holmes sold exclusively through Santa Barbara art shows and galleries — never through retail chains or online stores — keeping production volumes low throughout the brand’s active years.
