Abalam inlay color spectrum question

[tommieboy]

Most of what I am seeing seems to be a Paua-based shell product which sometimes can be a bit too dark or too busy looking, especially with the thinner strip inlays. Are there lighter non-Paua versions available? I'm a bit old school and prefer inlays with a little more white and pinks in the color mix.

Thanks,

Tommy

[jaymarsch]

You might want go to the Duke of Pearl’s website. If it exists, he would know about it.
Best,
Jayne

[The Bard Rocks]

There are several kinds of abalone shell and while there is much overlap, the difference are noticeable. If you like it light, perhaps consider pearl instead of abalone.

[John Arnold]

I think you want red abalone. It used to be very common, but I am not sure about recent supply.

[Stevien]

James Goodall uses Agoya Shell in his "Aloha" models. I love the look, & it may be what you're looking for. Much like MOP, but with a little more color.
Steve

[TedBPhx]

My Taylor 814ce Dlx advertised Green Abalone rosette as one of the deluxe features. Yes, it is mostly green but I assumed it was a sorting function, throw the greenish ones in this pile, not rarity but don’t know.

[tommieboy]

Originally Posted by jaymarsch

You might want go to the Duke of Pearl’s website. If it exists, he would know about it.
Best,
Jayne

I did, but some of the products have descriptions but no images. So yes, I'll e-mail them a few questions.

Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks

There are several kinds of abalone shell and while there is much overlap, the difference are noticeable. If you like it light, perhaps consider pearl instead of abalone.

Yeah, that overlap is one of the issues that can confuse many of us.

Originally Posted by John Arnold

I think you want red abalone. It used to be very common, but I am not sure about recent supply.

I think you are correct in your assessment and the dwindling supply over the years.

Originally Posted by Stevien

James Goodall uses Agoya Shell in his "Aloha" models. I love the look, & it may be what you're looking for. Much like MOP, but with a little more color.
Steve

I just went over to his site, and it is nicely organized. He not only offers different shell inlays but has many sample images to compare. Oddly some of the Paua shell images were missing, but I guess they will eventually get uploaded.

Originally Posted by TedBPhx

My Taylor 814ce Dlx advertised Green Abalone rosette as one of the deluxe features. Yes, it is mostly green but I assumed it was a sorting function, throw the greenish ones in this pile, not rarity but don’t know.

Yes, many of my Taylors had some of the nicest rosette inlays.

Tommy

[John Arnold]

Originally Posted by TedBPhx

My Taylor 814ce Dlx advertised Green Abalone rosette as one of the deluxe features. Yes, it is mostly green but I assumed it was a sorting function, throw the greenish ones in this pile, not rarity but don’t know.

It is my understanding that green abalone is a distinct species. I do have a collection of whole shells (mostly red), and the green abalone have a different shape and size. I believe green abalone was one of the first species that was threatened.
The first abalone I ever used for inlay came from some small, almost round shells that were on the pale (pinkish) side. The veining was not as bold or as dark as that in most commercial abalone you see today. I have no idea of the species, since I sourced the shells from a gemstone supplier in the early-1970's.

[harvl]

There are a number of types of shell that would be much lighter than Paua shell. Something like Korean or Japanese Awabi are probably what you are looking for. Also Green Rippled abalone has a lot of those colors. These 3 are mostly whitish with colored "flash" For something that is lighter colored but as actual reds and greens pick abalone might work. Here is a page on my site that shows some examples but keep in mind that all of these shell can vary quite a bit and have a lot of cross over (meaning some green abalone is as dark as paua and some as light as Awabi etc etc etc) http://www.harveyleachinlays.com/inlay-materials.html

[tommieboy]

Originally Posted by harvl

There are a number of types of shell that would be much lighter than Paua shell. Something like Korean or Japanese Awabi are probably what you are looking for. Also Green Rippled abalone has a lot of those colors. These 3 are mostly whitish with colored "flash" For something that is lighter colored but as actual reds and greens pick abalone might work. Here is a page on my site that shows some examples but keep in mind that all of these shell can vary quite a bit and have a lot of cross over (meaning some green abalone is as dark as paua and some as light as Awabi etc etc etc) http://www.harveyleachinlays.com/inlay-materials.html

Thanks for the input Harvey, very much appreciated.

Tommy

[drive-south]

You can always get synthetic "A Baloney", or "Mother of Toilet Seat"

[tommieboy]

Originally Posted by drive-south

You can always get synthetic "A Baloney", or "Mother of Toilet Seat"

I'm OK with MOTS, but only if it's genuine MOTS.



Tommy

[John Arnold]

MOTS has its own appeal, but it has little or no opalescence (play of color) like that seen in real shell.

[Duke of Pearl]

We actually process about 20 different species of nacreous shell, 7 of which are abalone: Paua ab. (from New Zealand) is generally the darkest, then Green ab.(Mexico), Pink ab. (Mexico), Red ab. (US), Donkey Ear ab. (Philippines), Korean Awabi ab. (S. Korea), and Japanese Awabi ab. (Japan) as the palest. But...as mentioned, each species also produces its own particular lighter and darker materials, so there's plenty of overlap along with a wide range of texture or figure.

None of these species are endangered or listed as threatened, and all come from tightly regulated and regularly inspected/monitored commercial fisheries. All shells are at or above the legal size limits, but what's gradually changed in the last 20 years or so is that there are many more minimum size shells and far fewer large ones. It's the big ones which produce the darkest colors, so we've had to adjust our grading definitions to accommodate for that -- what used to be a lighter "Standard" grade has now become the "Dark" grade, etc.

Here's the website page showing all 29 Abalam choices:
https://dukeofpearl.com/store/ABALAM...ETS-c131113001
You can see that many of the abalone species yield 3-5 types of material, so it's easy to find something as light or dark as desired.

[tommieboy]

Originally Posted by Duke of Pearl

...Here's the website page showing all 29 Abalam choices:
https://dukeofpearl.com/store/ABALAM...ETS-c131113001
You can see that many of the abalone species yield 3-5 types of material, so it's easy to find something as light or dark as desired.

Thanks for the reply.

Are all of the Abalam Laminated Sheets shown in that link also available in precut strips, and precut curved strips? I am thinking that the product used in the link below is the same product described in the link you provided. Is this correct?

https://dukeofpearl.com/store/ABALAM...IPS-c116986878

Thanks,

Tommy