What happened to my pearl

The surface of the pearl seems to have fallen off. Is this common? Was it caused by me or was there something wrong with the pearl?

It looks like the nacre was thin on the akoya pearl, and peeled off. What you see is the shell bead nucleus underneath.

If you care enough about the ring to pay for repairs, you could have the pearl replaced with a small freshwater pearl instead, which has no bead inside. If you do that, I'd have both pearls replaced at the same time so they match.

Pearl Dreams said:

It looks like the nacre was thin on the akoya pearl, and peeled off. What you see is the shell bead nucleus underneath.

If you care enough about the ring to pay for repairs, you could have the pearl replaced with a small freshwater pearl instead, which has no bead inside. If you do that, I'd have both pearls replaced at the same time so they match.

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I'm thinking of replacing the pearls with different gemstones as this is my engagement ring and I wear if every day. I read that this happens often with pearls, I wish I looked into them before deciding on what I wanted and I don't want to keep replacing the pearls.

I was going to ask if you wore this ring every day. It looks like you've worn the nacre right off the shell bead nucleus. The pearls have been loved to death (and I mean that in a nice way!).

Did you remove your ring for washing dishes and doing cleaning? If not, then the detergents and chemicals could have eaten away at the pearl nacre, too. There's a reason most engagement rings are diamonds or sapphires. They're the hardest stones. I wear my pearl rings on special occasions only, and remove them to wash my hands. I agree that you should replace the pearls with harder gemstones if you're going to wear the ring every day.

My aunt used to swim every day, and the chlorine in the the pool water disintegrated the gold alloy of her wedding ring. So it's not just pearls that are going to be dissolved by chemicals. Remove your rings when washing your hands or cleaning anything.

Other stones would be better able to withstand daily wear, yes.

And yes, chemicals can be very hard on gold. I once worked at a therapeutic pool and didn't realize the chlorine would eat away at the gold. I had to have repairs done on the prongs of my engagement ring. I could have lost the diamond.

BWeaves said:

I was going to ask if you wore this ring every day. It looks like you've worn the nacre right off the shell bead nucleus. The pearls have been loved to death (and I mean that in a nice way!).

Did you remove your ring for washing dishes and doing cleaning? If not, then the detergents and chemicals could have eaten away at the pearl nacre, too. There's a reason most engagement rings are diamonds or sapphires. They're the hardest stones. I wear my pearl rings on special occasions only, and remove them to wash my hands. I agree that you should replace the pearls with harder gemstones if you're going to wear the ring every day.

My aunt used to swim every day, and the chlorine in the the pool water disintegrated the gold alloy of her wedding ring. So it's not just pearls that are going to be dissolved by chemicals. Remove your rings when washing your hands or cleaning anything.

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Yes, I do remove it when I wash dishes/hands or shower. I'm assuming this happened because of work, or I just hit my hand on something. I'm quite disappointed that I'll have to change it up now as I've grown attached but it's better for to change the pearls than to not wear my ring every day as it's become an extension of my hand

Is that a sapphire or amethyst? A couple of very nice round diamonds would accent it nicely and would fit where the pearls are now.

It's an amethyst

Keep in mind:
Amethyst is a fairly durable gemstone with a hardness of 7.0 on the Mohs Hardness Scale.
The difference in hardness between adjacent numbers is not consistent. For example, diamond is significantly harder than corundum, although both are at the top end of the scale.
Diamond, 10; Corundum, 9; Topaz, 8; Quartz, 7; Orthoclase, 6; Apatite, 5; Flourite, 4; Calcite, 3; Gypsum, 2; and Talc, 1.
So your Amethyst will get scratched over time as it is also a more fragile gemstone. There are services offered that will repolish it but if you wear it every day it will become more and more scratched, and could even chip if you hit it against something.
It is a very nice ring and it sounds like it is also a very sentimental ring.

Yes, amethyst is generally considered hard enough for daily wear, with a Mohs hardness of 7. This means it's relatively durable and resistant to scratching, but it's still advisable to take some precautions to avoid damage, especially if the stone is worn frequently or in jewelry.

Elaboration:

• Hardness:
  Amethyst's Mohs hardness of 7 places it in the durable category, making it suitable for daily wear in jewelry like rings, bracelets, and necklaces.
  
  
• Durability:
  While durable, amethyst is more prone to scratching and chipping than harder gemstones like diamonds or sapphires.
  
  • Avoid exposing the stone to harsh chemicals or cleaning products.
    
    
  • Be cautious when using or storing jewelry, as impacts can damage the stone.
    
    
  • Protect the stone from prolonged exposure to sunlight, as it can cause the color to fade.
    
    
  • Consider bezel or other protective settings for rings, which can help shield the stone from scratches.
    
    
  • Regularly clean and inspect the jewelry to ensure there are no cracks or other damage.

Amethyst is quartz.
Quartz is very, very common in the environment, and dust often includes quartz particles. So any ring with a quartz stone that is worn most of the time is bound to come in contact with lots of dust. Over time the stone is more likely to show wear.

Maybe for an anniversary you could get a pearl ring? Which you could wear selectively, not all the time.

The nacre of these pearls are way too thin even by the standard of Akoya pearls. So thin that even without peeling, they are showing the colour of the shell bead underneath while lacking the mirror-like reflections typically found in Akoyas.

By the way, are they half-pearls? I rarely heard of cultured Akoya half-pearls, so if they are instead sawn in half, then peeling could start from the edge over time, which appears to be happening to the other pearl judging by its look in the first photo.

Pearl Dreams said:

Amethyst is quartz.
Quartz is very, very common in the environment, and dust often includes quartz particles. So any ring with a quartz stone that is worn most of the time is bound to come in contact with lots of dust. Over time the stone is more likely to show wear.

Maybe for an anniversary you could get a pearl ring? Which you could wear selectively, not all the time.

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Generally speaking, gemstones with a 7 or above in Mohs scale are considered durable enough for daily wear, and quartz dust free floating in the air shouldn't be a big problem unless you are talking about the time frame of decades. I mean, if people are wearing pearls daily (Mohs hardness 2.5) without worrying the dust dulling them, then wearing amethyst/quartz (Mohs hardness 7) should be even less worrisome.

Yes, the this is technically one pearl split in half. I'm now begining to be disappointed with the jeweller as he shouldn't have allowed this/advised my fiance something else instead of pearls.

nik2004 said:

Yes, the this is technically one pearl split in half. I'm now begining to be disappointed with the jeweller as he shouldn't have allowed this/advised my fiance something else instead of pearls.

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Oh, that is probably the reason the nacre peels off so fast. Nacre is made of layers of aragonite crystals "glued" together by proteins secreted by the pearl oyster. Every layer of the structure is exposed when the pearl is cut in half, which means the moisture, oil and sweat on the skin can attack all the layers of crystal and protein from there.

The popularity of pearls has dwindled for some time and nowadays people pay much less attention to pearls compared to more popular gemstones, so I don't expect jewellers, especially those relatively new or not in the fine jewellery trade, to be very knowledgeable in pearl jewellery. Stores specialised in selling pearls are much better in this regard, and a good store could recommend you pearl jewellery at whatever price range you find comfortable but are still in high quality and long-lasting with proper care.

Edit: forgot to mention, it is best to avoid eBay, Etsy and (God forbid) Facebook, especially as someone who is new to pearl and/or online shopping. Not saying that there is no honest seller setting up shop there, but for every honest seller, there are probably 10 scummy ones who try to scam you with low quality pearls, imitations or simply take the money and run away.

Re: dust, I was not referring to dust floating in the air, but of dust that settles on surfaces, which any person who cleans and dusts their home will contact with their hands, dustrags etc. This will affect rings over time, not necklaces-- and a ring worn all the time for decades will be affected more than a ring worn occasionally or removed when one does housecleaning chores.
Or, wear gloves when doing those chores.

Pearl Dreams said:

Re: dust, I was not referring to dust floating in the air, but of dust that settles on surfaces, which any person who cleans and dusts their home will contact with their hands, dustrags etc. This will affect rings over time, not necklaces-- and a ring worn all the time for decades will be affected more than a ring worn occasionally or removed when one does housecleaning chores.
Or, wear gloves when doing those chores.

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Well, if you are talking about gemstones that are expected to be worn for life without changing or re-polishing, then yes, micro-scratches from dust could be a concern. That said, I would say doing chores is one of those activities that should have the ring taken off regardless of the gemstone or metal it uses. I find that people are oftentimes not very mindful about the jewellery they are wearing, more so when they are wearing something usually viewed as "durable", e.g. diamonds and sapphires; yes, they might not be scratched by dust, but one careless swing and you can kiss your diamond shards goodbye.

On a side note, it is much better to wipe the dust down with a damp cloth (cut off the electricity to the appliances before wiping), or use a vacuum cleaner instead of a dry rag or a duster. Not only reduce the risk of scratching gemstones but also better to the health.