[Nerida]

Thanks Marc - look forward to seeing the pics...
Still in love with the cat.

Am I the only one who doesn't just flick to the "view first unread" option on this thread, just to get one more glimpse of NZ pearls amazingly beautiful work? (Must be one of the prettiest things on the forum) And Marc's lovely abalone blisters? I was about to skim over, but then thought better of it - just one more look!

[J Marcus]

Managed to get some pictures of the georgeous Black Abalone (Haliotis Cratcherodi) mabe' that I said I'd show. I think that in terms of color and irridescence this is about as good as it gets with the blacks. They truly do have a paler, creamy white background color but as for the rest--the only term I can come up with so far is "intense pastels." (If there is such a thing. . .) This one runs right through the pastel spectrum. It even has a bit of a firey orange. It was cloudy out and I took the photo's outdoors in the evening so it was diffuse natural light. No color enhancement was used. It is truly this colorful. It's measurements are: 28.5mm X 25.5mm overall. The blister is about 15mm X 13.5mm X 3.75mm (dome height) with a dome height ratio of about .263. I've made no plans for it yet. The dark black line and two black dots that show in all three photos is conciolin.

EDIT: I've been looking at this mabe' and comparing it with the photos. They simply don't do it justice. It's much brighter than these photo's.

RE-EDIT: I finally got some good pics of this mabe earlier in the day when the natural light held a full spectrum. I'll show these in the following post and you may see this mabe' in all it's glory and see the difference time of day can make in color. Taken in diffuse natural daylight. No P.S. editing. Saturation not altered.

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

[J Marcus]

I had some time to take pictures today early enough in the afternoon so that the light seemed to contrain the full spectrum and didn't have the yellows etc. filtered out of it by the atmosphere. Here are the results with the second black abalone mabe'. I know--It looks too brilliant--but that's what it's like. The mabe's from the red and pink abalone can be even more saturated, though.

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

[Ashley]

Marcus- Love the colors- it's like a dazzling sunrise...

I miss having a cat- the jeweler's cat looks so sedate. Havana Brown huh? How exotic!

[pattye]

Marc,

Those are just magical! Thanks sooooo much for all the great photos! I am always elated when this thread surfaces and I have a moment to look back through it again--

[Ashley]

Couldn't agree with you more Pattye- remember the Iridescence Thread? That was so beautiful! I would go through all of the pages one by one to look at all the images members posted...

[pattye]

Soooo right, Ashley! That is a great one too! Who could tire of such genuine beauty????

[J Marcus]

Just for fun I thought that I'd post one of the last black abalone mabe' that I took in full sun at the same time that I took this last batch. Quite a bit of glare, but interesting. Changes in lighting can really make iridescent things look different. Thanks for all the compliments.

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

[Ashley]

I like the deeper, almost golden tone of the sun reflecting on the surface of the mabe- like iridescent amber at sunset.

[J Marcus]

This is one of my latest mabe's from red abalone. It's from the muscle scar area of the shell. I get just a few like this with consecutive, overlapping layers of nacre and conchiolin--looks like rays of sunshine or something like that. This one is particularly intense in color. The differences you see in color between the first one and the second two are caused by the angles the different photos were shot at. I also took the time to cover the back of this piece with different materials. These are: abalone; amazonite; sodalite; and fossiliferous limestone containing pieces of (pink) crinoids and other seafloor fossils.

Again, the colors in these pictures weren't enhanced by a photo editor. Processing consisted of cropping and resizing to attach to Pearl Guide.

Enjoy,

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

[New Zealand Natural Pearl]

Fell upon these beautiful Natural Colour Pearls
from Myanmar - Great lustre- yellow to golden-
white to silver[ATTACH][ATTACH][ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH]

[Nerida]

Ooh, this thread just continues to tantalize! Marc, those last photos are sensational - the colours are exquisite, and your craftsmanship is superb. Great style!

And NZ, please never stop posting your photos-such beauty!!

PS I really really really want a pearl ring!! Preferably the one in the top photo!

[New Zealand Natural Pearl]

Thanks Nerida,
The ring is a classic. Both 18ct white and yellow gold.
Two More photos
Regards
Denise[[ATTACH][/ATTACH]

[New Zealand Natural Pearl]

A colourful Natural Abalone Pearl found recently.
The Pearl was attached to the shell where the
Gold comes down. Looks like a nugget of Pearl.Nacre
both sides of pearl.

[pattye]

Pure and splendid!