About Jarina : vegetable ivory

Jarina is the seed of the palm tree Phytelephas Macrocarpa. This palm is a genus containing six species of palms, occurring in the Amazon rainforest. They are commonly known as ivory palms, ivory-nut palms or tagua palms ; their scientific name means "plant elephant". This and the first two of the common names refer to the very hard white endosperm of their seeds (tagua or jarina nuts). This fruit resembles in any point the elephant ivory.

Since the moment of its discovery by Europeans, the vegetable ivory get a certain success. Creators of jewels like Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino, Versace, Ginocchietti, were interested and showed themselves satisfied with this very beautiful material, which has the effect of softening if one lets it soak too a long time in water.