my gorgeous collection.

[lollylouise26]

i got these pearls all from cornwall pearl, all but one have been catogorised by colour apart from one where noone can tell me the colour. can anyone help x

its the little one at the front its 6.5mm and its a weird browny/reddy/purple colour with some silver

[pearlescence]

Hi and welcome to the forum
I'm not sure exactly what you are asking. From the photo I would guess that it is part f the spectrum which is classed as a black pearl - black pearls seldom are actually black in colour.
What sizes are these pearls roughly and may I ask how you came upon these single loose pearls?

[jshepherd]

From the photos, which are a bit difficult to see, they appear to be small akoya pearls. The dark are most likely color-treated, and there is a good chance the golden ones are too.

[lollylouise26]

they come from tahitian and akoya oysters and another one which i am unsure of. the gold one is one of twins. the smallest is 5.5mm and the largest is 8.5mm went to a pick a pearl place in cornwall uk where they opened the oysters and produced them from the pearl sack.

[Bodecia]

Hi and welcome lollylouise26,

Is Cornwall Pearl a shop specialising in selling pearls and pearl jewellery? Write down what you know about them as relying on memory as your collection grows can be a problem. Any chance of some better photos. Taken on white kitchen paper if possible. That helps show pearls up exactly as they really are. Black is not a good background. Most colours aren't for photos.

Dawn
http://shop.ebay.com/dawncee333/m.html
Pearl lover and Natural Pearl collector

[pearlescence]

I followed the website for Cornwall pearl and it goes directly to Jersey pearl which runs a 'wish pearl' operation....
did they tell you the dark pearl (size about 6mm?) was a tahitian pearl or a tahitian black pearl?

[CortezPearls]

6 mm Tahitian pearls (black or otherwise)?!?!?!? Sounds like dyed freshwater pearl to me...

[Caitlin]

they come from tahitian and akoya oysters and another one which i am unsure of. the gold one is one of twins. the smallest is 5.5mm and the largest is 8.5mm went to a pick a pearl place in cornwall uk where they opened the oysters and produced them from the pearl sack.

That open the oyster in front of you trick and all its variations like buy it in a can, etc. are carnival tricks. They are tourist gimmicks. It is meant to be fun and a souvenir. They are always fake operations. the pearl is always an inexpensive, but pretty, (usually freshwater) pearl worth a couple of pennies. Still they are real cultured pearls, not fake pearls (At least I hope not!!!)

[pattye]

Probably a rather expensive way to collect a pearl, and one doesn't have the fun of picking what color or size they will receive. The pearl which has previously been harvested has been reinserted into a "pickled" mollusk, not the original host, and canned!

Lollylouise, it's wonderful that you have discovered the beauty of pearls, but perhaps you will find some other ways of shopping for pearls as you learn here on the forum !

[pearlescence]

I'm glad you have all chipped in. My heart sinks when I am contacted by someone who has been to one of these wretched operations. It is such a flim-flam - is it snake oil that you Americans call it? I did hear of one where they go diving off some pier over there, into the sea, to fish these things up. More of a show I suppose.
They say all sorts - once I was told in all seriousness that the green cfp which had come out of one of these pearls was green because the oyster was sick....
I'm sorry that you have been mislead about these pearls. The mollusc is pickled and long dead and the pearl is seeded. The whole thing costs about USD 50cents from China. Treat them as souvenirs of days out and enjoy them as that, but unfortunately they are most probably simply smallish freshwater pearls, presumably undrilled. If you like I can drill them and mount them for you to deomonstrate that there are honest pearl folk around

[lollylouise26]

Thanks for all your replies, i am not so much bothered by that i am fascinated by the colours. They oysters are obviously not the original host as many have said but they have come out of the oyster rather than a clam shaped shell like a lot of other wish pearls. as i bought a wish pearl in a can thing and the shells they come in are completely different and the ones i got in a can werent round unlike the ones above and the pearls are just there whereas in the oyster u had to feel about for them but regardless of their origin they are beautiful, i am only young so dont have the money to buy real ones. the ones i have are genuine cultured pearls. i kinda thought the darker ones were dyed due to the fact the colouring of them is unheard of naturally and they are almost tiedied in certain lights, where as my silver/pink and standard silver are flawless. the golds also dont look dyed but if they are its a very good job. i am silly i did pay £16.99 for these to be opened my whites (5.5mm) valued at £16 and the biggest 8mm at £68.50. again regardless of the origin they are very pretty.

Wendy what kind of settings do you do as i am interested in a earrings setting for my twins.

[pearlescence]

Hi
Contact me direct and we can make a plan wendyat pearlescence.co.uk)