We got our hands on some absolutely stunning ivory-colored catalin.
Often mistakenly called bakelite, which is a composite rather than a plastic, catalin shares the phenol-formaldehyde resin base with the true bakelite, but was made for decorative and jewelry purposes rather than industrial applications. As such, catalin production did not involve binders, high pressure and heat curing, and the high polymerization state, which inevitably turns the phenol-formaldehyde polymer red-brown simply by the virtue of its molecular structure, making it very different from bakelite. Instead, catalin production involved low temperature and no pressure polymerization, allowing it to be dyed, producing the vivid colors of the vintage plastics that makers have come to love. In the crafts world, however, the terms bakelite and catalin are used interchangeably despite the multitude of chemical and physical differences between the two, so we have what we have.
As all phenolic plastics, this material will develop a patina with time, which in this specific case will be yellow and golden-orange (see photo).