Weird Pearl Shapes I've only Seen on Ebay

[rxtst12]

Can across a lot of very confusing pearls on ebay

Circles:



Butterflies:



Flowers:



Crescent Moons:



Square Crosses:



Rhombus:



Rectangles:



Pears:



Christian crosses (YEEOUCH):



Holy Schnitzel.

I've never seen anything quite like these in department stores. Does anyone know how these shapes are made? How is this even possible? Are these sold anywhere else than ebay? Are there other weird shapes out there? Does anyone else have pearls with specific shapes? Don't oysters get hurt by the shapes (especially that cross!)? Is so, are these shapes ethical?

 

[pearlescence]

I can't see the pix (invalid) but I'm guessing that these are mostly bead nucleated - think coin pearls but with different shaped beads. The're all available.
There are other many other shapes.

 

[rxtst12]

It's fixed now.

Though, are these sold anywhere else?

 

[Lady_Disdain]

You can find this kind of pearl in Rio Grande, Ottofrei, FireMountain, etc. Except for coins, you will find these novelty shapes in vendors more geared towards the beading community and not the higher end market.

 

[rxtst12]

You can find this kind of pearl in Rio Grande, Ottofrei, FireMountain, etc. Except for coins, you will find these novelty shapes in vendors more geared towards the beading community and not the higher end market.

Oh, okay, Thank you. Never knew that. Do those places sell them at higher quality? Like better surfaces and such?

 

[Lady_Disdain]

I am not sure. I am not really into these shapes so I never looked much into them. I know you can get better quality coin shaped pearls (Kojima has a fantastic strand - http://kojimapearl.myshopify.com/products/stunning-rare-bubblegum-coin-pearl-strand) and perhaps the rectangles and laurel leaf shape.