Jewelry carved, molded, inlaid, polished, welded, and cut from the hard protective outer covering of the Hawksbill turtle and the Loggerhead turtle in a blond, translucent amber or dark, opaque reddish amber color.
A ware in imitation of tortoise shell obtained by oxides of manganese, copper, antimony, and ochre yellow sponged on over the dry clay, the colors blending in an interesting way under a smooth glaze when fired.
True tortoise shell is the actual shell of a tortoise, widely used in the 19th century for jewelry and decorative hair combs. Today, however, the use of real tortoise shells has been banned. Instead, plastic is used to imitate its coloration and decorative effect.
The polished shell of tortoises (or, more often today, synthetic material designed to resemble polished shell). Often used for inlays or small carved ornaments.
A mottled, nutty brown shell material with a spotted, striped, or sometimes even speckled pattern. Popular for 19th century jewelry and hair combs, tortoise shell was banned and is no longer used for these items. There are very close plastic imitations of tortoiseshell. One technique to differentiate tortoise from its imitators is to touch the surface with a hot pinpoint. Tortoise will give off a smell like burning hair, while plastic will emit an acrid chemical odor.
A term used in costume jewelry to denote lucite that has a honey to brown color with black spotting, imitating the look of thinly sliced tortoise shell in antique jewelry. Tortoises used for this jewelry are a protected species and real tortoise shell jewelry is no longer produced.
Tortoise shell is the shell of a tortoise. It was used in the 1800's for jewelry, hair combs, and other ornaments but is banned today. Tortoise shell inlaid with precious metals is called pique. Tortoise shell will burn easily, and smells like burning hair. It is easily imitated by plastic, but its smell when burnt is very different. Tortoise shell has a hardness of 2.5 and a specific gravity of 1.29.
Shell of a sea turtle, often used for inlays in combination with other materials.