natural pearl cufflinks?

[Kevin Canning]

I'm just doing some looking around to get ideas for a line of cufflinks I'm going to design and sell and I came across these:

cufflinks (http://pages.brendaginsberg.com/cgi-bin/google.fcgi?itemKey=1921379613&store=%2Fstores%2Fginsberg&catId=Jewelry-Victorian&itemNo=1259).

While the design is nothing special, the pearl is interesting and they claim they are natural pearls. While they do look natural to me, I will be the first to admit I don't know much about natural pearls. Can anybody say what kind of pearl they might be?

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Kevin,

You may want to get in line to buy your very own "Strack book." Although there are many possiblities of what these could be given the poor picture quality, I am leaning in the direction of blued-out (porphyria) akoya culture gone awry rather than an outright keshi. Akoya scallops frequently (but not all THAT often) suffer from porphyria which makes the conchiolin both highly unstable with tendency to bubble up and an intense purplish to greenish blue. Porphyria is a significantly different phenomenon from "blue pearls" where there is a colored mineral contamination in the conchiolin and natural silvery blue akoyas which is a natural healthy pigmentation of the chonchiolin. Porphyria is a disease and pearls that are cultured in mussels that suffer from porphyria usually stray from the intended shape in the most blatant and bizarre ways because the disease also makes the mussels produce prodigious amounts of this starkly colored conchiolin.

The cultured freshwater pearls below are awful quality, not valuable, but I own them to show people that natural fancy colors and shapes do not necessarily mean valuable rarity. The host mussels were originally white-nacred as juveniles and developed the full porphyria syndrom after nucleation. They were tissue nucleated to produce white crosses. Look what the "vampire disease" made them do:

Zeide

[Kevin Canning]

Certainly ordering the strack book is on my to do list, but between running Pearls Of Joy and this forum with Jeremy something always seems to come up.

I just love the color of the necklace you posted, but damn the shape of those looks almost too dangerous to wear :eek: or at least not too comfortable.

Thanks for the info though Zeide.

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Kevin,

I nicknamed them my Batpearls. Now if there ever was a Goth look, this should be it. Vampire mussles turning white crosses into nightblue bat wings.

Zeide

[nlerner]

Hi Zeide,
I liked the nickname and the idea....
n.

[Satine De La Courcel]

Zeide,

That Necklace you posted looks like you went all vampire slayer on them.. it lookslike you could really do some damage with them.. I would not want to meet youin a dark alley when you wear those babies..... LOL..

Seriously thought Nice color!!!!

Cheers
Ash
Who has been having a really bad week...

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Ashby,

Believe it or not, they are actually quite comfortable to wear. That is, of course, only if you stay home. Exit the door and all hell breaks loose. Figure on being stopped and given a whole host of comments (most of them involving a lot of squealing).

Zeide

[purepearls]

These pearls look very similar to the Sea of Cortez pearls. They are larger in shape and have the same coloration. It's really hard to tell by the picture but there are quite a few similarities.

[Satine De La Courcel]

Zeide,


It is glad to know that when you put on that beautiful necklace it will NOT try to eat you!!!!! LOL.. I am sure it looks fabulous on.. the color is awesome! I bet teh compliments just fly! Yeah!!!


Ash

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Ashby,

Sure the compliments fly, Like a Bat out of Hell!

Zeide