(Pinctada maxima), Australia: a formerly very large shell, used for pistol grips and clothing buttons, which produces the classic white M.O.P.  In recent years, shell sizes have greatly diminished, making it increasingly difficult to get larger pieces.

(Pinctada maxima), Indonesia and the Philippines: the source of our GOLD M.O.P., which comes from a thin yellow layer underlying the white nacre.  White material from these shells typically has lots of colorful iridescent “flash”.

(Pteria penguin), Philippines, Tonga: large, thin-shelled, and scoop-shaped, yields the beautiful pinkish-brown and highly iridescent BROWN M.O.P.

(Pinctada margaritifera), Tahiti: this shell produces the famous and exotic black jewelry pearls, but has become very hard to get in sizes large enough to make inlay materials from so availability is sometimes sporadic at best.

(Placuna placenta; alt. Kapis or Window Shell), Philippines: round, small (2”-3”), and flat, has been used for centuries in native handicrafts and for making lampshades and primitive transparent windows.  It is one of the very few shells that can be softened enough by boiling that it can be cut with scissors (making it popular in craft shops), but it is also very fragile and flaky which limits its uses in modern inlay work.

(Pinna rudis), Indonesia: traditionally used for making small beads, sheets made from this large, thin shell are not pearlescent but do have a faint and silky chatoyance.  Color is mottled light tans to dark purplish-browns, somewhat similar to tortoiseshell.

(Pinctada fucata, also listed as P. martensii), Japan: this is the small shell which is used to produce cultured pearls.  Closely related to the larger ocean pearl oysters, but has a slightly “bumpier”-looking internal figure and a pale straw-yellow color that shows wonderful pink and green flashy highlights.

(Haliotis asinina), Philippines: a tiny little thin-shelled animal, often used whole for earrings and pendants, its long narrow shape looks like a donkey’s ear.  Palest pink with no black lines, but plenty of very finely striated texturing to give it interest, and some iridescence.  Not thick enough to get solid blanks from.

(Turbo marmoratus), Okinawa: widely popular in the 1800’s and early 1900’s for jewelry, small box ornament, and instrument inlay, but the main fishing grounds in Africa were worked out trying to keep up with the Japanese market, so has not been available from that area for many years.  Beautiful, clear, creamy iridescence, and has a rolling light to it imparted by the strong curvature of the raw shell structure.

(Haliotis laevigata), Australia: Similar in hue to very pale Red Abalone, but with no dark lines or color patches and having more iridescence and a slightly rippled to goose-bumpy figure.

from freshwater species such as (Potamilus purpuratus), USA, and also (Hyriopsis schlegeli), Vietnam: Pale whitish to pinkish flesh tones, often with internal color banding. Much softer looking and less reflective than most nacreous shells, being more cloudy or velvety in texture. Typical inlay work from India uses a whiter mussel species.

(Chlorostoma xanthostigma), Africa: a small cone-shaped snail, producing the most brilliant iridescence of any variety of pale-colored shell (but, see KOREAN AWABI).  Expensive, but breathtakingly beautiful coloration.

(Haliotis supertexta), Korea: a small, pale-colored abalone, which has a fine internal wrinkly/bumpy/wavy figure but possesses almost the same intensity of color and iridescence as TURBO SHELL!  Discover the joys of working with “pale” and pastel shells!

(Haliotis madaka, formerly gigantea), Japan: until the beds were over- fished, this was one of the largest abalone species, as its earlier name suggests, second only to the Red Abalone.  The nacre is very pale, but with strong washboard rippled figure, though not as tightly arranged as the best GREEN ABALONE can produce.  The shell is too thin to make solid blanks, so only available as veneer and Abalam® sheets.

(alt.:ORMEAUX), or SEA EAR (Haliotis tuberculata), English Channel: small, thin, pale-colored abalones traditionally used in the frogs of English violin bows.

(Haliotis rufescens), northern California: the biggest abalone in the world, its name refers to the red “bark” covering the outside of the shell.  Nacre is pale pink to intense dusky pinks, greens, and violets; the central muscle-scar area of the shell yields the much sought-after dark and burly “heart” pieces.  Because of overfishing, otter depredation, and in recent years an outbreak of mysterious “withering foot disease’, the commercial fishery has been shut down indefinitely, so availability is almost zero at present.

or BANK CLIMBER (Plectomerus dombeyanus, formerly Quadrula trapezoides), USA: A freshwater species, softer looking and much less reflective than regular M.O.P., with a streaky light to medium brown coloration.

(Haliotis corrugata), southern California and Baja, Mexico: a well colored shell, pale to predominantly darker pinks.  Underused, as raw shells are difficult to process because of a crumbly consistency, although finished products work fine.  It has become a popular substitute for the increasingly hard-to-find GREEN ABALONE.

(Haliotis fulgens), southern California and Baja, Mexico: a beautifully colored shell second only to PAUA ABALONE, but not many of the color-producing larger shells are available, so material tends to be much paler than in the past.  “Heart” is very densely colored and figured, with deep greens, blues, and pinks, but small shells yield very little of this, so availability is always limited.

(Haliotis iris), New Zealand and neighboring islands: indisputably the most colorful nacreous shell in the world, typically deep blue or green, but even the pink material turns bluish when viewed at an angle!  A smallish shell with lots of other life forms eating holes in it, but since the fishery has been tightly managed for many years, good quality shell is available.  If you see Paua jewelry for sale, it has probably been dyed to intensify the color and may even be dyed GREEN ABALONE (none of our shell is dyed or “enhanced” in any way).

(Mytilus edulis), Indonesia: The “Common” or “Blue” mussel, with a rich, deep violet color and fine “ripple” figure. This shell looks black when not in strong light, and is available only as solid blanks. Because these shells are only 3″-4″ long and very thin and deeply dished, the blanks are tiny (about .75″-1″ X .375″) and only .010″-.030″ thick. It’s a gorgeous material and well worth the hassle to work with (as seen in C.F. Martin’s limited edition Purple Martin guitars).