interesting jambiya on eBay

[Lew]

Originally Posted by A.alnakkas

As adviced by Gav

Rhino for sure outer layer has that orange peel look.

Congrats

Lew

Ibrahiim

The lack of translucency does not mean its not rhino. It depends on how the piece was cut. I have an old Yemeni jambiya and the horn is dark brown the real test is get a high power flashlight and put up against the hilt it should give off a nice glow. The other way to tell is with a magnifier glass look down at the end of the hilt if you see tight fibrous bundles similar to looking down at a handful of thin spaghetti than it's rhino .

Lew

[spiral]

Originally Posted by Lew

The lack of translucency does not mean its not rhino. It depends on how the piece was cut.
Lew

I personaly have found the degree of translucency depends on the darker deposits, { The melanin and calcium content} within the horn Lew ,not the direction of its cut, whichever direction the horn is cut, any translucentcy still remains.

Generaly the lighter the horn colour the greater the translucency.

Dryness, Dirt & lack of oiling also reduce any any apparent translucency.

As an aside, I find it interesting how the different colours of rhino horn are sought after in different parts of the world.

Personaly I rather {like the Bukarans & Nepalese Royalty} prefer the toughest, heaveyist, hardest, strongest & indeed least translucent of then all.

The rarer central inner black core. {The very dark green is also rather nice to but have only ever seen one speciemien.}

The commoner potentialy more jouvenile golds, yellows, oranges, lighter browns etc are very pretty with that lovely glow are much prefered by the Yemmenis, Turks etc.

I understand the Chinese "medicine men" also place vastly different values on the origin, type & colour of horn as well.

Its a Very in depth subject I think, I wish I knew more.

spiral

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Lew

Rhino for sure outer layer has that orange peel look.

Congrats

Lew

Ibrahiim

The lack of translucency does not mean its not rhino. It depends on how the piece was cut. I have an old Yemeni jambiya and the horn is dark brown the real test is get a high power flashlight and put up against the hilt it should give off a nice glow. The other way to tell is with a magnifier glass look down at the end of the hilt if you see tight fibrous bundles similar to looking down at a handful of thin spaghetti than it's rhino .

Lew

Salaams Lew ~ The spaghetti end of the hilt is an excellent description. I agree with the glowlight approach with a high powered pen torch it often lights up the edges. In this case there is a lot of oil and grime locked in the material so not sure if it will penetrate...but worth a go.
To confuse the issue in Oman Rhino horn is called Z'raff and there is "apparently" a Giraffe hoof horn used for daggers in neighbouring countries.
Your initial response that the item is a mixed Oman/Yemen job is probably right. It looks like a recently traded in article and procured in the Kuwait market. I point to Salalah/Yemen as its area of use in one of the Jebali tribes that straddle the border but Muscat as its point of manufacture either a Muscat 8 Ringer or Royal Khanjar with a distinctly "foreign blade" (three dot) replacement. Quite a detective story.
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.