Eastern North Atlantic Shellfish Pearls

[pierrettedE]

Good morning! Yup, have a 15 month old girl climbing on me now ... so this will be short. Just to post a couple scans.


Voila.

Some are my own, some were given to me by Eric Orde. All are natural, Atlantic Ocean, mussel pearls (M. Edulis) or scallop pearls (Placopecten magellanicus)

I do have extreem close-ups too if any of you want to see. The structure of some of the nicest scallop pearls is platelet-type and neat!

Enjoy!

[Caitlin]

Hi
That is a sweet collection. Can you put up one of the platelets shots?

[pierrettedE]

hi, ok. here's a "platelet shot". I always get a bit of reflection that interferes. The pearl is about 6.5mm in reality. The "platelets" lay one on top of the other in layers. Kind of like a translucent patchwork quilt that wraps around itself.

I can almost see it better if I zoom out...

Pierrette

(It was so cold out this morning in South-West Nova Scotia that I wore a winter jacket and a hat, a HAT I say!)

[pierrettedE]

howdy. I'm still trying to get better close-up shots. I'm working with a scanner and a Canon Power Shot A75. We should be getting a new LSR digital shortly and I'll try again.

Meanwhile, Look at my new blue mussel blister pearl. It's HUGE.... 14-15mm huge. Dark navy into white. I don't know what to do with it... I wish a could take a better picture.

[pierrettedE]

scanner try... I can't focu the whole thing.. anyway next to the little 3.2mm and the ruler, you can tell its' size... that was one annoyed mussel.

[Valeria101]

Wow!

It looks like this one will require deciding whether it could be detached from the shell and then a skilled hand to proceed, if possible.

The size of the pearl relative to the shell is incredible !

[Caitlin]

I am still waiting to hear from Eric and Arlene. they were going to send me a few samples. They only asked for ($12) postage and I sent them $20.

[pattye]

Hi There,

That is amazing! Maybe you could just put an 18k gold frame around the edge of the shell, drill a hole and wear the whole thing as is on a chain!!!

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

[pierrettedE]

hmm funny... A little big though... I have to look at it a while.

Caitlin, I haven't heard from them either since June 6, email stating: "...ive finally got the blister pearls (scallop&mussels) to get to kaitlin, hard to find them in scallop got one thats got double round ones stuck to the shell and one other thats just a chunk,,,, have a good one say hi to everyone..."

They live about 1 1/2hr away and I really have only seen them twice. They are fixing an old house and he may be gone scallop fishing. They do go out many many days at a time.

way off topic but it was tonight's episode: Hey, our fellow villager made the Top 10 on Canadian Idol, Dwight. yahoo!! Look up his independant/band stuff. He's good! Plus, we gave him one of my Tahitian Pearl necklaces so I guess it's still on topic

[Miriam Reed]

howdy. I'm still trying to get better close-up shots. I'm working with a scanner and a Canon Power Shot A75. We should be getting a new LSR digital shortly and I'll try again.

Meanwhile, Look at my new blue mussel blister pearl. It's HUGE.... 14-15mm huge. Dark navy into white. I don't know what to do with it... I wish a could take a better picture.

Hi!
Just came across this post from last year, and wondered what you had eventually decided to do with it. I'd be interested to see how it turned out.

[J Marcus]

I would think that if it's as rare as it seems it might be (are there any others--at all?) Then it might be a rare and valuable specimen just as it is.

_______________________
Marc

[Monty Hall]

What a fantastic thread!!!

Pierrette, do you know how many years (or weeks, depending) it took Eric to assemble that wonderful collection of natural pearls?

Or, does he just go out and pluck them from the sea like fruit in season?

Thank you thank you for sharing such a plenitude of lovely photos and scans!!!
CarolK

[pierrettedE]

Hello guys. I've been "away"... I've gone full tilt into a new product line that has blossomed and is taking up 50-60 hrs/wk. HeartString Baby's Companions... steep learning curve! NOTHING having to do with natural pearls, cultured pearl or jewelry design.

Anyway,

Miriam Reed - Apart from polishing it lightly, I left it alone

J Marcus- Indeed. I have gone over 10s of thousands of shells and have never seen a blister that big and/or that blue.

CarolK- The scallop pearls were assembled over a half decade or so. He did get some from other fishermen that knew he was saving them. The mussel pearls probably took 2-3 years and were found while he held a fishing permit to dig mussels on NS shores. Important to note that some of blue mussel pearls are mine. I've assembled them since 1999. His come from the Bay of Fundy. Mine, come from the Atlantic , on the South-Eastern shore of NS.

There are a few mixed species of blue mussel. M. Edulis being the best known and the one farm-grown. M. trossulus is closely related to M. edulis and sometimes mistaken for it. Then there is Modiolus modiolus, commonly known as the "Horse Mussel". These tend to be in deeper waters and shells can wash up to shore. One can even find important "horse mussel reefs".

Pearls, obviously, occur in all species. Colors seem to dependent on where they grow within the shell and on what mussel species. M. modiolus grows larger (up to 9" long), with larger pearls. They tend to be more cream-light purple. The other species (and hybrids) are smaller, but may occasionally yield beautiful, bright blue/navy pearls.

Give me a shout if you have other question or comments.

Pierrette

[Valeria101]

Good to hear from you again!

Have any new pearls come into your collection since?

[pierrettedE]

Hi, yes I do. Only a few. One very large dark blue and striated white (9mm ish) mussel pearl that is interesting. It isn't "gem" quality but the size of it was surprising. I really think it comes from a M. modiolus. The others are smoother and rounder but all less than 5mm and mostly creamy-lavender in colour. I haven't had time to picture them, but when I do I will post. Certainly my "big blue" ugly ducky

Pierrette