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    Help! Baroque Natural or Cultured?

    Additional information is always helpful in an investigation. The pearl has characteristics consistent with SS pearls. It's a reasonable presumption. And yes, because the pearl has unusual, non-typical traits it may have some value added.
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    Help! Baroque Natural or Cultured?

    Agreed. The certificate is not governed by an accredited lab. Even the R-spec result is narrow and singular, which doesn't do much other than suggest some calcite present... which is typical of any pearl. Examining the xray reveals a distinct circular geometry within the structure. This is...
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    Candled Natural Pearls

    Again, very nice views. As mentioned previously, there are difficulties reading the signature when I don't have exemplars to compare. So with that, I'll draw on how a typical tissue grafted non-beaded nucleus appears. More often than not, the nucleus appears as a scroll, where mantle tissue...
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    Candled Natural Pearls

    Nice views massrog! They are very interesting. As a cursory glance, it seems apparent there is no visible geometry to suggest the presence of a shell bead nucleus. That's a good step forward. This begs the question, is it natural or cultural? To be cultured, it would likely be freshwater, but...
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    Antique natural wild pearls: an example and a mystery!

    You asked questions and invited comments. The tenets of objective science are not set aside for feelings. You were asked to support your assertion with certifiable documentation. That's not bullying, it's due diligence and a mandatory baseline for investigation. This kind of "turning tables"...
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    Antique natural wild pearls: an example and a mystery!

    Certified by whom? Can you post the accompanying documentation? You've not mentioned species, country of origin. Likewise, any tangible provenance. I would like to see other pieces and forgive my skepticism, but I don't think I've seen an authentic natural piece on eBay, ever. Not saying it...
  7. L

    Candled Natural Pearls

    https://www.pearl-guide.com/threads/candled-natural-pearls.5718/post-165193
  8. L

    Candled Natural Pearls

    I can't say I blame you, it's a tedious process. Even when already set up, it takes a long time. Especially while critical reporting where it's expected to return high resolution images on all three axis for a proper 3d rendering. Despite the somewhat rudimentary station, it's turned out to be...
  9. L

    3mm purple clam pearl

    A pretty little quahog pearl. Excellent shape and lustre. It has some value, but it's a nice keepsake too.
  10. L

    14.5 kgs Tridacna gigas "Pearl"

    A "friend" and a "gemologist" you say? On this forum, we normally divulge friends who are legitimate dealers, after all they have nothing to hide. Likewise legitimate gemologists have no problem allowing their certifications to be posted. If this monstrosity is comprised of 95% calcium, how...
  11. L

    Blistered Quahog Pearl found in NC Recommendations for cleaning and setting

    I knew of a person in France many years ago who could peel, but they only worked with restoring very fine pearls which were slightly damaged. It's not really a thing. How a pearl appears on the outside is generally an image of how a pearl appears on the inside. The species matter too...
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    Blistered Quahog Pearl found in NC Recommendations for cleaning and setting

    Unfortunately there is a huge difference between something which need cleaning opposed to that which needs peeling. Removing layers from a pearl is a difficult if not nearly impossible task. Your concern to "keep from damaging" is a valid one, however this pearl is already destroyed.
  13. L

    Transluscent Pearls😍

    A great percentage of natural pearls present as translucent, but a lesser group may appear as nearly transparent. Especially those with foliated calcite structures.
  14. L

    Any thoughts please…

    The dentist did well to attain discernible views. Agreed, although there are overlapping traits, these are in the minority. Even in well matched freshwater strands, I'd expect deviation from uniformity in a minor percentage of pieces (even high as 50%), where pearls in natural strands tend to...
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    Where to buy freshwater pearls and freshwater pearl quality

    Correct. Calcite, though not attractive in the same way aragonitic nacre may be, is very important in the early development of molluscs. While calcite is the bane of cultured pearl production, in nature it's important in juvenile and mature to over-mature individuals to maintain shell thickness...
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    Carl Linnaeaus and the invention of the cultured pearl

    He was centuries ahead of his time. Also the genesis the Linnaean taxonomy system (among other things). His work exploited the physical precipitation of aragonite in the extrapallial space using shell beads attached to silver wires. As brilliant as this was, it wasn't until Saville-Kent...
  17. L

    Natural?

    These score 10:0 cultured v natural. Not one point (even remotely) suggest natural origin.
  18. L

    Natural pearl pinctada pteria

    While I've seen lots of mantles with multiple pearls, they've been within otherwise healthy tissue. I've not seen one with such a gelatinous structure. Multiple pearls very often suggest auto-immunity, but are generally aseptic. This is not that. This mantle is atrophic, likely from a deficency...
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    Natural pearl pinctada pteria

    Douglas, outstanding! I could go on at length, but I'll save that for a single observation now. The common features being these are interpallial pearls of periostracial onset. The exception being Pearl#1. It's intervestibular of myostracial onset. One is a HUGE difference in every way from...
  20. L

    What kinds of pearls are these please?

    Though not red abalone, there are a couple of active abalone farms. Eyris Pearls for example. Likewise there are farms where abalone are raised for food. It's also possible to have originated by recreational divers, where trade in parts is not allowed. Thus nearly impossible to determine origin.
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