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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...

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...

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.

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

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...

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...

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...

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

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...

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...

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.

It looks like a red abalone pearl, formed within a mantle perforation. It's very typical in this species. Without tangible provenance, it's impossible to determine natural or cultural origin as this phenomenon has been observed and described in either setting.

Not Fijian, nor bead nucleated, sorry to say. These are dyed on the string freshwater pearls.

This is a cool specimen. I've never seen one so clearly defined on two axis. I would speculate the sac was partially prolapsed for two or three growth cycles then because it was slightly oblong, shifted 90 degrees. Perhaps the perforation progressed toward the end or as you've suggested a minor...

All indeed among factors which cause acute partial prolapse and subsequent regeneration of the pearl sac giving rise to a high rate of single circles. Chronic or recurring prolapses may cause multiple circles. In fact, healthy over-growth rates which cause pearls to form too quickly may prolapse...

So very sorry to hear this news. Mikkey was a fine man.

I think this is chemical damage too. Perhaps a combination of chemical and humidity damage. Leather is extremely porous, containing microscopic holes which absorb moisture from the surrounding air, likewise passing moisture to other items during higher humidity. Instead of whiteness from...

The pearls appear to be from the orient while the manufacturing seems East Indian. Japan began producing freshwater pearls in 1935 and peaked in 1971. Triangle mussels were hybridized in the 50's and used by Chinese farmers to fill the gap created by failing ecosystems in Japan. The shape...

I'm impressed you've candled pearls. Imaging is something yet again, not always easy to get right. Actually, no images ought to hone one's descriptive skills. I do a lot of visual work, but at the end of the day anything with scientific importance is noted and merely supported by images or...

The provenance suggests acquisition in the 1920s. Is this documented and verified? I'm struggling to find cultural freshwater pearls here. There are some pieces with a potato-like appearance, but overall not many. Size (nearest to equal) is the prime selection criteria in this piece, where...