Hi All,

I compared several freshwater white pearls with different qualities under intense light source.

1) In fine pearls (lustrous and with orient)
The pearls are more translucent upon candling. Same as Richard's observation, the pearl appears monochromatic with pink glow.

Do we see the monochromatic color because the pearls are highly translucent and thus, we can actually see the conchiolin since the pearl had undergone little or no treatment?

2) In commercially available pearls (lustrous, no orient, but with bleach marks upon close inspection)
The pearls appear "grainy" or with "spots" (Under normal light, the pearls are round with no pits). It is less monochromatic and I saw a green glow rather than pink.

Is this because the pearls had undergone so much bleaching that the conchiolin is lighter therefore appear to be not visible?

3) Low-grade pearls (not lustrous at all)
Appears milky upon candling, can't see anything but milky white.

I also observed pearls with qualities in between and I think that the finer the pearl, the more translucent it is like a jelly opal instead of the iridescent harlequin opal.

Tell me if my observations are supposed to be what they should be or did I miss something out?

The beauty of not being an expert is I can throw in a lot of questions without being embarassed and Zeide is able to tolerate my most silly questions.