Jenny Byrne and her team at Zealandia designed this Moonrise Whale Pendant featuring a blue topaz and fossilized walrus ivory. Chain not included. Sterling silver details, setting and wires. Colors will vary as each beautiful piece of ancient ivory is uniquely tinted by earthen minerals.

Delivery may be extended by a week or two depending on what material is chosen.

Mammoth Ivory and Schreger Lines

Proboscidian (tusk) ivory is identified by the grain pattern that is visible in its cross section. These patterns, which are called Schreger Lines, are formed by a series of spirals running clockwise and counter clockwise over one another. This pattern resembles a star. When this star's points have acute angles the ivory is mammoth or mastodon, which means it is ancient fossilized ivory and that the mammoth ivory for sale is legal. If the points have obtuse angles the ivory is from modern elephants and therefore illegal. These lines can be easily identified under a microscope.

Evaluation of Schreger lines was developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in order to keep any elephant ivory from entering the country disguised as legal mammoth ivory for sale. These Schreger lines, or patterns in the cross sections, can be examined to determine if the ivory came from mammoths or elephants. As the woolly mammoth has been extinct for over 10,000 years, their ivory is not protected by regulation and is used to make a variety of carved art, mammoth ivory jewelry, and other crafts.

"The fossilized walrus ivory we use in our ivory jewelry can span the neutral tones from creamy white to honey, reddish brown to black, depending on the minerals the walrus tusk was in contact with and the length of time it was in the ground. It is legally obtained from Native owned land, having been excavated by Eskimo families from old village sites on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska." ~Jenny Byrne