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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...

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"...

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...

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

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...

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

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...