Nacre thickness Versus Shape and...

[msLondon]

Hmmm...
Am I sacrificing nacre thickness/orient/longevity all for the perfect round cultured pearl..

And...Do Molluscs feel pain during implantation or grafting? (Not my question)

many thanks

[xeresana]

Hmmm...I'm sure the experts will jump in. I assume you're talking akoyas? I would think baroque akoyas would have some areas of thicker nacre. But, the freshwaters can now be round and have orient. Since they are all nacre, if you're willing to go FW, then you wouldn't have to sacrifice at all. And they're way cheaper. Somewhere on here is a side by side pic of the freshadamas against a high quality akoya. They are very similar. I wear my strand with miki earrings and they look like a matched set.

I do think baroque shapes show more orient. I'm not sure why that is.

[Mervione]

It´s never a good idea to sacrifice nacre thickness for a rounder shape. The pearls wont last as long and luster is often a sign of thick nacre (even if you indeed can find pearls with thin nacre that have a nice luster, but they wont glow from within).

A pearl with thick nacre more often are less round than pearls with thin nacre, because the bead in the thin nacred ones only have a thin layer over it, I saw the term "pearl plated beads" somewhere on the forum and it comes to mind. But it is possibly to find round pearls no matter what nacre thickness the pearls have, so you don´t have to sacrifice anything I think. Even if the pearls probably wont be of a perfect spherical shape as akoyas often are if they are freshwaters.

[Mervione]

Oh, and baroque pearls often have more orient because they have more room for the light to play on, if that makes sense? Since the shape isn´t spherical there´s more corners and bumps for the light to jump back from.

[pattye]

Hi msLondon,

And...Do Molluscs feel pain during implantation or grafting? (Not my question)

There is a whole thread already on this I will see if I can find it--it was a LOoooNNNg discussion----------under natural pearls, there is a thread near the top called "Maybe the oyster likes it"

Am I sacrificing nacre thickness/orient/longevity all for the perfect round cultured pearl..

Possibly, is how I would answer this--because most perfect rounds are going to be bead nucleated, whereas the tissue nucleated will be baroque or perhaps less round, but lots more nacre. It is easier to determine something like this, generally speaking, when comparing specific items, 2 pearls, 2 strands, etc.

[Mervione]

To answer the question about pain shortly: No, they don´t because they lack a brain and nerves.

[Mikeyy]

And...Do Mollusks feel pain during implantation or grafting? (Not my question)

No, It actually tickles them. In fact it tickles them so much that there is a real fear that they will drown from laughing. So only the mollusks capable of keeping their lips sealed survive. The only thing that can stop the tickle is a coating of nacre. Or Barry Manilow songs. Sometimes they laugh so hard that they spit the nuclei out. Or they try not to laugh and it ends up lodged in their noses. That's how you get baroque shapes. When pearl farmers make a panel for the mollusks they always include one real bore of a mollusk in order to assure that the rest of the mollusks don't start having too much fun.

[pattye]

Hi Mikeyy,

Thanks for a great laugh! I needed that--between figuring out which smoke alarm is chirping and bailing the broken washing machine--

[knotty panda]

Or Barry Manilow songs.

If not pain, then what do I experience whenever I hear "Her name was Lola. She was a showgirl"? Ouch! Now my fingers hurt!

[Mikeyy]

Hi Mikeyy,

Thanks for a great laugh! I needed that--between figuring out which smoke alarm is chirping and bailing the broken washing machine--

Hey its true. I knew a farmer once. He was sitting in his skiff telling the old story about the Traveling salesman who meets the farmer and his three trombone playing daughters... The laughter got so hysterical he lost his entire crop. No. Really

In fact I can say truthfully that the best pearl farmers I know are humorless. Present company excluded.

[GemGeek]

Three cheers for Mikeyy!

Mom had to go to the hospital again last week - this time for scheduled back surgery - and after several extremely rough days, she finally started to get better today. <whew> So, the laugh was especially appreciated, as well as all of the clever comments of my pearl cohorts!

Hugs to everyone!!!

[Nerida]

Oh msLondon, you are brave asking that question....

Humour is definitely the best way to deal with it!! Well done Mikeyy; and Blaire, hope your Mum (sorry, just never comes out for me as "mom") is doing OK and Pattye - don't you just hate days like that??

[Pearl Dreams]

((Blaire's mom))

Pattye, I sympatize-- your washer and my dryer should get together.

[Mikeyy]

Three cheers for Mikeyy!

Mom had to go to the hospital again last week - this time for scheduled back surgery - and after several extremely rough days, she finally started to get better today. <whew> So, the laugh was especially appreciated, as well as all of the clever comments of my pearl cohorts!

Hugs to everyone!!!

Good on ya. And Mom as well.

[Amrita]

Mikeyy, thanks for the laughs - you have a wonderful sense of humor!
Blaire, hope your mother is doing fine now.