Haliotis tuberculata

Ormeaux Pearl Slide & Eye Stock.

Please read this full description before purchasing.

Rare Ormeaux Pearl violin bow slide and eye stock. This is the traditional English bow slide and eye material made from the Ormeaux pearl shell from the English Channel. Ormeaux violin slides and eyes have not been available to US buyers in the known past. This is a unique offering to US customers. These are being cut currently in the USA from legally imported Ormeaux shells from the English Channel. In this purchase is one ormeaux violin slide that has been fastened to an ebony slide liner. Also included are two pieces of ormeau shell that can be worked into frog eyes. To render these three pieces into a finished slide and eyes is difficult work and recommended only for highly skilled bow makers.

Collecting these shells is now strictly regulated in order to preserve stocks. The gathering of Ormeaux is now restricted to a number of "ormering tides", from January 1 to April 30, which occur on the full or new moon and two days following that. No ormers may be taken from the beach that are under 80 mm in shell length (90 mm in Jersey). Gatherers are not allowed to wear wetsuits or even put their heads underwater.

The shell material itself is thin by nature. These slides are not for the faint of heart. These are primarily offered for the benefit of highly skilled bow makers. The Ormeaux pearl is mounted on ebony slide liner stock. They are not square and ready to go. They need to be carefully trimmed and shaped to your violin bow size while remaining on the ebony. Trimming is best done by hand as the heat of a belt sander can damage the Ormeaux. The eye stock will be 3 squarish pieces with each piece being large enough to make one eye. The top surface of the slide has been coated with thin superglue which can be removed with acetone (nail polish remover) or by sanding if removal is desired.

Your purchase is for one Ormeaux pearl slide mounted on an ebony slide liner plus 3 eye stocks that are free floating squarish oversize pieces.

Click on photo to see additional photos.