[Mervione]

Thanks for explaining it to me Ashley! It´s certainly interesting to read about the science of pearls, it´s much more complicated than you think... I`ll book mark this thread so I can go back and look if I ever (will in 5 seconds.) forget.

[J Marcus]

Nodule #4 begins, I think, to unravel the mystery. It's a larger single that measures about 8.3mm X 6mm X 6.8mm (L X W X H). Although the backs of #2 & #3 show some rather ambiguous evidence from the back side of the shell that these nodules may be "rooted" into the shell--perhaps a few mm, I find that this one shows very explicitely that there is no evidence, as least as far as I have ground the back, that this blister is settled deeply into the shell. I also believe that the side views of this one show some clues as to it's origins.

[J Marcus]

This fifth one is the one that really got my attention and caused me to realize what the nature (I think) of these objects are. It's overall size is about 50mm X 32mm. The center node is about 4.6mm X 4.5 X 4mm. The little one to the right of the center is about 2.8mm X 2.5mm X 1mm.

If you will note, the first photo shows three different types of protuberances. you may also note what all three (?) of these blister types look like from the partly ground back. The hollow back blisters are the result of toredo clams boring into the shell, the cause of by far the great majority of the blisters in the abalones I have. The center nodule and the small one to its' right show no discernable evidence of their existence from the back. The two low dome blisters are a different story, however. When I examined them closely, I saw on the back that directly under each of them I had nearly bisected two objects surrounded by conchiolin. Under magnification I could see that their structure consisted of coencentric rings of what appears to be nacre. The next two photos are close-ups of these. For the second one, the most enlarged, I raised the contrast to make the rings more visible. In the more oval one the cut seems to have gone to almost the exact center of the rings where there appears to be a very tiny, round knob of about .8mm diameter.

In Berry Blister #1 I mentioned that the way it had been ground and finished may show a clue to it's origin. The last picture is of one side of #1 showing one of the nodules ground part way through. Though not ground as far as the two in the fifth one, it too shows what I think is most likely a coencentric layered structure that goes down to a small center.

What I think that this means is that these solid "blisters" began life as free pearls grown in the mantle of the abalone. Somehow they were dislodged from the mantle and came to rest against the shell. They remained trapped there long enough for the abalone, perhaps feeling them as an irritant, to cement them to the shell with conchiolin and nacre and then to continue coating them with layers of same. Two of them, #4 and #5, appear to have the same or a smaller diameter at the base where they intersect the shell as they do at midpoint. In pictures I have seen of small free pearls being removed from the mantle they look as though they hold a rather tenuous connection to this mantle. Most of these "pearls" that I have, I have found up inside the lip of the shell.

Historically. some very valuable free pearls have been uncovered in salt water bivalves at the site of a large blister. These shells, having been subsequently peeled down by a pearl pealer, eventually revealed their prize. I am beginning to think that most, or perhaps all of the solid "Berry Blisters" and single nodules I have shown here are the result of free pearls or clusters of free pearls having been ejected or somehow dislodged from the mantle and subsequently then attached to the inside of the shell and coated with layers of conchiolin and nacre until they became part of it's structure, some of them perhaps being so covered that they eventually became a hard-to-discern part of the body of the shell.

At this point I am considering attempting to dislodge one or both of the suspected free pearls from example #5 to see if the hypothesis proves out. I have found a few other examples and possible examples of this type of anomaly in some more shells. The new ones that show on the surface are, so far, very small and the "possible" ones are deep in the interior of the shell, if that is indeed what they are, and will have to be exposed. Doing so will take some time, with all the other work that I have to do, so I don't know how long it will be before I am able to do this. Meanwhile, I have some other, very different, solid blisters that I will try to post in this thread. I am very interested in hearing what other forum members think about all this.

Marc
http://flyrodjewelry.com/home.html

[pattye]

This is a totally fascinating mystery, and thanks for leading us through it! The photos are truly amazing, too!

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

[J Marcus]

Why thank you Pattye. There's more to come. . .

Marc

[Valeria101]

Originally Posted by J Marcus

I am beginning to think that most, or perhaps all of the solid "Berry Blisters" and single nodules I have shown here are the result of free pearls or clusters of free pearls having been ejected or somehow dislodged ...

At this point I am considering attempting to dislodge one or both of the suspected free pearls from example #5 to see if the hypothesis proves out.

X-Ray? Non-destructive test ...

[Caitlin]

Tis is a great thread-very educational- and the blisters are stunning!

[Ashley]

I love all the close-up photos and diagrams- this is proving most instructional, thank you Marcus! I eagerly await further experimentation...

[Hyun-Yoon Yoon]

Marcus!

Thanks for your great post.

I have to read above several times.

Looking forward to seeing more.


Yoon

[GemGeek]

I agree! Marc is taking us along on his exploration of the origins of the blister pearls. And those photos and notations are terrific.

[J Marcus]

I've been extremely busy lately but will get back to this ASAP. Also, the more I have critically examined some of the abalone anomalies I've dug out of my stock, the more questions are raised and some of it will require a bit of work (thus time) to uncover, though I don't plan to do it all at once. I have someone lined up that is willing to experiment with X-raying some of these in a few weeks. Don't know where that will lead but it should be interesting!

Marc
http://www.flyrodjewelry.com/home.html

[pearlescence]

This is beginning to look more like proper academic research - Have you been in touch with Douglas?
If this is indeed 'new' knowledge then it would be a pity not to pursue a proper research methodology so that your findings can be fully recognised

[smetzler]

What would be of immediate interest is the origin of the shells (species and location of harvest. No need to reveal sources—yet!).

[J Marcus]

Originally Posted by pearlescence

This is beginning to look more like proper academic research - Have you been in touch with Douglas?
If this is indeed 'new' knowledge then it would be a pity not to pursue a proper research methodology so that your findings can be fully recognised

Thank you for the suggestion. Who is Douglas? I've thought about the way that this looks somewhat academic but am not sure if I'm not covering ground that already lies somewhere in a dusty graduate thesis paper or mouldering in some journal. Still, I haven't done anything to these odd blisters since I started examining and photographing them for the forum. The specimens that I've since located in shells are still in their shells. I think that there's a dept. of marine sciences of some sort here at Western Washington U. so I might contact someone there just to see if they were interested in what I'm doing.

Smetzler: All the ones that I've shown so far are either from Red or Pink abalone. For all practical purposes there is no discernible difference between blisters of the two and I find that it isn't always that easy to tell which type of shell that you have--especially if they've been heavily parasitized which often makes their shells hard to tell apart. I have a few from Black and Green abalones and those are no problem. Provenence would prove almost impossible, though. How does one tell where a shell found at a yard sale in Ohio came from? (for example. . . )

News flash: I received a small shipment of shells from one of my sources today and there are two of the solid blister clusters among them! One with four nodules may be too badly weathered to be of any commercial value (will have to be peeled--we'll see) but may be usefull for "dissection." The other is truly a prize! It is a double made up of a pair of two almost identical sized orbs that are larger than any I have found to date! They measure about 12mm X 7.5mm, are about 3/4 exposed above the shell and are absolutely stunning and pristine--as in gorgeous!!! Don't know when I'll have photos--buried in work at the present.

Marc
http://www.flyrodjewelry.com/home.html

[J Marcus]

Does anyone out there have a good idea of how large an abalone free pearl has to be to have more than negligible value?

Marc