Mother of pearl or plastic: how to tell difference?

[Monkeyleg]

While driving through AZ today, I saw a knife shop. Stopped in and impulsively bought an Italian stilletto style switchblade (4 1/2" blade, ~11 overall length). The grip panels are mother of pearl style, and I'm assuming plastic. Looking at them now, though, I wonder if they might be real mother of pearl. For $175, though, I doubt it.

Any way to tell?

[Perd Hapley]

For $175, they bloody well better be.

[Monkeyleg]

Don't know if you ever priced switchblades, Fistful, but they can get really expensive. I've seen a lot of them online that are four or five figures. I have one at home that has cottonwood grip panels and brass trim. It's an inexpensive one, by which I mean it was $65 about twenty years ago.

[Scout26]

I thought that they solved the gang problem ~30 years ago when they outlawed them.   

[Chuck Dye]

A search on "density mother of pearl" yields several sites including

http://reviews.ebay.com/How-to-Tell-M-O-P-Pearl-From-Plastic-in-Fans-Antiques_W0QQugidZ10000000004667829

Also, unsealed MOP will fizz when exposed to acid, just be sure to test the hidden side.

[AJ Dual]

You can probably touch it to your teeth just like how you test for pearls in jewelry.

[Perd Hapley]

Don't know if you ever priced switchblades, Fistful, but they can get really expensive. I've seen a lot of them online that are four or five figures. I have one at home that has cottonwood grip panels and brass trim. It's an inexpensive one, by which I mean it was $65 about twenty years ago.

I stand by the remark. 

Switchblades. Slightly faster than a one-hand knife, but with extra legal issues! How do we do it? Simple. We just charge you more!

[CNYCacher]

Heat the point of a pin with a lighter.  Poke.

[Monkeyleg]

Heat the point of a pin with a lighter.  Poke.

Great idea. I'll try it when I get a good knife. This one is getting returned.

Fistful, I've always like stilletto-style switchblades. Had a good-sized one in my teens until the cops took it. (Some cop's grandkid probably has it now). I have a couple of cheap ones, and wanted a nicer one. It's for fun, not cutting stuff or other utility. That's what old steak knives are for.

[dogmush]

Great idea. I'll try it when I get a good knife. This one is getting returned.

How come?

Did it break?


ETA: Interestingly, if you Google "Switchblade Stiletto" looking for knives like this, you get retro look dresses. very strange.

[Gowen]

My wife, who is a lapidary, says that MOP will have a grain like wood, use a magnifying glass. 

Heating up a pin is used for amber, not MOP.

[Monkeyleg]

How come?

Did it break?

No, but it sometimes doesn't open properly, as the gap between the two brass liners is just a little too narrow, and just the slightest bit of pressure at the front will prevent the blade from opening freely.

That, and the grips are imitation mother of pearl. I asked on a switchblade forum about this, and was told I really paid too much. I can get an 11" Italian model by a well-known maker with imitation mother of pearl grips for about $85, or get an 11" model by the same maker with real MOP grips for $225-$250.

I didn't find the problem with the knife until after posting last night. I called the store in AZ when I stopped for gas in Amarillo. The owner told me to stop by when I was in the area, and he'd take a look. I told him to go have intercourse with himself. I said I'd be sending it back, and he said that he'd talk to his mother (the guy's about 40; what's with that?), and "let me know what they'd do."

I paid with American Express, and Amex is very protective of their card holders. He'll give me a full refund one way or another.

I found another Italian model with real MOP grips that I really liked, but it was $2500. 

[Perd Hapley]

I found another Italian model with real MOP grips that I really liked, but it was $2500.  

Yeah, they're on crack. You can get an awful lot of high-end custom knife, for mid-three-figures. For $2500, it better be a switchblade used by the mafiosi that knifed Caesar.

[Monkeyleg]

...switchblade used by the mafiosi that knifed Caesar.

Brutus was mobbed up?

It's just like guns or cars or anything else. There's always somebody making some custom job that's more expensive than the next.

[CNYCacher]

Heating up a pin is used for amber, not MOP.

Are you saying that a hot pin will not melt MOP?

[sanglant]

looking at it in daylight, you can tell the difference. if you play the guitar pick up some of the mop lookalike picks to compare. ehh, there cheap buy some anyway.


real ones, and a good pic of the real stuff.

oh, and it feels different too.

[geronimotwo]

Heat the point of a pin with a lighter.  Poke.

i do this to test for real ivory.  on plastic the pin will melt into the material and it smells like burnt plastic.  on ivory the pin will not melt the material, and it smells like burnt hair.  it will leave a small mark, so test in an unobtrusive spot.  i imagine mop would be less prone to melting than plastic, and would certainly smell differently.

[sanglant]

Are you saying that a hot pin will not melt MOP?

it's hard to melt a sea shell.

[Perd Hapley]

I just wonder if we've all forgotten what Patton said about mother of pearl.

[Viking]

I just wonder if we've all forgotten what Patton said about mother of pearl.

Fit only for a New Orleans pimp?

[CNYCacher]

it's hard to melt a sea shell.

Well then i stand corrected, since a hot pin will also not affect plastic [/sacrasm]

:)

[sanglant]

  forgot you have to go back and add the first quote to have it in the post. sorry 'bout that.