Where can I buy Mabe Pearls?

[Carlo]

Hi,
I am looking for two half, oval, circa 16mm x 26mm, grey mabe pearls.
Does anybody know a address who would sell and ship to Germany?
Thanks
Carlo

THANKS EVERYBODY - Good Information! I found what I was looking for - the setting will now look like this:
1495

[jerin]

Hi Carlo,

I have bought 1 fine Mabe from Pearl Oasis, but in my case it was a pendant, not only the pearl.

I recommend to ask one of our vendors on this forum, i.e.

The Pearl Outlet
Pearl Paradise
Pearls by Angela Carol
Pure Pearl

to just mention some. Look through the forum and You will find even more vendors.

Good luck and let us know how things go...

[nlerner]

Hi Carlo,

You may also find them here:
http://www.stachurawholesalegemstones.com/view/230/

best,
nora

[Caitlin]

Hi Carlo

From the dimensions you want and the color description, I am wondering if you actually mean osmena pearls. Many people sell osmena pearls as "mabe"

here is a picture of some osmena pearls
Here (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=007&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=170128990376&rd=1&rd=1)is a link for a pair of earrings for $24.95. These are both examples of osmena though they are called mabe.

[pearljewelry]

hi Carlo,

I may suggest you can check our site.

good luck!:p

[Caitlin]

Hi Carmina
I see your post was already edited, but I found it to be a crass commercial try. You didn't even give the webpage where your mabe pearls are listed and when I went to look at your pages, I couldn't find one, only cheap junky dyed stuff :mad:
I can see why you said "Good LucK"- you meant it as sarcasm!
If you want to post here you need to do more than just advertise!

[Valeria101]

Hi,
I am looking for two half, oval, circa 16mm x 26mm, grey mabe pearls.
...the setting will now look like this:



Any chance you could post the results when done ? :cool: Pictures are great!

The pendant in the picture attached is one of those 'osmena' things. It would be great to see how a similar setting might look with mabe pearls - it is a nice concept, I think.

[pattye]

Hi Carlo,

Just gorgeous! Thanks for a great photo!! Looks like you found excellent quality. Mine are set in sterling, IMO being Osmena-Nautilus shell is just fine, it has a great beauty and color.

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

[Caitlin]

You found yourself an osmena pearl. I absolutely adore osmena pearls, which are actually carved chunks from the chambered nautilus shell. On eBay, they often sell as mabe pearls--go figure.

[Valeria101]

I absolutely adore osmena pearls, which are actually ....

Yeah! Funny that, when I first saw a pair - a lone set of earrings in a dusty antique shop in London, they were labeled "Nautilus Pearls". The huge mabes were running a bit against my fashion commitment to tiny stud earrings :o so they didn't come home to me despite low price... but then, there was no information anywhere about 'pearls' produced by the Nautilus and they'd be a biological imposibility, right... so I was left with this itch for some mysterious, fantastic gray pearls produced by a mysterious creature! :D

Can't say I was terribly focused reseraching this (not much dealing with the WWW at the time, let alone forums... if you can imagine) but it dod take a while until finally the truth turned up. And light gray is still a favorite color in the real pearls that have it nonetheless.

Oh well...

[CortezPearls]

Nautilus or Osmeña Pearl...regardless of how you call them are not true Mabe pearls. They are a very nice product, comes from a beautiful marine creature and they are naturally colored (never seen a dyed one).

Actually, I think people should learn to appreciate things for what they truly are. The other so-called "mabe" (imitation mabe) made from Turbo snail shells are also very nice (altough I don't like the artificial pink and blue they use) and affordable, but they are part of the shell of a snail and not true Mabe.

So, for true Mabe you have several options:
Chinese/Japanese/Phillipino Mabe Pearls - from Pteria penguin
Aussie Mabe - Pinctada maxima
Black Mabe - Pinctada margaritifera
Rainbow Mabe (Mexico) - Pteria sterna
Abalone Mabe (US, Korea, New Zealand, others) - Haliotis spp.

You have several options for Mabe (Jerin mentioned some commercial sources), but -as you have discovered- there are also other beautiful options such as the Osmeña and Turbo shell.

On this photo you will see:
Upper-Left: One Faux (imitation-plastic) Mabe in a setting
Upper-Right: Tahitian
Lower-Left: Aussie
Lower-Right: Mexican Rainbow Mabe.

Shape & size will vary of course...and color as well (on Mexican Pearls mostly).

Happy Mabe Hunting!

[pattye]

TEE-HEE,

an easy choice even without my glasses on--lower right:D !!! And they are not at all out of reach pricewise, it's just hard finding a source! Sometimes DruzyDesign has them available online (ebay). Have a few from there already. Can't wait to shop in Sea of Cortez store next Feb!!

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

[Casey.R]

A sea of cortez store? I can't wait either! Oh you mean in Mexico don't you. I got all happy for a happy there.

[Carlo]

Hi Valeria,
I needed the pearl for replacement. My wife is a goldsmith and made the pendant 3 years ago and the old pearl got damaged. It seems that it is a osmena pearl and not a mabe as I thought, but in Germany we mostly call them mabe pearls. I bought now a pair, but I am afraid that it will not have the same height as in the original. I am thankful to Caitlin Williams, she gave me a good hint and I shopped it via her link. If it should not fit, we have the chance to use the other second half of the pearl, which my wife still owns - in her own pendant - but she does not want to disassemble the piece, which I can understand.
Anyway - I am pretty astonished how open, creative, helpful and critical this forum is. A BIG thank you and all the best.
Yours Carlo



Any chance you could post the results when done ? :cool: Pictures are great!

The pendant in the picture attached is one of those 'osmena' things. It would be great to see how a similar setting might look with mabe pearls - it is a nice concept, I think.

[New Zealand Natural Pearl]

5189
As part of our travels we have a collection
of Cultured Abalone - we wish to now share.

[Pearl Dreams]

Lovely colors there-- thanks for the photos!

[J Marcus]

NZNP: That ring is stunning! Did you make it or is it from Eyris?

[Monty Hall]

Hi Carmina
I see your post was already edited, but I found it to be a crass commercial try. You didn't even give the webpage where your mabe pearls are listed and when I went to look at your pages, I couldn't find one, only cheap junky dyed stuff :mad:
I can see why you said "Good LucK"- you meant it as sarcasm!
If you want to post here you need to do more than just advertise!

Caitlin, YOU RULE!!! Thank you for saying what we all were thinking.

CarolK

[Monty Hall]

JMarcus,

If I recall correctly, don't you have several magnificent mabes for sale on your site? I realize that Carlo has already found a gorgeous solution, however.

CarolK

[Andrew]

NZNP Thanks for the beautiful pics! Presumably they're paua mabes? I fell in love with paua many years ago before I knew about the mabes. We used to buy paua shell jewelry set in sterling silver, (in the U.K.). By the way where is Oakura, I can't find it on the map. I guess its not far from Mt.Egmont but in which direction? Also I thought the N.Z. pearl farms were in the South Island around either Oamaru or the Foveaux Strait. Can you enlighten? Thanks.

[pearlescence]

you can't buy them from me- certainly when you search the website for marbe as someone did yesterday.....

[New Zealand Natural Pearl]

Thanks Marcus - the ring is our design anything we post
are ours - just to remind you Rob is a Manufacturing jewellery.
Andrew - Oakura is in Taranaki - North Island West Coast.
We can look and see Mt Egmont one way and the sea the other.
Surf and ski all in one day that is what we are famous for.
We only posted these cultured Paua Mabes to keep this thread
moving - nothing had been posted since July. As you would know
we specialize in the natural abalone pearl but from time to time
we are offered cultured. These were from a farm in our region.
I do believe the farms for culturing are in the South Island.5228

[olmander]

Hi Carlo,

I am a bit to late to check the news and to respond, but maybe it still may be helpful.
I saw osmena pearls in a Chinese shop in the center of Amsterdam, even bought one last winter, and as I noticed last week, they still have them. So, if you ever travel from Germany to Holland, you may look (give me a shout, I'll tell you directions). I also bought one and we discussed it earlier on the forum because I was also confused about its origin (they sell it as blister pearls). It was very helpful and I learned a lot about these pearls. See the thread http://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/natural-pearls/2241-large-blister-pearl.html

Best regards

Olga

[louise]

I am looking for a pair of half-oval 1/2" mabe or osmena gray pearl post earrings in silver settings, just like the pendants Caitlin posted (but on posts ;). Thank you so much for letting me know where I may look!

Louise

[jerin]

Hi Louise and welcome to the forum.
In October 2007 I purchased an Osmena pearl pendant from this seller: blgm 1959.
If you want to send an e-mail, write to tigshad@hotmail.com.
Name of the seller: Bridget Grassick.
I do not know if she has earrings made out of Osmena but you could try it, anyway.
Good luck!

[louise]

Thanks, Inge!

[antiguamarie]

Hi, I'm new to the forum, and know nothing about pearls -- hoping to get help from the experts.

I saw and fell in love with a ring made with a beautiful "stone" which, based on the photo attached, a few jewelers have since told me is an oval blue mabe. I'm trying to find a similar one -- you can't see it in the photo, but the blue color has rose and purple rainbow tones and its very iridescent, almost metalic - just beautiful.
I have a jeweler who will make the ring, but she isn't a pearl specialist, and says she can find lots of round blue mabes, but so far no oval ones, and the large oval shape is important to the design.
Does anyone know a) if this really is a blue mabe, or maybe something else like an osmena shell; and b) where could I/my jeweler find such an oval blue mabe to buy?
Thanks in advance for any assistance or advice you might be able to offer.

[Caitlin]

That has too much color for an osmena- IMO. It's gorgeous!

[GemGeek]

It looks like it could be a natural or cultured abalone pearl. Paua abalone pearls are the most colorful. I say it might be natural because of the height, but osminas can be dyed to produce the color on your pearl if it was a good speciment to begin with. However, jewelry grade abalone pearls are very rare and expensive and it would be reflected in the purchase price. There is a rare chance that it's a mabe with a colored insert, which takes advantage of the superior orient on normally gray mabes from the pteria penguin oyster. Sorry for the TMI! ;)

[GemGeek]

You might enjoy looking through here:
http://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/pearling-industry-news/1807-gia-pearl-tour-eyris-blue-pearls-new-zealand.html

[antiguamarie]

thanks very much for the responses -- I looked through the older link to the New Zealand trip and got a lot of information from that. From the photos it really does look like it could be an abalone -- I'd stumbled on that possibility just yesterday and even phoned their US distributor, who told me that there were no oval shaped abalones. I didn't quite believe that, so I'm following up by emailing the Eyris folks directly.
Thanks again, and I'll keep checking back in case there's any additional info.

[GemGeek]

There isn't any reason not to have ovals, since they are cultured. Hmmmm... I never thought of that! ;)

[antiguamarie]

Hi,
I heard directly from the folks at Eyris in NZ, who told me that they no longer produce ovals anymore (didn't say why but someone else said there were some production/quality issues) and only have one remaining, which costs USD$1,500 before taxes, shipping etc. You were right about sticker-shock!
The photo they sent of it is attached, next to a re-post of the one I liked. Theirs is 11mm x 14.6mm. The size is right, but I don't think it's what I'm looking for in terms of color and iridescence, though. Darker and doesn't seem to have the rose tones. I've also asked them for a photo showing the dome height.
Maybe I'll have to redesign the ring and go with a round one. There'll be a better chance of finding the right color, and also hopefully it'll be more affordable.
thanks much for the help; I'll keep checking back here in case of additional info.

[pattye]

You might check with Carolyn Ehret (Ehret Design Gallery on ebay) for Sea of Cortez mabes. The color on them is gorgeous with amazing intense rose, purple, aqua and blue overtones on a more silvery base color. and they are not cut round, but more drop shape or oval. They tend to run in the low hundreds. I don't know if they can be reshaped after the backing is applied. These have heavy nacre making them suitable for rings. I see the Cortez pearls were mentioned earlier in this thread--but no real great photos close up. The complexity of their ever changing colors make them a favorite of mine, and the 2009 harvest should be pretty much over right nowl

I do love large rings, and your design is lovely!

Perhaps also contact our member JMarcus, up in Bellingham WA, who makes mabes? He might have some ideas---and could custom make something for you---

[Sueki]

The Cortez mabes are gorgeous - and very, very colourful.
Here are some I purchased from druzydesign.

[Caitlin]

Antiguamarie That is a huge mabe and well worth the price and since it is no longer being produced- it is a rare example from a world-renowned company.

[antiguamarie]

thanks to all for the good advice and photos - following up on all and considering whether I can make that investment for the Last Oval Eyris..
meantime, on ebay, I'm finding a bunch of blue mabes that don't specify that they're abalone, like the one attached here. As always you can't really tell from the photos but they don't seem to have the verve of the abalones, but some are quite nice.
Can someone explain what are these non-abalone blue mabes? Do blue mabes occur naturally in other species, or if they aren't ablaones, does that mean that they're dyed?
thanks again.

[pattye]

It's very difficult to tell from that photo. My hunch is that they are dyed, originally whitish. For such a ring as you are planning, I doubt you can get the complexity of color you want in a dyed mabe. Sueki, thanks for the great photos of the Sea of Cortez!

[GemGeek]

Mabes are grown over a form attached to the shell. The form is removed from the nacre and epoxy or resin is used to fill the inside and a piece of mother of pearl is attached to the back. Some of the mabe colors are created by coloring the inside of the empty nacre shell before filling, or using a colored implant - the nacre being thin enough for the color to be transmitted.

The Eyris oval will not have a high dome. There is an optimum height range for quality and higher implants just don't work as well in culturing abalones. Pattye and Sueki are right about the Sea of Cortez mabes. They take your breath away and they do come in ovals. The height of the dome on your ring hints at natural abalone or osmina as the source. Let us know what you decide to do. ;)

[antiguamarie]

thanks - I think Pattye is right that complexity of color won't be found in a regular mabe. Here's a link to a paper written on the Eyris company in NZ, all you ever wanted to know about abalone pearl production, and more :-)
http://www.australiangemmologist.com.au/abalone_pearls.pdf

[CortezPearls]

Reviving this old thread for the interest of other visitors.
I am posting some images of Mabe from different species: Pteria penguin, Pinctada maxima and Pinctada margaritifera.

You will be able to see their insides and notice the different processes they have. Some with epoxy resins, some with epoxy+talc.

[CortezPearls]

Of course, dissecting pearls is fun... but nothing compares to becoming enslaved to the true unadulterated beauty of a Gem grade Mabe Pearl...in the shape you desire and the colors that only Mother-Nature can provide... :cool:

[GemGeek]

Oh Douglas! Pearlnography! ;)

[Keshibelle]

Oh Douglas! Pearlnography! ;)

I'll say!!!! Now I have to mop up the drool on my laptop......

[pattye]

Just can't have enough of those beauties!

[Caitlin]

Oh Douglas! Pearlnography! ;)

Ja Ja Ja!!!:D

[Chameleon]

Ouch... these are too painful to watch!
:D

Maria

[pearladdict]

Hi everybody! I'm new to this forum. I would like to buy a Mabe on the shell as a pendant. I am looking through all of the threads,but itis a bit overwhelming...In a good way!
If someone knows of a vendor that has what I'm looking for,please post a link.

Thanks! This is a great forum for Pearl lovers like me!

[Caitlin]

Hi and welcome! Just above, you will find a link for the Sea of Cortez online shop which sells the kind of mabes pictured above. Most of the links in this thread should still be good.

http://www.perlasshop.com/categories/Cortez-Cultured-Pearls/Mabe-Pearls/

These are the most rare and colorful mabes from oyster pearls. There is also a link for Abalone mabe in this thread. LINK (https://www.google.com/search?q=akoya+mabe+pearl&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=EO5&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=mXUcT6LMOuXMiQKp_t3TCA&ved=0CJQBEK0E&biw=1152&bih=615#pq=akoya+mabe+pearl&hl=en&sugexp=pfwl&tok=H76xNYmiMNmiZqtHvPB9RA&ds=pr&cp=24&gs_id=16b&xhr=t&q=akoya+mabe+pearl+pendant&pf=p&sclient=psy-ab&client=firefox-a&hs=m3P&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&tbm=shop&source=hp&pbx=1&oq=akoya+mabe+pearl+pendant&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=d4d349ba659f65b3&biw=1152&bih=615) for a google search for akoya mabe pendant:

Rainbow Island pearls has this mabe:http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pale-Pastel-Silver-Gray-Ridged-Texture-Sea-Cortez-Mabe-Pearl-13-4-X-14-8-mm-/310352357019?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item484271269b . Although not a member here, this vender is used by some of our members with high praise.

[pearladdict]

Thanks for the links Caitlin! I really appreciate it! My mind is swimming with all of the great info here...On to the links!