[National Pearl]

The coating I am considering is completely untested on pearls. It was developed for other appications but based on the physical characteristics of this coating I think it may be a good fit. I am currently working with a Taiwanese company on different applications for this coating and I would like to start experimenting on pearls to see what kind of results we can achieve.

This may prove completely fruitless, but I think it is worth the effort to investigate. If it shows any promise, I would be happy to share the results and process samples for anyone that is interested so a broader group can evaluate its performance and any possible negative effects on the pearls could be pointed out.

One question I have for you all is, although we know for certain that extended exposure to heat is bad for pearl nacre, is there a known temperature threshhold for pearls if exposed to heat for a short period of time, like 5 minutes? In this coating process, there is a short, but elevated curing temperature for this product. anywhere ranging from 160 degree F to over 200F depending on the application and desired performance. Ofcourse, for coating pearls, we may be able to tweak the process so that the temperature is lower and for a shorter duration. But it would be good to know what are heat threshhold is.

Caitlin, concerning the composition of the coating, it is completely "green" and does contain some silica based materials as part of the coating, but also contains cross-linkable elements as well.

Jeremy. If you could post that Japanese article I would be interested to read it and see if there are any similarities.

Thanks for the feedback so far!