Real ivory grips?

[nolongcolt]

Is there any reliable way to tell from photos whether one is looking at elephant ivory as opposed to walrus or other forms of real ivory? With the ban ele ivory has become quite expensive and is illegal to purchase here in WA now, our idiot gov Inslee was all too happy to sign off on that one, moron! But a lot of times you see real ivory on listings and while it may look real enough how can you really tell?

[lscg]

yes, there is a way to tell the difference between Mammoth Ivory and Elephant Ivory. the Ivory contains something called Schreger lines. these lines can be seen generally on the butt of the tusk/grips/knife. Elephant Ivory Schreger lines will run at 115 degree angles and Mammoth Ivory Schreger lines will run at 90 degree angles. also Mammoth Ivory will usually have some kind of color to it like blue, green, and brown. this is caused by minerals in the ground. of course Mammoth Ivory can be just as white as Elephant so it's best to rely on the Schreger lines.


Fossil Walrus Ivory is pretty easy to spot if you've seen enough of it but non fossilized pre ban Walrus Ivory can look like Elephant Ivory except for the fact that it doesn't have Schreger lines.





www.fws.gov/lab/ivory_natural.php

[nolongcolt]

Thanks much for that info!

[lscg]

happy to help!

[CraigC]

Once you know what real ivory looks like, it's unmistakable. And as LSCG said, they still haven't figured out how to replicate the Schreger lines. Although it can be tough to see in pictures as ivory doesn't really photograph well.