White Abalone Pearl ?

[Valeria101]

THIS is what I am talking about. There are other large white blister pearls labeled 'Abalone' on the same source and a few others.

Are these pearls bleached? From a different species altogether? Or just some other type of Abalone than it is used to produce the blue/green cultured blisters of nowadays?





Arts and Crafts at Tadema Gallery - more white abalone mabe!

[CortezPearls]

Nacreous "texture" seems unlike that of an Abalone (Haliotis) shell...appears to me to be more like a typical Pinctada pearl oyster. Did you notice the crack (left side) and the defect (lower right: a sub-cutaneous protein spot...typical of the attack of Polydora worms) on the 1st item???

There are certain varieties of Abalone that have lighter colored shells...like the Californian "Pinto Abalone" (Haliotis kamtschatkana), so this could be the culprit.

[Caitlin]

The bottom shell is so thick ..It looks like an Osmina pearl to me. The actual color and texture are what make me say that.

[Valeria101]

The top shell is so thick ..It looks like an Osmina pearl to me. The actual color and texture are what make me say that.

Aren't those more elongated and gray?

Wouldn' imagine quite such a gaffe in ID for the lace and the price tag. Confusion about pearl species is about as far as I'd dare to wonder about. If even. Gotta' trust some...

[Caitlin]

I think #140 is a pinctada too. I actually meant the bottom shell #54 which looks like a thick chunk of shell more like a nautilus than a pinctada....I think the shape must reflect the shape of the shell it came from.

I was on a big osmina hunt a month or so ago because I realized a lot of people call osmina "mabe" pearls. There is a lot of confusion out there and I am perfectly happy saying I am in no way sure.....Anyway I saw osmina in both the gray-blue and in white with the same texture as the one above.

I have never seen abalone shells totally lacking in pattern. I have seen more of the Haliotis kamtschatkana shells than any other kind of abalone and no matter how pale, they still have mild rainbows in them.

[Valeria101]

The plot thickens a bit...

When starting this thread, I really didn't know that there is at least one species of Abalone that does have white nacre - the 'Mule Ears'! By their fancy name: Haliotis Asinina (Linnaeus).

'Guess now the question is: does anyone know of pearls from these shells at all?

As far as I understand, these things are cultured (link to one source of reports from Thailand) for meat and shells too, but not for pearls.