The most usual finish on a quality Javanese wrongko is french polish, which is one of the ways in which shellac can be applied. Another popular finish is to burnish the wood with bone or ivory.
A very good finish for people who are not professional polishers to use is one of the oil finishes, Danish Oil or similar. This requires almost no specialist skill, it enhances grain, and can be rubbed back with 0000 steel wool and then waxed to provide a very good imitation of a worn, quality, original finish. Gun stock finishes like Birchwood Casey Tru-oil can provide a similar finish, possibly a bit better and easier to apply.
Roland, it seems to me that the quality you like in that wrongko wood is its chatoyancy. There are a lot of chatoyant woods available, and it would surprise me if you could not source something suitable from a specialist supplier in your part of the world. You could start by looking for pau marfin, bubinga, fiddle back maple, sapele --- lots of stuff around, it will most likely be quarter sawn. Maybe just doing a Google search for "chatoyant wood" will give you some results. Knife makers supplies and musical instrument supplies and makers are often a good source of quality woods.
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