[Slraep]

Hi Goldnugget,

I'm crossing my fingers that it may be an estuary pearl from Bangladesh because it has the optimal colour(read: most sought after) and would be expensive. If it turns out to be a natural oriental pearl as the seller says, the optimal colour for these is a lot lighter(light cream). The lighter colours are very sought after to replace parts of, or collected to complete, necklaces. The darker colours are harder to sell.

It turning out to be a padparadscha estuary "mukta" would probably be better than it turning out to be a dark natural oriental pearl.

Slraep

[Valeria101]

Originally Posted by goldnugget

The previous owner of the pearl, who is the Zamindar of Jaunpur, near Lucknow, India has sent me the following details. In his own words :

"Dear Sir

[...]

Basra are light weight as compared to other Natural Pearls.
..."

Good to have these threads stay around for a while... until the right information falls into place!

Too bad the letter was so hastily written. I'd bet he meant THIS about pearl weight. LOL! A rogue, low-teck, but handy test for nucleated vs. non-nucleated pearls that exploits the lower density of pearls compared to nacre.

The gemology course material at U-Texas where the aricle comes from are quite good. For some reason, I din't pay too much attention to the pearl bit when redaing them (a few ages ago). Just happened to go back...

Citing the relevant bit:

"Reliably and accurately distinguishing natural from cultured pearl is difficult, and is usually done with an x-ray radiograph. This can reveal whether the nucleus comprises the majority of the pearl (as in most cultured pearls) or how thick the nacre is. A simple but nondiagnostic test is S.G.; most cultured pearls will sink in a liquid of density 2.74, whereas most naturals will float.

[...]

Specific Gravity: varies with source and with the type of nucleus; naturals 2.66-2.78, cultured pearls 2.72-2.78.

Persian Gulf - 2.715 "

[knotty panda]

Wow! Interesting! Sure beats smashing the ugly one with a hammer.

[Slraep]

Oh wow, a doctor, eh?

Slraep