Sections will be added and amended regularly. Permission will be given to use the information in jewelry clubs, newsletters, etc. Elephant and Mammoth ivories are distinguished by a peculiar structure in the grain properly called Schreger lines, and referred to as cross-hatching, engine turned effect, or stacked chevrons. Whether this structure is seen depends upon the direction of cut of the elephant or mammoth ivory.
Some ivories have a grain, best described as similar to tree rings in miniature.
How, and where they appear on a piece of jewelry, depends upon the angle of the cut. The graining may become more obvious with time and patina. Spacing of graining and straightness of graining is uneven, somewhat like strips of bacon, in miniature. A bangle bracelet will usually show crosshatching on at least two small sections, however, many pieces of elephant ivory will not show any crosshatching because of the angle of cut through the material, though you should be able to find some grain lines. Mammoth ivory is the only other ivory that shows the crosshatching, seen extremely clearly in this example .