A dying genre, the Mother of Pearl handled knife...

[PocketKnifeJimmy]

It's obvious that the heyday of using Mother of Pearl as a knife handle material is now long gone.

I mean, sure, it still gets used, but the material is just simply not as common anymore on knives.

So, as a dedication to the beauty of Mother of Pearl, this thread is asking for forum users here to please post up their own examples of MOP handled knives. They can be new, vintage, antique, fixed blade or folding

I'll start with these two...

A USA made Queen/Schatt & Morgan 'Dawn of a New Era' knife from the year 2012. A total of 100 were made of these knives.
The French made opera glasses are circa 1880...



This one is a Parker Cutlery Company 'Self Defender' Bowie knife from the mid 1980's. Made in Seki, Japan...

 

[stonproject]

It's a really beautiful handle material. I unfortunately don't have any in my collection but I hope this thread gets a little steam.

 

[Chefget]

Those opera glasses are gorgeous

 

[Railsplitter]

I've got two.

 

[J. Doyle]

I love MOP.

 

[PocketKnifeJimmy]

Those opera glasses are gorgeous

Thank you, Sir!
Yes, although I have quite a few vintage and antique Opera Glasses, the ones above are likely my favorite, although it would be hard to pick out just one if I was forced to.
Mother of Pearl was a very popular material in making Opera Glasses.

Here are some of the ways that I have them displayed amongst my eclectic collection of "interesting objects"...

 

[Chefget]

......off to look for Parisian opera glasses.....

 

[Chefget]

White mother of pearl

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[PocketKnifeJimmy]

Here's an antique Caviar Knife that I very recently acquired... Well, okay, the handle is Sterling Silver, the bolster is Nickel Silver, and it's blade is what happens to be Mother of Pearl

 

[Chefget]

Couple more

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[PocketKnifeJimmy]

White mother of pearl

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I love that second one down...

 

[Chefget]

And slightly more color

View attachment 1783392View attachment 1783386View attachment 1783387View attachment 1783389View attachment 1783390View attachment 1783385

 

[Chefget]

And finally, a masterpiece by Mario Peddiu


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[PocketKnifeJimmy]

And slightly more color

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Some great looking knives, Sir!

 

[Old Biker]

A Buck 500, 308, and 507

O.B.

 

[Legendary_Jarl]

It's obvious that the heyday of using Mother of Pearl as a knife handle material is now long gone.

I mean, sure, it still gets used, but the material is just simply not as common anymore on knives.

So, as a dedication to the beauty of Mother of Pearl, this thread is asking for forum users here to please post up their own examples of MOP handled knives. They can be new, vintage, antique, fixed blade or folding

I'll start with these two...

A USA made Queen/Schatt & Morgan 'Dawn of a New Era' knife from the year 2012. A total of 100 were made of these knives.
The French made opera glasses are circa 1880...
View attachment 1783308View attachment 1783309View attachment 1783310
View attachment 1783260

This one is a Parker Cutlery Company 'Self Defender' Bowie knife from the mid 1980's. Made in Seki, Japan...
View attachment 1783261
View attachment 1783319

You know I don't typically like Bowie style knives but THAT is just BEAUTIFUL. A lot of lovely pieces are being posted in this thread. Not sure if this counts because the seller says it is "Perlex". It was a Christmas gift in 2019.

 

[PocketKnifeJimmy]

Thanks for the participation, folks

Here's a small antique folding knife, (a Lobster pattern), with a little ensemble of other antique objects.
The folding knife's main blade is etched with the words Bartholomay Rochester, which is also done on it's MOP handle scales.
It was a large Brewery and Distributor before Prohibition caused it's demise.
I believe it's toothpick is made of Tortoise Shell.



The three other items are...

*A cigar nipper
*A small folding buttonhook
*A small non folding buttonhook

Here are some Bartholomay Rochester related pics I found on the internet...

 

[Bob Denman]

These pictures just gave me an idea for a knife build..

 

[danno50]

My Simmons Hardware and Keen Kutter pearl knives. All are pre 1940.

 

[PocketKnifeJimmy]

A folding knife in money clip form.
These were made by Santa Fe StoneWorks in New Mexico. The blades were supplied to them by the now defunct Camillus Cutlery...