A local collector friend of mine had one of these little ‘teardrops in pearl’, when I enjoyed a dinner at his home years ago. It’s made by an obscure retired maker from Michigan: Bob Garbe.

He then scored another from a table dealer at the ECCKS a couple of years later. I was envious. I was determined to capture one of these myself one day.

There is filework everywhere, and the ambi thumb-bar disappears into its cavity. (The pearl is so slippery you still have to open it with two hands.) There are dolphins engraved on the thumb-bar and there are flowers cut into the backbar. It’s all of 4.75″ OAL with a 2″ blade

Centering is perfecto, and the back of the backspine has a small drilled hole in case one wanted to make a pearl pendant necklace.