Pearl changing color?

[Bethann]

I met a wonderful woman today at a funeral and we talked quite some time about Pearls. She had a Tahitian pearl pendant that was very dark in color. She lives on the Big Island of Kona and buys Pearls from someone she knows there. But she said when she bought it years ago it was a RED pearl. So my question is, if you wear a Tahitian daily, can your body oils and such change the color from Red to a dark purple/black?

[jshepherd]

I imagine she was referring to a rose overtone, not an actual red pearl. As far as it changing colors, especially from lighter to darker, this is not something I have seen.
There is always the possibility that the pearl was treated. If it were coated with a polymer that wore off, this could change the look of the pearl dramatically.

[Ashley]

I recently ran into a beautiful exotic Tahitian round that indoors has a distinct Aquamarine bodycolor that I fell in love with immediately; once I wore it outdoors in the sunshine however, it appears that the sun's rays penetrate the nacre layers and actually illuminate the bead within, thus turning the pearl a reddish-lavender!! Imagine my surprise- a diachroic pearl

[Valeria101]

I recently ran into a beautiful exotic Tahitian round that indoors has a distinct Aquamarine body-color that I fell in love with immediately; once I wore it outdoors in the sunshine however, it appears [...] a reddish-lavender!

Could it be that it has reddish fluorescence (Mexican trademark - according to some G&G article etc.) instead? If there's a black light in the house, it should be easy to check, and cool if it turns up so, I would imagine

Just a thought.

I would hope that the nacre really isn't so thin that it is see-through in sunlight... Although something else could be amiss.

[Bethann]

She said the pearl was red when she bought it, and much later it turned this darker color! I know, sounds odd to me, but she seemed to have some knowledge of pearls and we discussed them for quite some time.
She was aware of dyes and treatments - so who knows huh?

[purepearls]

I have never really heard of this unless the pearl was treated. If this is the case, the wear over time would cause the original colors of the pearls to be unveiled. My assumption is that this would be the reason for this.

[Ashley]

I agree with Amanda- treatments eroding is the probable cause there...

Could it be that it has reddish fluorescence (Mexican trademark - according to some G&G article etc.) instead? If there's a black light in the house, it should be easy to check, and cool if it turns up so, I would imagine

That's an excellent suggestion and one that I will experiment with this week! I would also not be thrilled to see very thin nacre layers be the culprit here but it is all too easy to imagine... However it turns out I will be sure let you know!

[Josh]

Hi Bethann,
My guess is that you are right. Oils and sweat can eat right through a pearl over time depending on your PH. The pearl that I wear never gets taken off and has not worn a bit but I have a cousin that wore the back of a pendant pearl flat in just over a year! Also, many Tahitian pearls start with layers of matte black conchiolin. It looks like black plastic and if you were to wear a reddish pearl away that had this black base then you would definitely get a change in color.