Pinked or punk'd?

[Adeline Leigh]

My first month as a seller has taught me countless things about buyers on Etsy including how they seem to want 18mm matched and flawless teardrop Chinese freshwater pearls (at my price point, impossible, and one lady actually got all miffed when I gently suggested faux or shell pearls instead.) And another thing some want; for me to guarantee that the gemstones or pearls have not been treated or dyed or coloured in any way. (Again an almost next to impossible task considering how almost everything is irradiated at my price point, but I will try).

Which leads me to asking your opinion on these. If you look at the freshwater pearls below, do you see evidence of them being 'pinked' or treated? (No eviednce of dye when I examine down the drillhole). And could you help me to identufy the strange roundish pillow of a pearl? Anyone seen more like it?
- Set 1 of pearls: 20mm mauve-lavender-pink keshi baroque pearls
- Set 2 of pearls: 15-19mm peach-pink-silver roundish pearls (WHAT ARE THEY? They are shaped like little pillows and are thick 10-12mm with the STRANGEST creases near the drillhole, like they were forced into this shape during their growth hence the dimples and creases).

And thanks in advance for the responses as I would like to be as honest as I can. My supplier insists they are natural but the pinks that are showing up in the pictures make me a tad suspicious...

[pearlescence]

If they are fretting about irradiated pearls they are d u m b and know nothings who think everything irradiated means they will have a nuclear bomb around their necks.
Same with dyed or treated gemstones. many of even the poshest gems are treated (heat, fissure sealing etc etc)

[Caitlin]

They are all lovely pearls! They sure don't look treated. If treatments made them look that way, they'd all be treated!!!

[Lulu]

Oh, Adeline, sigh... look at those lovelies. Who would care if those were treated?! So beautiful.

[Pearl Dreams]

The colors are fantastic, and now I have to try photographing my pearls under water!

[pattye]

1. I'd be surprised if these are keshi, but certainly cultured freshwater.

I suspect these all have a "coin" type nucleus of some sort. Lovely natural colors IMHO. They have been left in the water long enough to have a thick nacre buildup~
When I have a strand of whatever kind of pearls, if I'm curious about what's in there, I put one of the least nice ones in a plastic bag and smash it!

[Amanda]

They are very lovely indeed.

[jewelcullens]

Wow, I definitely wouldn't say no to those. Would it be rude to ask for a ballpark figure?

[Ash]

Adeline,

Those sure are some lovelies!

Cheers

[Adeline Leigh]

Thanks for chiming in everyone. Your views are greatly appreciated. I like these pearls and would love to know more about them.

Pattye, I'm going to find the ugliest one in the lot and smash it as an experiment, but to what degree of smithereens should I be aiming for? With a hammer? Against a floor? To a mass (errr, mess) of chips or just enough to expose the nucleus?

[Amrita]

Gorgeous pearls Adeline! You are right it is definitely impossible to guarantee that they are not treated in some way along their journey from shell to market..I love your pictures too.

[pattye]

Adeline,

Ahem, you will no doubt develop your own smashing technique, but I use hammer on concrete (pearl in plastic baggie). Start gently, then increase force, until you are satisfied. I am curious about what you will reveal. You may be surprised how tough pearls are~

[kelluvpearls]

I am curious about the watermelon tourmaline pair that was on your website before? They looked pretty perfect, do you know if they were treated and if they are real?

[Adeline Leigh]

Kelluvpearls, alas the Brazilian WT slices were sold to one furtive buyer, a jeweller who was buying on behalf of a client off-Etsy. I've collected watermelon tourmaline for more than a decade now and what drew me to it as an amateur was the fact that there are few red flags about watermelon tourmalines and definitely no widespread synthesizing of watermelon tourmalines (as of yet). On the subject of treatments whether it may be gems or pearls, like what Wendy has said, enhancement is an accepted standard within the industry. Some of the more pale stones can be subjected to heat treatment or irridiation to further enhance the color. It also may be oiled to obscure inclusions. And to be able to stand behind the gems and declare that there's no treatment whatsoever would mean obtaining a lab cert that would definitely add on another '0' (or two) behind the current price tag. Hope that helps

Not at all, Jewelcullens, ballpark $22 onwards. Sneak peeks are on the Etsy site now. Mr Sun is not cooperating with me this weekend, hope it'll be better tmr. Tropical squalls

Pattye, had to laugh, technique indeed. You can bet I'd be PM-ing when I'm ready to put hammer to pearl. And to clarify just so I'm certain, the reason I'd be doing this is... to uncover the type of nucleus, right? You can bet I'll do a show-and-tell on PG after.

Amrita, Ash, Amanda, Lulu, Caitlin and Pearl Dreams: Thank you, I'm having a major crush. I'm really hoping the industry will never stop on their production of these. If only they kept better records (that'll be akin to sharing trade secrets, I guess) to help us understand the newer pearls. All my supplier could say is these seldom come by.

And Wendy, oh I have learnt lots. LOTS. Thanks for the tips Luckily, most buyers are really sweet and earnest... All I can say is, I have newfound respect for all wait and retail staff

[GemGeek]

I can't wait to see the crushee! Please take step by step photos during the process - not just before and after if possible. Cool!