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Old 03-27-2007, 01:56 AM
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jshepherd jshepherd is offline
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All freshwater (jewelry grade) are polished and go through a luster treatment before being sold. This is universal for strands purchased by the hank simply because the higher shine commands higher prices. This is the case for all fancy natural colors. The white pearls go through the same process as well as bleaching. Some lighter colored pearls (light peach), are also bleached and sold as white.

The only way to get them untreated is to separate the materials post harvest. The pearls are still washed (that is one process you do not want to skip), but the luster and shine are natural.
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