All About Pocket Knives

I know there must be some way of grading the quality....i.e., color, luminecence, depth, size,, etc. of mother of pearl. What would be considered "AAA" mother of pearl? Would I be correct in assuming that would be the same as "AAA" fancy black walnut when refering to gunstock wood? Like "THE BEST"?

I don't know if there is an 'official' grading system for pearl. I have seen different knife makers/handle material suppliers make claims. Does seem to be a difference in the pearl some companies use (say Canal Street Cutlery) and that found on the cheaper china made knives.

Myself, I like to see lots of color, pink and turquise. I like some figure in the shell, not just smooth and plain. I just got up and went over to my display of 5" texas toothpicls, handled in MOP. The best ones seem to be my Fightn Bulls (Wendell Carson). Funny, one of the worst slabs of pearl is on a Blue Grass Cut winchester... ranks a bit worse than a Parker. But I love them all... my favorite handle material.

Oh, time to wipe each one down with some mineral oil, I think.

Phil

This is from http://www.knifehandles.com and there is much more information there. Go to the website then click on Mother of Pearl. Good folks to do business with. As always, look for deals. The prices here offer a decent starting point to work from. Gold Lip Pearl is the same shell and species, just uses the other side of the shell.

White Mother of Pearl - Pinctada Maxima
Grade Definitions

Presentation Grade is the highest grade of Mother of Pearl obtainable. This grade of pearl has no fractures, defects, discoloration, holes or unfavorable markings.
"A+" Grade is very similar to Presentation grade. Usually, this grade will have one very minor flaw at one end of the scale. This flaw will usually include yellow coloration, and/or a slight fracture. Usually, this flaw can be cut around or trimmed away.
"A" Grade is also a very high grade of pearl. Pieces will have a flawless front side. The reverse side will generally have minor shallow fractures, some yellow coloration, and/or a slight worm hole that can be avoided.
"B" Grade is still a workable grade of Mother of Pearl and is commonly used by beginning knife makers or knife makers that make relatively inexpensive knives. "B" grade Mother of Pearl will still have a flawless front side. The reverse side will have some deeper fractures, more discoloration, a larger worm hole that has been filled, and/or some exterior bark.

OTHER SITES:
http://www.elenhunting.com/Merchant2/me ... y_Code=MOP

http://ivoryworksltd.net/index.php?cPat ... e77456fd9b

Banyan Bay offers some pearl, seems like a couple sites I have done business with are no longer there.

LOL....It looks like Hukk beat me to the punch... Great stuff Hukk..

Is mineral oil considered the best substance to "preserve" MOP with?
I'm considering buying a beautiful razor/trapper with some of the prettiest MOP I've ever seen. Color that will dazzle the eyes. Blue, turqoise, a tinge of green and white cumulous (sp?) cloud like white areas. Large 4 1/4" knife with full sized scales. No dividers on each side like some of the less expensive knives.

Thanks for all the quick replies and information guys. I've made an offer and in a day or so, we'll know if I'm the pround new papa or not.

sunburst wrote:LOL....It looks like Hukk beat me to the punch... Great stuff Hukk..

Must have been by a few seconds, the time is exactly the same.

HINT: When buying a large piece of pearl, make sure that if it says .125 (1/8 inch) inches thick that it is 1/8 inch or .125 from end to end. I've receieved a couple that were thin on one end, fortunately the project was salvaged by using a center cigar band.

Just make sure that it's the same thickness all the way through, the longer the piece, the more likely it is to have thickness variations. Send it back right away if it is not correct. I never checked until I was ready to use it.

Check it as soon as you get it in the mail.

I have a pair of MOP pistol grips that, if I remember correctly, came off a S&W, break top .38. I don't know if they just need to be polished or what, but they have pretty much lost their luster. I'll take a picture of them when I find them. If anybody can help me, I certainly will appreciate it.
...CCBill...

Is Pearl and Mother of Pearl the same thing, or are they two different materials

handles are made from mop. a pearl is the resulting reaction of an agitant insde the animal. people often shorten mother of pearl to pearl.

A pearl and mother of pearl are different yet folks call mother of pearl (MOP), pearl also. Abalone has MOP in some species, the black abalone has a thin black outer layer but the inside is solid white MOP. MOP has to do with the shell. A pearl is formed when an irritant is coated usually in the inside of the animal. Abalone will also form pearls yet in most species the shell is called abalone, yet many species such as the Red Abalone do have MOP.

Pretty much the easieast way to remember is that MOP is usually the shell and Real Pearls are usually formed around a foreign body inside the organism. Pearl is also slang for MOP.

Here's the knife I'm negotiating on. I'm no expert on MOP, but it surely looks purty to me! And I'm a HUGE fan of the razor trapper pattern of knife.

Thanks Hukk for giving us a real answer to the question. Excellent info and I am impressed you really work with the stuff.

I follow BR Levines advice and use Mineral Oil on all natural handle materials. No rubbing hard, just very gently with a very soft cloth.

Beautiful knife, Dewman.

Phil

That's a great looking knife dewman! Looks like someone picked out some EXCELLENT pearl with a lot of color for that knife. I assume it's been rehandled because I don't see any pins.
Nice Grab!

Dewman, Those scales are something else. One of my Schatt & Morgan has some really good looking scales on one side, the other side is not as colorful.

Man, if those sides matched..................