Hi Sam,

Akoyas are near universally treated except for the fancy natural colors and some Korean ones (that come from the closely related pinctada shimitzuensis) that occur in albino rosé. Some of these Korean farms are experimenting with extra long cultivation times and the quality (and price) reflects this. Orient will be destroyed by bleach but polishing does not affect it very much. Oiling seems to diminish orient a little bit and vapor deposition seems to have no effect.

Zeide