Following what Chris stated about Pink Ivory, this explanation was provided by the late Rick Bowles in a letter to his customer about ten years ago to accompany the photo of a pair of Model 1 & Model 2 that I own, which I posted on June 24th, Post # 209496.


"Pink Ivory wood, a sacred wood of Zulu chiefs in Southern Africa, haslong been treasured as a rare wood. At one time, it was said to be rarer than diamonds. Legend states that the Zulu king would carry a staff as well as ornamental jewelry crafted from this. wood. Any others caught possessing the wood of the Pink Ivory tree were to be punished by beheading. Many have said that this legend was simply invented by the Africans to drive up the price of the wood as an export item, but that is unclear. It is a protected tree in South Africa."