Pearl of Allah, Fact; Pearl of Lao Tsu, Fiction

[effisk]

Hehe, I know

It's just ...huge. Just though it's worth mentioning such big calcareous concretions do exist.

Here's a pic:


Here is the address for an excellent article that cover everything in this thread

[Satine De La Courcel]

effisk,

it is really hard to believe that "pearl" known as teh Pearl of allah or Lao Tze pearls has been bought and estimates its worth between 40-60 million dollars.....


Ash

[effisk]

It has been estimated by the San Francisco Gem Lab at 40 million dollars a couple of years ago I think. I wonder on what criteria they did their evaluation... weight?

[Cam Hatch]

Does anyone have any articles on the pearl of Allah? Or point me in the right direction for websites? Sounds interesting.

Is it big enough to test your orient vs overtone skills?? Sorry!

[Satine De La Courcel]

no overtone or orient to me LOL ...just a big pickled brain looking thing!


here is what I found on the web allbeit not much to go on.

http://www.susanscott.net/OceanWatch2003/mar21-03.html

http://www.jewelry-paideia.com/refer...-jewelry-2.php

variations on the same story and a couple of now dead links about family squables and reaports of Ossama bin ladden or saddam Hussein, I do not remember which were ofering $60,000,000 to the current owner for this pearl before 9/11 happened, My gut tells me that is possibly legend only..... the links are now dead so I did not list them

I have also heard that the pearl has been insired by the current owners for $60,000,000, even though it was appraised at 40,000,000 but again dead link.... other than that not a whole lot out there on this biggie

[effisk]

As fas as I can remember, the story says Ossama wanted to buy the pearl to offer it to Saddam, but the person in charge of the transaction got arrested at the Canadian border during one of his trips and the sale never happened...

[Valeria101]

...a giant clam pearl Tridacna maxima)... 6kg

There seem to be more of the kind alright! Take a look: HERE again, a bit over 6kg of 'clam tumour'

The named one looks even more disturbing though! Doesn't sound like much of a tribute... maybe a bad joke...

[knotty panda]

Am I missing something here? The Pearl of Allah is cultured, not natural. I think that would bring the price down a few million. An amulet was placed in a clam and cultured. Here's a link to wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_of_Lao_Tzu I've seen other articles on the forum which link to the same info, but the cultured part seems to be overlooked. So, I'm wondering what am I missing?

[Valeria101]

Not sure I would count that with the normal distinction between cultured / natural. The detail doesn't change the uniqueness of the object.

Still fugly, however hard I'm trying to see anything in it. Yiks! If anyone sees an act of worship in the nominaton, more power to them...

[knotty panda]

Ok, then I'm missing something. If the pearl isn't natural and it isn't cultured, then what is it? (Besides just plain creepy.)

[Satine De La Courcel]

Am I missing something here? The Pearl of Allah is cultured, not natural. I think that would bring the price down a few million. An amulet was placed in a clam and cultured. Here's a link to wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_of_Lao_Tzu I've seen other articles on the forum which link to the same info, but the cultured part seems to be overlooked. So, I'm wondering what am I missing?

Knotty,

Yes somethign is missing...

The Pearl of Allah, is a natural pearl was found by a pearl diver in the Phillipines in 1934 (someone double check me on the year I could be wrong)

I agree it is not the Prettiest thing out there. BUT a status symbol none the less..

Cheers
Ash

[Caitlin]

Hi Ash
The origin of the "pearl" would not be in dispute if one of the owners hadn't claimed it was their long lost pearl from the Ming dynasty which they were hiding near Palowan, (due to political fears) when a monsoon took the tridactna clam it was currenting growing in out of its protective net and lost it to the sea.

I like legends as much as the next fellow, but I think the only thing proven here was that it was found off Palowan in the 30's. It would certainly be interesting if the China story could be substantiated.

It simply does not look like it grew on an implanted image of Buddha to me. I am also curious about the carbon dating on it too. From where did they get the sample, wouldn't taking a sample be something like dating tree rings and requires a plug going to its core?

I don't see that anyone who wanted to sell would do this to it.

[Satine De La Courcel]

Hi Caitlyn,

Had not heard the "dispute" before.. would be nice to have that story substaniated!
what we know as "territories of where certain speices thrive today"
may not have been that years ago... there are also oddities sometimes animals grwo or are found where theya retypically thougth to be none

If a live specimen of a sealacanth can can be found... who really knows.

Cheers
Ash

[Caitlin]

Read the article more carefully....It says the pearl was carbon dated to 600 bc. That makes it a full 2,400 years old!. Now tell me ANYone believes this story! The Chinese were doing fabulous thing in 600 BPE, they even did business with Palowan way far back, according to authentic records, but until this one appears in ancient records, I don't believe there is any evidence that this thing was cultured in China and moved to the Phillipines for any reason. I do believe it grew right there where it was found and due to the size, it may be as old as it is possible for tridactnas to get.

The reference given for the carbon dating is a more recent appraisal for Mr. Barbish. The appraisal does not give any documentation of any carbon dating, nor does any other reference in the article. The info from an unnamed carbon dating lab was referenced in the appraisal, but that is not good proof. I am currently trying to find references to the appraisor, I am not sure he is of the standing needed for claims of this nature.

My question arose, not because I doubt the scientific value of carbon dating, but because I wanted to know how they got the material from the "pearl" for the carbon dating. Since pearls grow by adding successive layers, to get the date back to 600 BC would require a plug going to the center, such as they do in tree ring dating. I question that any one would be allowed to remove a plug from a pearl such as this. So I question that it was ever carbon dated at all.

I think perlas has a good argument based on the longevity of tridacna clams. Also the claim that moving the pearl from clam to larger clam sounds silly as the clam grows along with the pearl. After a certain point, there would be no larger clams available, even if you could pry one open far enough to insert the object under discussion. This part of the story sounds like an urban legend. In fact the entire "spiritual" history sounds like it was confabulated to add to the reputation of an otherwise ghastly clam pearl.

The is simply NO evidence of this pearl in historical texts, not until AFTER it was found in 1934.
There is no evidence, including carbon dating, that this pearl is 2,400 years old.
There is no evidence it was implanted in China and moved to the Philippines.

I am just using my college critical thinking course. It's just logic. If any more facts about this pearl turn up, they would be welcome here.

PS Flat coinlike Buddhas made of metal were inserted into, I believe it was freshwater mussels, and the resulting images were removed when they had a good coat of nacre. Thus the Chinese were the first on record to grow cultured pearls ca the 12 century and they did grow little buddhas. But why implant a quarter sized piece of metal into a tridactna in the first place? They don't evn produce nacreous pearls. This urban legend has more holes than than we already noticed.

[PearlStruck.com]

Well, that's still a really interesting article. I love a good "legend." Ironic that both Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein reportedly wanted to purchase The Pearl, a symbol of "how to learn to live respectfully and united harmoniously for peace," even though our tastes and opinions will differ. Something which, according to Chinese legend represents Lao Tzu's mission "to find a path and way for peace."


Ann
PearlStruck.com