Horn and Bone

Horn and bone body jewelry is here! Please note that water buffalo horn is black (or occasionally creamy medium tan, or brown rootbeer-like and translucent) and bone is white. Horn is made primarily of keratin, a fibrous protein, similar to that found in quills, claws, nails, hooves, feathers, wool, and hair, and is a very different material than bone, which is largely composed of the mineral calcium carbonate and the protein collagen. Please note that most horn (over 90%) is black, and very little (less than 10%) is brown; these variations occur randomly within each shape and size category, and usually sell quickly, thus will often be unavailable.

We do not sell horn that is reddish-orange in color; this color of horn does not occur naturally and has been achieved through bleaching which denatures the protein, causing permanent problems including softening, dull finish, increased texture and even stickiness, crazing, cracking, and other inappropriate problems for a material intended to be used for body piercing jewelry.

Please request current catalog pages to see the newest pricing and current inventory, or download this list via page 3 of our online catalog. We only sell what we currently have in stock and no custom orders can be taken, though you can ask to be placed on a wait list if what you need is not currently in stock.
This jewelry is made by carvers who work in millimeters, so may not necessarily match exact gauges or fractional inches. This also means we have plenty of inbetween sizes, so feel free to ask!
You may order it in any measuring unit and we'll do our best to match exactly what you're looking for.

We do not use item numbers, so a basic description of what you are interested in will suffice...
(for example: a pair of 00ga hollow horn saddles with dots along the rim, in brown horn if possible).
In the case of engravings, inlays, and silver caps, you can simply describe how a design looks...
(for example: 1" black horn plugs with inlaid white bone open star with pie wedges between the points).
Labels with the specific names of many of our designs are shown below and on page 3 of the catalog.
You could also refer to how far down the page a specific image appears, and which piece within that image... (for example: in the third image down, the fourth plug shown on the bottom row, an 8-petaled Borneo flower, in 5/8").

The material comes from domestic Indonesian water buffalo horn (Bubalus bubalis) and cow or buffalo bone; both are used as draft animals (for example, to plow muddy rice paddies) and are consumed as food. They are highly valued and are not dispatched only for their horns or bones; these have an incredibly small value compared with that of a living animal. Water buffalo horn and bone are obtained after death, and since the cultures from which they are attained believe in utilizing the whole animal, nothing goes to waste, and thus the animal is honored more fully. Scroll down this page for a quote...

Images shown represent a fair cross-section of the types of shapes, angles, sizes, colors, hues, engravings, etc., that occur within the given styles of horn and bone jewelry available. Variations will always occur as all of these pieces are hand made by humans out of naturally-occurring, non-homogenous materials. If you need clarification about any of these factors, please ask before placing an order.