I would have to say Ebony is probably my favourite timber. It goes with everything and has the ability to showcase timbers. While it is commonly known to be black, it can have varying levels of brown or even cream tones running through it. The darker the colour, the higher grade it is. ‘A’ grade is jet black. Personally, I don’t mind if it has some colour variation. I choose the colour which suits a particular piece of jewellery.
It’s an incredibly dense timber and not particularly easy to work with but it is worth the effort. The Ebony I use is Indian Ebony, it’s been primarily cut for musical instrument making. The fingerboards of many stringed instruments such as guitars, violins or mandolins are often made from the timber. The black keys on pianos were also traditionally made from it. I do have some piano keys which I salvaged from a derelict antique piano.