Any removal in this case will make it so you have to label the pearl as "worked" since it will alter the shape. There is also a good chance that as you polish it, you may reveal more of what I think might be concholin. I would leave it as is.
Going to 2nd Jeremy advice, I have a couple abalone pearls that are large, one i think around 70cts and the other is a hundred and something. I definitely didn't pay that much for them. I honestly think the $20-50/ct range is more realistic as a wholesale selling price and that's probably a...
As an amateur photographer. It's actually quite easy to make the pearls look like the professional photographs. You simply need a photobox. The photobox I use brings out all of the colours in the Tahitian pearls. The photobox eliminates a lot of the shadowing, and illuminates the pearls from all...
I read that Gems and gemmology article when I was in Tucson. That photo was in Ken's powerpoint when they were showing how 3D xray radiography could be used to examine nuclei instead of sawing a pearl in half.
I always thought there was the possibility that the mantle tissue from a parasite/predator could cause nucleation. I've always wondered why some mollusc's could produce different coloured pearls when their shell only has one colour. From example, I have a light brown tridacna pearl, but I...
Sorry I don't know any retail sites for keshi, I see them any tradeshows but usually they aren't what I'm searching for. Enrique has really nice Sea of Cortez keshi.
If you are just collecting, what comes to mind is:
http://thepearlcollector.com/
and
http://www.karipearls.com/
If you are in the trade then there are some other sources but you will require a resale number.
Question for all of the trade experts. I was looking at my collection of non-nacreous natural pearls and it became very obvious which ones had been polished and which ones hadn't. It made me think why hasn't any of the dealers ever mentioned the polishing. Then I started reading through the...
My guess would be around $200-300 dollars for the pearl, it is only a guess though or at least that's mostly likely what I would pay for a similar pearl. If it was a deep purple with a more even coloration, it would probably receive a higher value.