Sorry for the delayed answer, have been busy lately...
Yup, you see Badjao were used in the 70's and the 80's but the seabed along Jolo has been mostly depleted till the late 90's, off course you can still find shell (and not uniquely in jolo's area) in the rp's but this picture is definitely a pinctada maxima and i have seen a few millions of them...
Usually wild shells have a thick umbo, and a dorso-ventral vs anterior-posterior ratio that is much closer to 1 than with hatchery shells.
There are not a lot of hatcheries in the rp's, and those pic of yours are pretty cool.
Those are valuable.
Are you based in the rp's?
Yup, you see Badjao were used in the 70's and the 80's but the seabed along Jolo has been mostly depleted till the late 90's, off course you can still find shell (and not uniquely in jolo's area) in the rp's but this picture is definitely a pinctada maxima and i have seen a few millions of them...
Usually wild shells have a thick umbo, and a dorso-ventral vs anterior-posterior ratio that is much closer to 1 than with hatchery shells.
There are not a lot of hatcheries in the rp's, and those pic of yours are pretty cool.
Those are valuable.
Are you based in the rp's?