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Porcelanous/Porcellanous/Porcelaineous. I was going to include the third English spelling option but was afraid of too many slashes! In all due respect, I do not think it is clear to anyone but a biomaterial scientist (and that does not include me!) about the nature of nacre vs. porcelaineous...

The point is that nacreous refers to all mollusk shell construction resulting from an organic process preceding and directing tablet and fibre crystallization? I just looked up etymology for nacre and among its possible origins is the Arabic naqur (hunting horn), the shape of a mollusk shell...

The assertion is effectively and empirically refuted. It seems as though it comes down to who has the burden of proof (as in a court of law), the gemmological sector having reached its conclusions. We need to organize!

Dave, You will be anticipating this post… Below is a report from Nature (10/17/1912) regarding the pearl gifted to T.H. Haynes (pioneering Australian pearler) by the Sultanate of Sulu in 1884. As all such reports over the centuries of pearls from the 'pearly' Nautilus, it was porcelanous and...

Is this the interpretation of FW shell beads from mussel? While colorless and non-iridescent, they are regarded as nacreous and thus compatible as nuclei (although now it seems the range of successful nucleus material is wider than long thought). Is an argument in favor of the existence of...

Fantastic post! On the above statement, where would 'highly aragonitic' fit in? I'm thinking about non-nacreous aragonite/calcite microstructure generally referenced as crossed-lamellar and characteristic of the 'flame' phenomenon. No doubt my thinking could use updating…

A new forum was indeed created: This new forum was launched without fanfare and has yet to be discovered or utilized in any significant way. Scientific and what might be called 'existential' posts naturally occur in the course of a thread. But there are times that a subject may merit a thread...

Dave, thanks for the compliment! As hinted in a prior post the assembly has been successful in large part as an expression of the pearls themselves, versus following some preconceived notion. The execution is masterful, as the settings remain subservient to the pearls. I can't tell you how many...

As for a second opinion, lab certifications are only of value for verification of natural origin, along with informed species conjecture. Neither is applicable in your case. In my view some researcher should be offering you a cost-free avenue for studying the specimen in a non-destructive manner.

Agree, hoping to see an exterior point of entry image. It's easier to imagine an external onset as otherwise you'd think the oyster would have found some way to expel the irritation. Makes me gag looking at it! Very interesting surface, everyone should take a close look. Any speculation on age?

Closure for the Alex Collins Poe Pipi lot project! As a quick reminder, here is an image of the pearl material: 1) 110 carats Poe Pipi collected by Alex Collins in the Tuamotus; and 2) a hank of 3mm Poe Pipi collected years ago for an abandoned project, serendipitously in the hands of our chosen...

Just to answer myself here, measured blister dimensions and cubic density of the shell material would provide the resulting estimate.

Agree best in a trophy case. That oyster went through decades of pure agony! How would WGI have determined the blister's weight? You express disappointment that it is not a pearl, yet WGI certifies it as a Blister Pearl in their report (?). In any case, as has been exposed in other recent...

Clearly you ran across an elite-level purveyor of conch pearls. The flame phenomenon of porcelanous pearls, in its various manifestations, is far less predictable than the qualities we appreciate in nacreous pearls, and more exhilirating as a result.

Yes that pearl has intense color and will go a long way in a setting. Conchs work well with diamonds as the color is infectious and the diamonds illuminate the flame in return. A shame to hide any part of the pearl given the carat value, I've often wondered whether some sort of reflective base...

This thread enjoys your universal and enigmatic title. I am reminded of a college Music History professor (also British), who at the end of each class would ask "Are there any questions?" The smartass trombonist in the last row (may he rest in peace) would unfailingly reply "Are there any...

The author of the previously-cited work with the concentric laminar pearl fossil images appears to be a viable headliner for such an event:

Would love to.

Will the museum plan to section or try CT to determine interior structure?

Fossilized cyst pearls displaying concentric growth, preserved upon attachment to the shell of a species belonging to Conulariida, a family related to jellyfish, known for its hard conical/rectangular form, extinct for over 200 million years. Wiki gives the original pre-aragonite carbonate...