[CLICLASP]

Hello, I am freshly new on this forum. Can someone clear for me if black Akoya are dyed or irradiated ? Is the color changing as time goes by? In case of irradiated pearls, do the pearls become dangerous and irriadiating at their turn ? Thanks for your replies.

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi,

Both the irradiation and dying techniques are stable and the results do not change over time. Irradiation does not leave residual radioactivity and is perfectly safe. The process is also very rare because the necessary equipment is very expensive. Most black akoyas are dyed. However, I recently found evidence that there was some culturing in pinctada nigra going on and has been for about 12 years. These would be naturally black. Also, pearls growing near the liver will turn out naturally black. There is no non-destructive way of telling which is which. As such, the general assumption is that all black akoyas are dyed, which they are clearly not, because testing would cost far more than the product.

Zeide

[The Pearl Outlet]

One caveat I'd like to point out. In general, naturally black Akoya are not marketed on the open market. I'd recommend extreme caution to anyone considering paying for black Akoya that are being sold as naturally black, especially, as Zeide pointed out, it can be very hard to prove either way.

One point of interest is that irradiation of an Akoya pearl burns the bead nucleus, turning it black, while dying permeates the nacre. Dying is the most prevalent treatment of the two.

[MABE BRAZIL]

Hi everyone,
are there any article relating the body part of the oyster and the pearl color. I became very interested in radiation technique, it is difficult.

Ricardo