Have you ever peeled a pearl -We Have and look what we got

[New Zealand Natural Pearl]

A friend of mine went to Rarotonga recently and bought
a dozen pearls of a guy on the beach for $5.00US each.
I thought he got ripped off as they were shocking-
UNTIL I started to grind the bottom of one - to my
SURPRISE a large flake peeled off -

I chipped away for about 20 minutes and finally
revealed a beautiful ,gem grade 12ml pearl - its a WOW

The pearl on the right will give you an idea what we started with.
Has anyone else had such an experience.

[Nathan Reed]

gem grade 12ml pearl

Unbelievable! Anybody want to go down there and buy a bunch of $5 pearls?

That's the kind of experience I'd like to have!

[Pearly Shell]

That is so cool! I've read about peeling pearls but haven't seen any actual results.

I'm gonna have to try this. Where do I find $5 pearls?

[Kevin Canning]

now that is impressive! what did you use to do the actual chipping?

[knotty panda]

Has anyone else had such an experience.

Not yet, but I'll be heading that way as soon as I'm done crawling around the City of David.

[jerin]

Is there a PGer close by to buy all pearls for 5 dollars so we all could get a pearl to peel?

If it ends up with such a beauty as above, we all could count us very lucky indeed!

[Valeria101]

WOW! sounds just about right

Just thinking out loud here: wasn't Josh saying recently that he had just fished a whole lot of icky aged pearls? If they have thicker nacre (to withstand peeling) and Gorgon looks like that crummy bit next to the ring, then you should have a whole lot of Kamoka candidates for pealing

[Pearl Dreams]

Gorgeous pearl! It would be fun to try it ourselves, but my understanding about peeling, from what I read in Matlins' The Pearl Book, is that
1. it requires skill, and that
2. whatever is beneath may be just as bad or worse than the surface that was peeled away.

But I suppose if you only paid a few dollars, it wouldn't matter much.

[pattye]

I, too, would like to know more about this. A very fortunate experience, to say the least. I would be afraid of scratching something nice underneath. Still, for $5--worth the time to experiment. Perhaps an exacto knife with thin tip??? Please tell us what tools you used.

[MistofCassiopeia]

congratulations on your amazing find! What a beautiful pearl!

[The Pearl Outlet]

That is amazing. Congratulations!

[New Zealand Natural Pearl]

Thanks here are the tools we used[ATTACH]

[/ATTACH] Some of the Pearls
Purchased Here are two photos of
pearls that didnt work - One Outside the Pearl
the other Inside the Pearl[ATTACH][/ATTACH]

[GemGeek]

Ugly duckling pearl = $5.00
Airfare from Los Angeles = $1,360.80
Bragging rights = PRICELESS!

[J Marcus]

Wow--that's really something! What a discovery under that ugly surface! Congratulations!

To answer the question--yes, I have done some pearl peeling. In fact, some years ago, in Burlington, WA, I worked for Charles Yousling, a jeweler from Redondo Beach who referred to himself as "The Pearl Doctor." He had even made a video that demonstrated the process. Charles had a copy of the book "The Book of the Pearl" by Kunz and Stevenson which I borrowed and read. There is a good description of the process and it's history starting on page 375. In doing a little quickie research just now, I found that there is an entire copy of this rare book that one can read online! It may be found on Farlang at:
http://www.farlang.com/gemstones/kun...pearl/page_001

The page number search works oddly. This may be explained by the pages with illustrations not being numbered, though still accounting for a page in the search function. Page 375 can be found by typing in the number 446 or simply by going to:

http://www.farlang.com/gemstones/kun...pearl/page_446

There is even an illustration of peeled pearls after page 376 (search for p. 448) or:

http://www.farlang.com/gemstones/kun...pearl/page_448

For those who wish to pursue this skill, there are some interesting details in this book that will undoubtedly be of help.

Although I have experimented with some cheap pearls just to try the technique, I have found it useful in dealing with some of the abalone blister pearls that have been weathered from exposure to sun and/or rain. I have used, variously, an old style, non-throw-away scalpel, gravers, particularly flat gravers and a coulple of shaped, tool-steel, chipping tools for this purpose. The tools that NZNP showed are, I think, about ideal for this purpose. Tools with a very acute edge can be difficult to use without damaging the pearls because of their tendancy to dig in and thus penetrate and scratch the layer beneath the one being removed. Her pictured tools have a rather blunt edge, though hopefully well sharpened, that are less likely to dig in.

If any of the P.G.ers express an interest, I will see if I can contact Charles and ask if he might have some of the videos available.

[Sheila]

If any of the P.G.ers express an interest, I will see if I can contact Charles and ask if he might have some of the videos available.

I would really like to see those videos!!!

Sheila