Ivory Jacks
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Ivory Jacks is a family owned and operated company that has been in business for almost 40 years! Ivory Jacks specializes in eco conscious prehistoric woolly mammoth ivory & tooth, fossil walrus ivory, vintage ebony wood, and naturally shed antler jewelry. As a child, Kurt Tripp, co-owner and Ivory Jacks visionary, would see mammoth tusks that had been unearthed by the spring floods on the banks of the Yukon River near his childhood home of Fairbanks, Alaska. Kurt would play around these immense tusks and bones that had been collected by his grandfather, a riverboat pilot, and his father, an avid rock hound and outdoorsman. He was curious about what they were and where they came from, how long they had been buried and what the massive creature looked like that had carried them. Unbeknownst to young Kurt, this profound fascination ultimately led to the business he would create with his wife, Francine, years later.
During summer breaks from college in Seattle, Kurt would travel back to Alaska and work on the Trans Alaskan Pipeline. In 1978 after working a year on the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay, Kurt had finally accumulated enough capital to start a business buying and wholesaling scrimshawed ivory art and jewelry. Looking for more ivory to scrimshaw led to dealing in Alaska native arts and crafts, fossil walrus ivory, woolly mammoth ivory and bones, as well as ancient Eskimo artifacts. Ivory Jacks has grown over the years and currently carries over a thousand unique styles of jewelry, knives, cufflinks, ulus, art carvings and more.
The popular Ivory Jacks jewelry line incorporates mammoth and fossil walrus ivories, naturally shed moose antler, mammoth tooth, 14kt gold, sterling silver and precious and semi precious stones. Pieces are available both set, for boutiques and gift shops, and unset, for jewelry designers. Kurt and Francine currently reside near Seattle and have three daughters, Courtney, Carli and Hannah, with whom they enjoy traveling and watching football games. Courtney is the lead Ivory Jacks eco conscious jewelry designer and owns her self titled, Courtney Tripp, jewelry line, Carli is an elementary PE teacher and former NFL cheerleader, and Hannah is a fitness instructor and NFL cheerleader.