Found mysterious possible pearl help ?

[Beachbum]

hey everyone; i found this on a very secluded beach in south eastern australia. I cant stop thinking that its some kind of pearl. i have attached two pictures to this to see if anyone has seen anything like it. At first glance in the sand it looked as though it were a marble. after picking it up and cleaning what looked to be corral off it i seen 2 small things inside it. I have looked at hundreds of pictures of pearls and i cant find anything to resemble it. it appears yellow but i think its from the sea and sand. possibly a way to clean it up maybe get it polished?? Well let me know ! thanks a lot!

[Caitlin]

That is interesting.
Can you take more photos from different angles and backgrounds?
So far, it looks like a clear marble that has aged in the sun and soil. They get that iridescent patina, but that is just a guess.
My second guess is that is is a mustika. Which it may be just by virtue of the way you found it. It is a kind of magical orb, in any case.

[jshepherd]

It is somewhat transparent. It's not a pearl. It's most likely a piece of glass.

[pattye]

Very cool item! Does it seem heavy or light for its size? Do you have a way to look at the surface and what's inside under magnification, such as with a loupe or magnifying glass?

[Pearl Dreams]

Looks like a marble to me! Weathered and aged, but glass.

[R&B]

I'll back the glass theory.

[Amanda]

Glass can get really smoothed by the action of the sea, over time. Personally, I think it can be absolutely beautiful. The scratches on this one make me think "glass", too.

[Beachbum]

Its light in weight glass would be a bit heavier. I can not think of it as being just a peice of perfectly round glass found on a deserted beach. I can bring it somewhere when im in the city next im sure; would just be cool to find out what it is. Can it be cleaned up some how ?

[Beachbum]

I can definetly take more pictures possibly with a higher resolution camera. The pictures do little to show what i see and it is light in weight as compared to a big playing marble. Definetly does not feel like glass when i do the tooth test. Do you know anyway to clean it up ?

[Caitlin]

I would love to see more pix. It is not cold like glass?

Why do you want to clean it? Is there mud of something on it? Soap and water would be ok, but why don't you wait?

One thing I can say is that nature never produces a perfect sphere. Nor a translucent perfect sphere.

But the sea gives up unusual things. A couple of months ago a women found a pearl necklace on the sea floor. Some thought maybe a mermaid left it for her.

Whatever it is, it is a great story and a beautiful object.

[Alex]

reminds me a bit of Roman glass when it first comes out of the ground (usually sand, which causes the patina, as the chemical deposits from the sand are effectively baked onto the glass)

yours was probably originally green glass

these would have been blue originally

[Caitlin]

Can you weigh it? what is the diameter?

I don't think plastic would get a patina, nor amber, if by chance a round, clear, amber bead with no hole in it could make it to that remote beach, it would not build a patina. Only glass does that to my knowledge.

In any case, that patina should be preserved by not messing with it.

[Beachbum]

Can you weigh it? what is the diameter?

I don't think plastic would get a patina, nor amber, if by chance a round, clear, amber bead with no hole in it could make it to that remote beach, it would not build a patina. Only glass does that to my knowledge.

In any case, that patina should be preserved by not messing with it.

Hey there; it weighs just 8 grams and its probably around 20-25mm in size. does not feel like glass to the touch but its definetly weathered; it seems way to light in weight to be an old glass marble or any type of glss i could think of.

[Pearl Dreams]

So could it be a hard type of plastic? There are a great many different plastics.

[Amanda]

An 8 gram natural round pearl over 2 cm in size is vanishingly unlikely.