Thread: How to tell Bone from Ivory?

While I'm on the subject of this razor I have only one reference I found regarding J Nore Paris. Any one have info on the maker? Approximate age? I know very little about French blades that aren't TI

You say you have several items in the house made of Ivory. Ivory has a feel to it all it's own. once you handle it you will not ever mistake it again. The lines by themselves mean nothing. They put those in the artificial stuff to make it look real. Ivory is also much denser than bone.

Just looking at your scales the beveling on the edges would seem to indicate it's not Ivory. But that's a wild guess. That type of work is usually reserved for real high end pieces.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

You say you have several items in the house made of Ivory. Ivory has a feel to it all it's own. once you handle it you will not ever mistake it again. The lines by themselves mean nothing. They put those in the artificial stuff to make it look real. Ivory is also much denser than bone.

Just looking at your scales the beveling on the edges would seem to indicate it's not Ivory. But that's a wild guess. That type of work is usually reserved for real high end pieces.

Sorry,But The schreger lines in real ivory mean everything.

When it comes to ivory questions, I always contact "pixelfixed" as he is quite scholarly in this field.

I took the time to pull out my ivory salt spoon and finally found my ivory statue and there is no doubt in my mind it real ivory. I agree with bigspender that it is less fancy than a lot of the ivory scales I have seen, but there's no doubt its natural material. I even pulled out an old pair of bone scales I had off an old Sheffield blade. The bone was alot lighter and felt kind of like a 'shard' as opped to this which felt solid and sculpted. Based on this'd and all the indication listed above I believe it's real ivory.

Just my quick way of telling the difference. If you look at ivory it's usually used pinned with no collar. Yours, I'd say' is bone.

Thx shooter,I do know some real experts in the field that know far more than i so i have some Knowledge in Identifying Ivory and people to help me.
As TBS says, once you handle real Ivory,You will know what it is without question,is not just the look but the feel,is funny stuff.
How it looks is 100% dependent on how it is cut (which is an art in itself) are alot of nuances to the look.
Ivory is very difficult to photograph in a way to show its real beauty.
If you ever have the oppurtunity to handle a Helji 32/33/134 as it was made back in the day using Ivory,Than you will know what the best of the best looks like.

I call it as I see it.

You forgot the Helji 30...nice little shaver in beautiful ivory, in rotation of course!

Originally Posted by shooter74743

I call it as I see it.

You forgot the Helji 30...nice little shaver in beautiful ivory, in rotation of course!

is one of the greats for sure,but as you say,little blade

Best pic I have of the lines in ivory