Featured What am I? Victorian bar pin made of ...something.

Discussion in 'Jewelry' started by evelyb30, Oct 30, 2019.

  1. evelyb30

    evelyb30 Well-Known Member

    I just hope it's not tortoise. Is it amber, horn, or something we can't sell?
    DSCF1041.JPG DSCF1043bitty.jpg
     
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  2. Ownedbybear

    Ownedbybear Well-Known Member

    Did you get a UV on it?
     
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  3. evelyb30

    evelyb30 Well-Known Member

    No joy with the UV. Then again neither do the three pieces of modern amber I picked up ... at least probable amber. Possible fakes.
     
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  4. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

    Perplexing. Looks like we got nowhere with these last year:

    https://www.antiquers.com/threads/v...ll-plastic-necklace-celluloid-galalith.28937/

    I don't know how well genuine tortoise lent itself to beads this shape or to spheres. I haven't made a study, but most tortoise I run into is flatter & thinner: hair ornaments; snuff box sides; cameos made either by pressing or in 2 pieces. Even if material were thick enough, not sure you would want to cut out something that would result in as much waste as these would.
     
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  5. evelyb30

    evelyb30 Well-Known Member

    Kind of what I was hoping. It feels plastic-y. It doesn't have the striations of horn, but that would make a lot more sense than tortoise.
     
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  6. patd8643

    patd8643 Well-Known Member

    Almost looks too translucent to be tortoise and doesn't look like amber. What are the other choices?
     
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  7. evelyb30

    evelyb30 Well-Known Member

  8. Houseful

    Houseful Well-Known Member

    These are described as buffalo horn.
    C55C6668-F163-4A53-A827-D99ACA5B6966.jpeg 1B5E54DF-4CBF-4653-ABFC-B0275F96B1F1.jpeg
     
  9. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    I think it is safe to sell, and it doesn't look like amber to me.
    It is an oldie. It could be horn or celluloid imo. Celluloid was the earliest thermoplastic, and it was used to simulate tortoiseshell and horn as well as other natural materials.
     
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  10. scoutshouse

    scoutshouse Well-Known Member

    Love it @evelyb30!

    Are they set from behind where we can't see it? Glued or strung?

    It looks very petite.
     
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  11. blooey

    blooey Well-Known Member

    @Bronwen Tortoiseshell is the original "plastic" and can be heat formed into just about anything of *any* thickness if you have enough of it, although usually "thin" as you say, is more common.
    Here's one of my own favourite dress canes that features a silver mounted "solid" tortoiseshell handle and a pair of salmon on the band.

    t_cane.jpg
     
  12. kyratango

    kyratango Bug jewellery addiction!

    Hummm... sorry, but my feeling is turtle shell:shy:
    As blooey said, turtle shell sheets can be join together with heat and pressure to get thick pieces.
    Not as milky/opalescent as horn. Plastic will need the (in)famous taste test:p
     
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  13. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    It is beautiful blooey, do you use it at all?
     
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  14. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    This little guy, a Bali keris hilt, is blonde (water)buffalo horn:
    upload_2019-10-31_18-32-29.jpeg

    A bit blurry, it was cropped from a photo of a row of keris hilts.
     
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  15. KSW

    KSW Well-Known Member

    I have some earrings that arrived in a job lot that I'm sure are tortoise shell:arghh:. The react to UV in a similar way to Amber but it didn't sit quite right with me as they had the dark stripes. In my research I found some more coyly described as 'marine shell' and also discovered that tortoiseshell reacts to UV. I don't know how accurate my research is about tortoiseshell but I had some horn earrings that reacted to UV too.
     
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  16. blooey

    blooey Well-Known Member

    Not yet, but funny story (as usual) - when I bought it, someone had fitted a made in China tripod stabilizer to the pointy end, so the cane stood up on its own. Imagine my delight when I looked at the price tag which read "Made in China cane $10":bag::hilarious:
     
  17. kyratango

    kyratango Bug jewellery addiction!

    :wacky::facepalm::hilarious:Lucky you! Wonderful find:woot:
     
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  18. James Conrad

    James Conrad Well-Known Member

    LOL, knowed it was comin! :hilarious:
     
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  19. kyratango

    kyratango Bug jewellery addiction!

    :wacky::wacky::wacky:James!:hungry::hungry::hungry:;)
     
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  20. KSW

    KSW Well-Known Member

    Tell me all. What plastic am I tasting?. I'm already sitting in dark closets, licking China, chinking beads against my teeth and grinding pearls, what have I missed?
     
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