In the gem classification, tortoiseshell is included in the category of organic gems. As an organic gem, it refers to the upper shell or carapace of the hawksbill turtle. Hawksbill turtle is a kind of sea turtle that inhabits tropical and subtropical waters, and its body weight is often between 50-100kg.
The tortoise shells of the upper shell and the lower shell of the hawksbill turtle are each composed of three rows of tortoise shells covered with beautiful markings and covered in shingles. There are 5 tortoise shells in the middle row and 4 tortoise shells in the two rows on both sides. Each shell weighs about 250g.
The tortoiseshell is amorphous, mostly yellowish-brown markings, composed of cutin and bone; it has a greasy luster to waxy luster, translucent to slightly transparent and uneven fracture; it can be eroded by nitric acid, but does not react with hydrochloric acid; yellow Or blue-white fluorescence; cut and thermoplastic.
Tortoiseshell has a wide range of uses: in addition to jewelry, it can also be used to make guitar picks, violin string nuts, shoe buckles, brush handles, knife handles, mirror frames, 等. It is used as comb teeth of combing machines in industry and used in medicine. For scraping board and so on.
The types of tortoiseshell jewelry are as follows:
The types of tortoiseshell imitations are as follows:
(1) Pressed tortoiseshell: the fragments of tortoiseshell are heated and glued together.
(2) Split tortoiseshell: a thin piece of tortoiseshell is glued to a plastic base, またはa “three plywood” method is used as a fake, つまり, two extremely thin real tortoiseshell pieces are glued to the plastic of similar color from the bottom or the surface, respectively. Make it thicker.
(3) Plastic imitation products: products such as “casein plastic”, “safe celluloid”, “bakelite celluloid” and multi-color plastic used to imitate tortoiseshell.