[CortezPearls]

Well, I don't know about you all...but I would really would like to take some hints on taking pearl photos from the person that took that picture! It is a very good photo! And if he can make artificial/faux pearls look that good I sure need to hire him to take some photos of my Cortez Pearls...the World would just weep!

[tanakarn1]

Hi,

Thanks Patty for clarification. Sorry If my English is not very good and make you confused.

Well, I went to the shop again (at Copenhagen, Denmark) to see the pearls. They are not perfectly round. Their surfaces have a number of blemishes, wrinkles and imperfections. I can see they have very thick nacre and rainbow orient (pink & blue)…this orient can be clearly seen only under the strong light; however the rainbow orient is weaker than that in the photo. Without the strong light, I just see a white pearl with fainted rainbow orient.

I also met another vendor who is the owner of the shop. She told me they are thick-nacre Akoya with no polishing and no peeling. It makes sense to me because of their strong luster and imperfect shape and surface. To me, they look more natural and more beautiful than treated Akoya. So, what do you guys think?

Have a good weekend,
Tanakarn

[jshepherd]

I would say the vendor does not understand akoya. If an akoya were peeled you would likely be wearing a bead of washboard mussel.

When you say the pearls are not round, do they have an off-round shape of freshwater, or a baroque shape of akoya? Akoya will typically be round with a slight tail. This is a classic example of what a baroque akoya looks like:
some different baroque Akoyas

Here is an example of off-round freshwater:
http://www.thepearloutlet.com/servle...&searchIndex=8

If the pearls are off-round like that, they are definitely freshwater. I would advise making the determination yourself without the assistance of the vendor. Based on their statement, they either do not understand pearls, or are just feeding you a line...

[tanakarn1]

Thanks Jeremy,

They look similar to baroque but they have no long tail. From my memory, their shape look like the photo below.

Tanakarn

[jshepherd]

Those are akoya! If they looked like that, anyway. Baroque akoya can have amazing luster because of the nacre and changing in direction of the nacre.
$1000 is pretty high retail for a baroque akoya strand, however...

[Slraep]

Originally Posted by mikehrz

Um, that's not entirely accurate.
Guess?
The super-akoya posted by Jeremy were completely unprocessed. Granted, these are really exceptional examples, but I actually asked Jeremy about this via pm several months back, and he told me that although most akoya are not so great, the same is true of fw, and that many gem-level akoya are found straight from the oyster. The picture on the pearl-guide homepage
http://www.pearl-guide.com/
shows 2 such nice-looking pearls just as they were found in the oyster. Although there are plenty of over-processed pearls out there, the fact that an akoya has not been treated does not automatically mean that it will be hideous.

Hi Mikehrz,

I've not seen any of the virgin super-akoyas, just the run of the mill kind. And they really were fugly!!! I agree that you can find gem grade stuff straight out of the oyster, but that is more the exception.

Hmmm.....wouldn't mind seeing some of those nonprocessed super-akoyas in person.

Slraep

[Valeria101]

Originally Posted by Slraep

Hmmm.....wouldn't mind seeing some of those nonprocessed super-akoyas in person.

Slraep

Yeah! Is it at all probable to meet any non-nucletaed Akoya pearls of macroscopic size and half decent shape in person these days?

Wonder what was that made the species the prime candidate for a whole industry - if it was something about the nacre at all (was it?).

[tanakarn1]

Hi all,

Thanks everyone for clarification. I just have realized that I have become a “pearl lover”. Below is a photo similar to the baroque rainbow akoya I have seen.

Tanakarn

[jshepherd]

Yes, baroque akoya!

[Ingykiz]

Very pretty, even with all of the imperfections. Shiny, like ballbearings!
I am still holding out for the most unusual akoyas...