[Caitlin]

Exquisite! I bet it is lovely to hold in your hand!

Caitlin

[Satine De La Courcel]

Absoulutely Fabulous!

[Brad Adams]

Hi,

I am a pro ab diver from the wild west of oz. I have 2 pearls that I have found that may be of interest. They are both from very old H.conicopora...a species we commercially harvest which can grow to 240mm in length. The first is a very large (50mm) horn shaped pearl, with the silvery mother of pearl colours of the abalone. The second, is what I believe to be extremely rare (*as i believe most natural pearls found in abalone are horn shaped or baroque)... it is an almost round natural pearl, 10mm in diameter and has irredescent pinks, blues and greens shining through the nacre.....it would make an interesting jewellary piece. I have photos...and i tried & tried to get them attached to this thread, but it would not do it! So if you want to see them mail me at bdadams@netserv.net.au , i am interested to see what value they may have with perhaps a veiw to sale

Regards Brad Adams 1st July 06

[LPeck]

I have been asked to sell an old collection of abalone pearls that was collected years ago in Baja. During my research I came across your forum and find it very informative. I would appreciate any advice on how to establish market values for abalone pearls. Here is a quick photo of one piece of the collection. This one is about 25 mm in length.
Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.
Lance

[evin]

I'm helping a friend who found a large abalone pearl off the coast of California. I'd appreciate any information about such pearls and their value. Thanks!

Not getting any reply to my question, perhaps I should be more specific. The pearl weighs 54 grams, and is 9cm long. It is soft green and blue in color. Does anyone know anything about the interest in such pearls?

[Mister.Hill]

Hello all,

I'm sure this must have been asked before, but I can't seem to find specifics.

I have some naturally formed Abalone pearls, but i'm not 100% sure on the BEST way to bring out their natural coulors. As an experiment (please don't shoot me for this) but I put a small amount of vegetable oild on one and it looked amazing. I'm sure this is a big "no no" so I was looking for any words of wisdom from people who have been down this path already?

Also as a secondary question. I gave a small selection of pearls a light polish in a tumbler (only contatined soft dry polishing compound), but not long after removing them they start to really darken up. I was just wondering if anyone knew why this may happen.

Again, this process may have been a "no no" but I only tried it on a very small selection.

Thanks in advance for your time and advice.

[purepearls]

Vegetable oil will not hurt the pearl. I'm wondering if they get darker because of the residue of the polishing compound. Is the polishing compound you are using darker in nature?

[Mister.Hill]

Thanks purepearls,

Indeed as you suggested, the polishing compound is quite dark in colour. I do have another type called propolish which is white so I might give that a try and see what sort of results I get.

I tried a bit of Vegetable oil as suggested and it really brings out the colours of the pearl. I was just wondering if this was an acceptable practice as far as making the pearls more attractive in the short term? Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks again for your time and advice purepearls.

[Valeria101]

Originally Posted by Mister.Hill

I do have another type called propolish which is white ....

Is it normal that the polishing compound leaves traces of color on the pearls?

Just asking because 'Propolish' is the name of something a local lapidarist uses for tumbling stones. If that is the same thing, I wonder if something that skins agate and jasper is not too harsh for pearls.

[Mister.Hill]

Originally Posted by Valeria101

I wonder if something that skins agate and jasper is not too harsh for pearls.

Hi Valeria, good point. Does anyone here have any experience with propolish and wether it may be too harsh? I've also heard Walnut shells work well in a jewellry tumbler for polishing.

Thanks again for your advice

[Valeria101]

Originally Posted by Mister.Hill

Hi Valeria, good point. Does anyone here have any experience with propolish and wether it may be too harsh? I've also heard Walnut shells work well in a jewellry tumbler for polishing.

Thanks again for your advice

No idea about pearls. The same folks sometimes tumble amber (=another way soft stuff that ever gets into a tumbler!) - not as much to polish it, as to get smooth satin finish. This is by design - I have no idea if smooth polish could be obtained by using different stuff in the tumbler.

They use organic stuff: grains (wheat, corn...more or less crushed), oats, seeds of all sorts (e.g. grass seeds)... small wood and bark chips. As you may imagine, there is some amount of experimentation involved and I am not into this at all. Just happened to have a peek into the workshop.

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Mr. Hill,

Polishing natural pearls is currently out of fashion and frowned upon. Abalone pearls typically have largish conchiolin spots that are considered badges of honor and signs of authenticity, however, the actual spots themselves are usually hidden by the setting. It may well be that the trend will turn around and natural pearls will be polished again but that will probably be at the same time it becomes acceptable again to varnish Stickley desks. In short, even if more polished naturals appear on the market, it may still not be a good move for the long term value of your natural abalone pearl to have it polished.

Zeide

Don't knock on death's door, ring the doorbell and run, he hates that.

[Mister.Hill]

Hi Zeide,

Thanks for letting me know. Just out of curiosity, remembering i'm not expert, but what is it you mean by conchiolin patches? What does this look like?

Thanks again

[Zeide Erskine]

Dear Mr. Hill,

Depending on whether the conchiolin spots are immediately on the outside surface or just lightly grown over by aragonite they look either like dark glue spills or dark discolorations with no orient. Some pearl collectors refer to these conchiolin patches as "cow pad" and highly iridescent nacre layers as "flies." Abalone pearls are worth more the higher the ratio of flies to cow pad and vice versa.

Zeide

[Jnorris]

Hello Mr. Hill,

There are a few different techniques for polishing Abalone pearls. The one I have found to be best involves the use of a dremel or Flexible shaft attached to an electric motor (foredom or other). A variable speed foot peddle is recommended to control speed. Use a polishing compound (I use triplee and occaisional Cerium Oxide) a top a felt or cloth wheel. Don't over polish or you risk creating an unnatural appearence in your pearl. The tumbler is a bad Idea as it can break delicate edges and or expose lower layers of the pearl. A pearl showing multiple layers looks a lot more like shell then Pearl.
A significant percentage of mid to low quality Abalone pearls on the market have been peeled or polished to improve saleability. This can usually be determined under magnification. a 10x loop will show fine scratch marks associated with polishing.

Good luck,
Jeremy