I've owned a number of hilts and wrongkos from geraham, and frankly I do not like it.
Some has been fossilised material, some has been from fresh elephant teeth.
It is a swine of a material to work, and I cannot imagine how the old ones I've seen were worked.
I think it is relatively certain that we will not find hilts from geraham that date back too far into the 19th century. I have seen more geraham in hilts and wrongkos during the last ten years than I saw in the previous 40 years.
However, all that said, it can look absolutely fantastic in a photo or on display, and it is very popular with collectors.
As Tunggulametung says, there is no comparison between geraham and ivory from the point of view of tradition, or just plain, pure class. Ivory carves magnificently, geraham will not support fine carving and is inclined to chip very easily.
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