Jeremy,
No, sympatico is my word. As you read the book you will find that I have introduced several words to aid in connoisseurship. In 2001 I introduced the "four c's of connoisseurship", color/cut/clarity/crystal. What is "crystal"? a synomym for "transparency" or what GIA calls "diaphanity"

If you read Jean-Baptiste Tavernier's "Six Voyages To India" you will see that he uses the term "water" to describe the quality of transparency in pearl. Tavernier is the fellow who sold Louis XIV the French blue diamond that eventually became the Hope. He uses this term to describe diamond and ruby as well. He goes on to describe the finest pearl in the world. What makes it the finest? The fact that the stone is so translucent that you can almost see through it.

Of course this was a natural pearl. I have yet to see a cultured pearl with this quality. But, orient or overtone is to a large degree dependent upon a degree of translucency, no?

Richard