[Caitlin]

What is this? Are all the pearls shped like this died blue or could it be the result of said plague?

[jshepherd]

That would be a dye-job. Sold without disclosure would be a con-job.

[Perle]

Jeremy, you crack me up!

Perle

[Casey.R]

How about the ones on this page?
http://www.thehowardcollection.com/P...arlsindex.html

[salem]

Hey Caitlin, are those of Z's infamous vampire bats pearls, or have they showed up somewhere else?

[jshepherd]

Casey,

Is this where you found the "Blue Blight" reference? You mentioned it a few months ago in another thread, but I forgot to follow up.

I have not seen reference to any such phenomenon other than that listed on the "Howard Collection". The pearls look very much like natural-color baroque akoya.

The color is caused primarily by a large conchiolin core, not some sort or porphyria plague. But porphyrines in pearls are not uncommon. Porphyrines are responsible for the dark coloration of Pinctada margaritifera and Pteria penguin. They are never, by the way, found in freshwater mussels.

The "fang" pearls are clearly freshwater. I seem to recall some shyster trying to pass them off as natural color here a while back...

[jshepherd]

Anyone know the origin of the word "shyster"? It fits, doesn't it?

[xeresana]

Well...I was actually a Spanish major so this isn't exactly my area but, I'm willing to venture the word is related to a certain well known German word. Part of the beauty of taking one's junior year in Europe is that you get to learn to swear in all kinds of languages. Did I guess well?

P.S. I also studied Mandarin but, that was a good 10 years ago. Sadly, wo bu hui shuo han yu. But, wo hui shuo xiban yu hen hao. Sorry. Don't know how to type characters and my pinyin was never anything to write home about. Can you make it out? Hmmm...I guess that wouldn't be very good Mandarin etiquette to talk about my Spanish like that anyway. I think I'm supposed to play it down.

[jshepherd]

Your pinyin looks fluent to me!

wo hui shuo xiban yu hen hao

Me too! That was my first second.

You are right about the German origin as well.

[xeresana]

Ack. The universe feels unbalanced. Wo de xibanyu bu hen hao. There. It's fixed. There's something so wrong to me about complimenting onself in Mandarin. Even if it's true.

On a side note, I think the pearls are kind of fun. I like the shape a lot. Is it hard to wear? Does it poke the wrist?

[Casey.R]

Yes Jeremy, thats where I'd heard the word blue blight and when I read this post it reminded me of it. But now that I know what untreated akoyas can look like they do look similar.

[Caitlin]

We have a not-much posting person who asked me. I think it got covered pretty well.

How do those kind of shapes occur?

Yes that is a strand Z gave to another member.

[Slraep]

Goodness, Caitlin. you scared the %^&$% out of me with that pic! Jeremy is 100% correct. They are nothing more than a freaky dye job. Everyone can certainly see why they sparked Z's vampire fantasy. I wonder if they can be found in red? A person really needs to have a lot of space between their head and their body in order to wear one of these. Ouch. Still, anything can look good on the right person. I think the present owner is able to wear them well.

Slraep

[Slraep]

Originally Posted by jshepherd

Anyone know the origin of the word "shyster"? It fits, doesn't it?

Perfect fit. She was worth just about as much as the bat pearls are.

Slraep