Recent content by Lagoon Island Pearls

Saltwater and both are affected because the crystal class/type are the same.

Scallop pearls are the most common pearl on the east coast, probably all of Canada. The scallop industry on the whole is huge, hence the occurrence of these is considered common. They differ slightly from highly nacreous pearls, instead highly foliated pearls. Some may call that non-nacreous...

I found some. I have others, but will check for others and get images in better light. Some of the deep purple is retained on a couple of pieces, but the lovely violet overtones faded to pink or white.

There is one thing about my purple pearls that separate them from the others. In almost every scenario, the purple colour presents on the whitest pearls only. This happens at the flats spots and immediate proximity to other pearls. The more coloured pearls have no purple spots. The reason...

I'm not sure this is a fix insomuch as a countermeasure because fading takes a long time. Older mollusks produce slightly thicker nacre so it stands to reason this would be a good first approach to the problem. Likewise, discontinuing post harvest treatments are also a good measure. Fading is a...

So if it's not a pearl it's an emerald then? Emeralds do not occur in Quartzite. Emeralds (and most corundum, tourmaline, garnet, beryl) are associated with pegmatites which are igneous rocks. Quartzite is a metamorphic mineral.

Minerals vary widely in specific gravity. From 2 to 20 on average, which is a huge range difference. There is no such thing as "the same like a rock".

These are interesting strands, if you can call them that. More like temporary stringing on monofilament. Size graduation is typical. Individually drilled, mostly on the Z axis with some exceptions. The color is balanced, mainly butter white with some red shift (likely ambient source). Highly...

When pearls are in settings, it's difficult to get complete views of each object. My scoring system does much help here either, because many of the points are masked by the settings. I'd definitely like to see other images from aside and the backs. The pearls present with smooth, uniform...

Quartzite, not a pearl.

It does not appear to be a pearl, instead a broken fragment of shell.

Yes, thank you for pointing that out. And yes a weathered piece. Umbo (strombus perhaps). Natural grinding in absence of tool marks.

It is a pearl. However other than a slight pink(ish) touch on < 10% of the surface, it's insufficient to support strombus origin. While conch pearls often express with chatoyancy, the slight flame patterns at the edges of this piece more resembles that of Giant Clam (Tridacna gigas). Likewise...

It's an akoya pearl which judging by the surrounding structure is definitely attached to the shell naturally. It's a cultured pearl and the shell has been cleaned up at the edges. Ornamental value only.

In the 90s, 400/oz was still a lot of money. Clasps have different parts which need to be fit for assembly. A run of gold findings commissioned by Mikimoto seem much more likely than a one-off to merely copy a Miki clasp. Being good quality gold, the post may been to thin/soft and bent or...