Natural Abalone Pearls

[GemGeek]

Looks like crystallized honey. Yeah, a hint might help!

 

[pattye]

It's a great picture of-----something!

 

[pearlescence]

a calcite nodule?

 

[Mervione]

I think it looks very gross, that's all I can say.

 

[DrTKStern]

A guess

A guess

If the magnification is several hundred x, might that be secretory tissue from oyster mantle that makes nacre?

Tom

 

[Caitlin]

Cool puzzle

Looks like it might be highly magnified abalone shell?

 

[Valeria101]

Hm... altered nacre layers in the thickened abalone shell, right? Where the little colored marvels you guys are working with form! Are you implying that there is an entire stash of images like this somewhere !?

I have been keeping up a note to self to figure out how much is known about this process, since you have first told the story of how those little pearls happen. However, so far I have not found much on the mechanism involved. Quite frankly, I am surprised this is the case given that abalone nacre formation has been investigated to death (same as Nautilus and for similar reasons - i.e. anything BUT pearl formation).

I am not sure whether any examples of pearls still nested where they have formed are recorded in a way that could motivate academic interest. And so far no publication deals with natural pearls at a technical level similar to gemology (not that I care, but it seems to motivate correspondence significantly). That's allot of gaps.

Just a thought...

 

[SteveM]

?since you have first told the story of how those little pearls happen.

I believe you refer to the apparently-cancerous shell formations found by another gentleman in NZ (posted here and published in Pearl World), among the last published studies of Dr. Grahame Brown of the Australian Gemmological Association.

?nacre formation has been investigated to death?(same as Nautilus and for similar reasons - i.e. anything BUT pearl formation).

Any links of particular interest would be greatly appreciated!

 

[KAC]

Looks like a piece of coral

Exactly what I thought - I'm really curious to find out more here??

 

[New Zealand Natural Pearl]

Thanks so much for your interest.
Yes, "Pearlesence" 100's of calcite nodules.
The day began when we cut this piece of shell
and this is what we found (These are all the same piece of shell)
Picture 1 is the nacred piece cut from shell
Picture 2 borer entered bottom more to the lower middle of picture-
Picture 3 - the explosion of 100's of natural nucleus'
It also shows an early level of nacre.
Our Theory:
When the shell borer penetrates the abalone goes into preservation mode.
Encystation takes place. The foreign bodies (as shown in picture "100's")
are entombed in nacre and sometimes fused together. This is a defensive response to the irritant i.e.
protective coating. In all blisters we have studied (borered) this evidence is
there in every case. The secretion from the shell borer could possibly be
acidic which would cause such a reaction from the animal. We do know,
in most cases the abalone wins the battle as we have found evidence of
dead shell borer. When the shell borer penetrates the foot area of the
abalone we get an eruption of small nucleus which can be entangled in
the foot of the abalone. Some remain intact others become freeform.
We have photographs to back this which we can post.

 

[New Zealand Natural Pearl]

Better Photos of the Shell Borer Penetration area [/ATTACH]

 

[SteveM]

Yes these formations are precisely as studied by Dr. Brown, discovered and presented by Mr. Lou Hill. I seem to recall from reading the report that the affected shells were collected along a particular stretch of beach, and that such shell clusters were considered by Dr. Brown to be a rare anomaly?one he had not seen prior to Lou's discovery.

Given the wealth of conveniently (read: relatively affordable) small freeform abs in NZ Natural Pearl's inventory, might we assume that there are alternate mechanisms in play?

 

[New Zealand Natural Pearl]

Yes these formations are precisely as studied by Dr. Brown, discovered and presented by Mr. Lou Hill. I seem to recall from reading the report that the affected shells were collected along a particular stretch of beach, and that such shell clusters were considered by Dr. Brown to be a rare anomaly?one he had not seen prior to Lou's discovery.

Given the wealth of conveniently (read: relatively affordable) small freeform abs in NZ Natural Pearl's inventory, might we assume that there are alternate mechanisms in play?

Yes, we had lots of conversations with Dr Graeme Brown before his
death, a very knowlegable man. These shells can be found anywhere
along our coasts. No Steve, there wont be any alternate mechanisms
in play - TOO HARD and the nacre is never as good as the natural
nacre of a natural pearl.
Here is a great shot of a shell Borer's hole

 

[SteveM]

Yes, we had lots of conversations with Dr Graeme Brown before his
death, a very knowlegable man. These shells can be found anywhere
along our coasts. No Steve, there wont be any alternate mechanisms
in play - TOO HARD and the nacre is never as good as the natural
nacre of a natural pearl.

By alternate mechanisms, I mean the creation of the small freeforms that offer such enhanced versatility for jewelry application. Do these smaller pearls uniquely originate in shell cluster formations or are they also found randomly?

 

[New Zealand Natural Pearl]

Thanks Steve -
Hope this answers lots of questions .

THE ACCIDENT OF NATURAL PEARL PRODUCTION.


There is little doubt, Natural Pearl Production, happens by accident.

The Culprits are shell boring polychaete worms. They are
squatters or hitchhikers who specialize in dwelling on shell fish.

These worms settle on and bore into, the live outer shell, as a safe
place to hide whilst taking advantage of the water flow created by
the abalone. They are not interested in the abalone flesh since
there food is planktonic particles captured in water.

The rare accident occurs when the borer penetrates the inner shell.
At this point, foreign bodies are released and are immediately
entombed in calcite and this is the basis of freeform natural abalone
pearls. Most of these entombed nucleus are discarded. Some get
attached to the shell and are embedded. Some of them
attach themselves to the foot area (shell base muscle attachment).
They either form clusters, doubles or stay singular. (photo attached)
As the nacre lays up on these pearls, they show signs of becoming
baroque in shape. We think this is due to the nature of the abalone
as we have observed thousands of pearls and have discovered that:-
smaller pearls are rounder
larger pearls to be more baroque in shape

.
Clusters doubles singles

 

[purlgurl]

Check that out! There are some there (top left side) with distinctly different colours in individual parts of the cluster. Does that depend on the prevailing conditions when that particular layer of nacre was laid down? Then why wasn't that colour laid down on all of that cluster? The mystery.... How stunning! Thanks for showing us.

 

[SteveM]

The rare accident occurs when the borer penetrates the inner shell.At this point, foreign bodies are released and are immediately entombed in calcite and this is the basis of freeform natural abalone pearls. Most of these entombed nucleus are discarded. Some get attached to the shell and are embedded. Some of them attach themselves to the foot area (shell base muscle attachment). They either form clusters, doubles or stay singular. (photo attached) As the nacre lays up on these pearls, they show signs of becoming baroque in shape. We think this is due to the nature of the abalone as we have observed thousands of pearls and have discovered that:-smaller pearls are rounder larger pearls to be more baroque in shape.

The level of understanding and appreciation for freeform abs must have just blasted into orbit?

 

[GemGeek]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and even better, more photographs!

 

[pattye]

The level of understanding and appreciation for freeform abs must have just blasted into orbit…

ditto and thanks!

 

[New Zealand Natural Pearl]

Thanks for the kind words. Next week some great photos
on the blister & Worms.
Anyway, are any of you into TENNIS I love Serena and I
hope she wins. Its time someone got some huge golden
south sea pearls around her neck. It would be a
great advertisment for pearls jumping around HER neck.Or
a great abalone conical could spurr her on!!
Have a good weekend.