Founded in 2017 by luthier and engineer Graham Skimming in Cumbria, England, Lucem Guitars is a boutique electric guitar maker specializing in handcrafted instruments with neck-through construction and master-grade tonewoods. Skimming built his first guitar at age 15 and later graduated with distinction from Leeds College of Music's Musical Instrument Technology program. His engineering background — he also runs Tonelabs Limited, a control systems firm — informs the precision and innovation behind each Lucem instrument.

The brand's flagship model, the Paradox, was originally conceived in collaboration with Nick McCabe of The Verve as a limited-run design called the "Old Nick." Inspired by offset bass body shapes adapted for standard guitar, the Paradox features a distinctive offset silhouette, quarter-sawn sapele neck-through spine, and an elaborate control layout offering up to 21 pickup combinations via coil-split voicing and a five-pot configuration. The Paradox is available in Custom and Deluxe tiers, with the Deluxe featuring highly figured tonewoods. Lucem also produces the ST, a thru-neck design influenced by classic guitar silhouettes, and the Unorthodox, a signature model built for Neil Halstead of Slowdive featuring Lucem's own Stormrider humbuckers and a hardtail configuration.

To make their designs more accessible, Lucem introduced the Silver Series — factory-built, bolt-on versions of their custom shapes, starting with the Orthodox (a bolt-on take on the Paradox) priced significantly below the handmade customs. The Silver Series retains Lucem's offset aesthetic and compound-radius fretboard while using Kent Armstrong pickups and more conventional hardware.