- Joined
- Jan 21, 2001
- Messages
- 1,634
Questions regarding these materials often pop up. One of the most common regarding them are how do you tell the difference between them. Actually if you could see the raw materials together instead of the usual manner of comparison ( that is installed on a knife and usually without having one of each to compare to each other ) they would be alot easier to distinguish. Celluloid has a definite pattern . It is man made its property and composition are quite different than those of natural Mother of pearl. This subject and the various propertys of Celluloid have been throughly explored and should be in the archives. We even had a contest once. I have written a couple of articles on Celluloid which I find to be beautiful as well as confusing with some very unusual and in some case nasty propertys. Which is why I often refer to celluloid in the feminine gender.
Recently through some unusual circumstance I was able to put together a couple of pictures which may show just how different these materials are if viewed correctly for comparison. Remember Marine pearl was specificly designed to be an imitation pearl, or faux pearl, The name marine pearl was again adopted by Schrade to lead one to believe that it was pearl or pearl like.
Regarding the slabs of pearl in these pics I bought these from a company in North Carolina, called Mother Of Pearl. They are a young couple who make knife handles of natural materials and really in the case of jigged bone ect they virtually had to reinvent some of the old jigging procedures in order to revive the art of hand jigged bone handles They also do pearl right from the shell not many american companys still make pearl handles, most of it is imported from foriegn firms. In fact foreign firms ( JAPANESE ) ( I was informed ) buy 80 percent of all the shells in the world and because they will buy anything it is becoming almost impossible to find any large shells since they are all being harvested early. This has caused the price of Mother of pearl to skyrocket. Making it almost impossible for others to compete and in fact creating a virtual monopoly. Now I realize that this like Schrades demise is just, lets see, bad planning, bad managment, certainly not planned or in any way the fault of foreign governments or concerns. Lets see, oh yes, it is just the international economic situation. Not planned just another unfortunate accident.
In any event I called these folks regarding a handle material I was looking for. I had also been considering buying some pearl for another project however finding good pearl over 3/16" thick 1,1/4" wide and 4,1/4" long that is almost impossible to find. Especially made in the USA. Also these folks adhere to a much higher standard than what is internationally accepted. In fact not only is the stuff beautiful but was thicker and bigger than expected.
I really was not going to buy it right then however upon inquiry I found that they had 2 sets left of what I was looking for in the grade I wanted. That and the fact that they were unsure what they would be able to get in the future and that as of the first of the year the price was going up just a tad. Stuff that was around 100 a set now would jump to about 150. I decided now might be the time to pick up these two sets. Presentation stuff was going from 150 to 250 and I was told they would be lucky to be able to produce 10 sets this year in this large size. I am sure this has nothing to do with the japs ( excure me these companies) cornering the market. just like it is projected that Toyota ( or Honda I forget which it was, they all look the same to me small and ugly) (I have never owned one I may soon have to or have no option other than walking). will be bigger ( sell more cars ) than GM next year. Bad managment again certainly an accident certainly not planned.
I then remembered a piece of original Schrade marine pearl cell ( which even used to have a burn mark from one of the accidents that often happened with this volatile material sometimes bursting into flame from the heat of just cutting it to quickly. ) This is rhe last piece of original stock that I know of. However after prevailing upon the owner. I was allowed to take a couple of pics with both materials together. When this is done it becomes quite obvious which is which but truthfully on the knife it is much tougher.
So the award you get for listening to my political dissertation upon yet another american area of production which will soon be a memory ( Unless a few good people like those at the MOP in NC can stay afloat ) is to get to see these pictures. ( I doubt if the reward is worth the price of having to read my rhetoric ) The pearl in these shots is almost twice as thick as the man made cell and truly magnificent. Note it may be awhile before you ever see original Schrade cell and giant MOP made in the USA together ( they may both soon be extinct.) LT PS the cell in these pics was originally pure white however age and my photography seem to have made it look darker (actually in person it looks lighter ) however it should still allow a better understanding of the look of each.
Recently through some unusual circumstance I was able to put together a couple of pictures which may show just how different these materials are if viewed correctly for comparison. Remember Marine pearl was specificly designed to be an imitation pearl, or faux pearl, The name marine pearl was again adopted by Schrade to lead one to believe that it was pearl or pearl like.
Regarding the slabs of pearl in these pics I bought these from a company in North Carolina, called Mother Of Pearl. They are a young couple who make knife handles of natural materials and really in the case of jigged bone ect they virtually had to reinvent some of the old jigging procedures in order to revive the art of hand jigged bone handles They also do pearl right from the shell not many american companys still make pearl handles, most of it is imported from foriegn firms. In fact foreign firms ( JAPANESE ) ( I was informed ) buy 80 percent of all the shells in the world and because they will buy anything it is becoming almost impossible to find any large shells since they are all being harvested early. This has caused the price of Mother of pearl to skyrocket. Making it almost impossible for others to compete and in fact creating a virtual monopoly. Now I realize that this like Schrades demise is just, lets see, bad planning, bad managment, certainly not planned or in any way the fault of foreign governments or concerns. Lets see, oh yes, it is just the international economic situation. Not planned just another unfortunate accident.
In any event I called these folks regarding a handle material I was looking for. I had also been considering buying some pearl for another project however finding good pearl over 3/16" thick 1,1/4" wide and 4,1/4" long that is almost impossible to find. Especially made in the USA. Also these folks adhere to a much higher standard than what is internationally accepted. In fact not only is the stuff beautiful but was thicker and bigger than expected.
I really was not going to buy it right then however upon inquiry I found that they had 2 sets left of what I was looking for in the grade I wanted. That and the fact that they were unsure what they would be able to get in the future and that as of the first of the year the price was going up just a tad. Stuff that was around 100 a set now would jump to about 150. I decided now might be the time to pick up these two sets. Presentation stuff was going from 150 to 250 and I was told they would be lucky to be able to produce 10 sets this year in this large size. I am sure this has nothing to do with the japs ( excure me these companies) cornering the market. just like it is projected that Toyota ( or Honda I forget which it was, they all look the same to me small and ugly) (I have never owned one I may soon have to or have no option other than walking). will be bigger ( sell more cars ) than GM next year. Bad managment again certainly an accident certainly not planned.
I then remembered a piece of original Schrade marine pearl cell ( which even used to have a burn mark from one of the accidents that often happened with this volatile material sometimes bursting into flame from the heat of just cutting it to quickly. ) This is rhe last piece of original stock that I know of. However after prevailing upon the owner. I was allowed to take a couple of pics with both materials together. When this is done it becomes quite obvious which is which but truthfully on the knife it is much tougher.
So the award you get for listening to my political dissertation upon yet another american area of production which will soon be a memory ( Unless a few good people like those at the MOP in NC can stay afloat ) is to get to see these pictures. ( I doubt if the reward is worth the price of having to read my rhetoric ) The pearl in these shots is almost twice as thick as the man made cell and truly magnificent. Note it may be awhile before you ever see original Schrade cell and giant MOP made in the USA together ( they may both soon be extinct.) LT PS the cell in these pics was originally pure white however age and my photography seem to have made it look darker (actually in person it looks lighter ) however it should still allow a better understanding of the look of each.
