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I just want to say thanks for the fascinating and insightful responses. I must apologize for not responding to them yet. I have been under a real time crunch because of a combination of work, having to handle some extra business, and my wife and I getting ready to go on the Prairie Home...

Addendum... Addendum... I received some photos and commentary from Ana Vasilu today that may shed just a bit more light on this subject. The pictures were of Pteria Sterna that had many small pearls imbedded in the mantle. Ana mentioned that in the case of Pteria Sterna they very rarely...

Incidentally--I would like to make contact with some of the abalone culturing/farming operations. If anyone could help put me in touch with these folks I would be eternally grateful!

Hello fellow pearl people! Recently, Steve Metzler contacted me and put me in touch with Ana Vasilu who is doing research on shell formation at the University of Granada in Spain. We have been corresponding and I have sent samples of shell anomalies to Ana Via Steve. It has caused me to write...

It is a section of a machinist's steel ruler and is in inches. If I remember right, I believe that the largest Abalone I have encountered is a little over 10 inches. I have a beautiful, specimen-grade, red abalone shell (No blisters!) that is just under 10". All of the ones that I have now...

My apologies for taking so long. Sandra and I have been very busy getting the garden in (My aching back!:() and making wedding plans and preparations. Yes--blister pearls are formed on the inside of the shell. Usually in response to the incursions of toredo clams (aka. "shipworms") boring...

Hi Nels, I just happen to have a few lying around.... Here's some pix of them. The first two are of the very large blister pearl that I have made into a mabe' and named the Cascadia Moon Pearl. The next two are a couple of shells that have clusters of rather large blisters. I believe that...

Say "Abalone Anomalies" 10 times in a row as fast as you can! OK, couldn't resist. As I mentioned at the end of the "Abalone Gone Buggy" thread, I've found some very interesting oddities in some of my abalones. When I've come across these in the past, I've usually set them aside to look at in...

That's great news, Mikey. Knotty: The point of this is that the process changes diffuse toxins that are free in solution and are available to damage many bio-systems into a solid form that can be sequestered away from the open environment. Originally, these toxic metals were sequestered in...

Congratulations on your 501-3C status, Johanna!:D ...and welcome, again, to the forum. We look forward to your contributions.

Interesting article--Not life "as we know it....." Notice they mention that crabs don't seem to be able to grow carapaces in those conditions. What else?

At $5,485,000 for an historic carpet made of approx. 2,000,000 pearls--all natural, drilled and sewn into a carpet...... Let's see--that comes out to just about $2.73 each. Yes, quite a bargain at that.

Here is another cluster of a group of small, solid, natural, abalone pearls that have come free from the mantle and were subsequently cemented to the inside of the shell. This must have happened a fairly short time before the abalone was harvested because they have only about one or two layers...

Gravity Always Wins: Your screen name says it all............

Here is a recent report on the current state of ocean acidification. It's dire. http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/03/10

That's a very lovely little ring. Congratulations on all fronts! Elisa--don't sell yourself short! In a sense, economics underlies all that happens in the world. Even in the natural world--ecology is the economics of nature. Most of us are, will be or have been a part of the labor market. It is...

Here's the good news that frustrates the hell out of me!!!! :eek: My research into the CO2 problem has convinced me that effective solutions have already been found. The real problem is nothing more nor less than a lack of political and economic will to put these solutions into motion!!! Here's...

Interesting article on connection between the environmental and economic meltdown. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/opinion/08friedman.html?emc=eta1 I've read some interesting research that shows evidence that every collapse of a civilization was precipitated by an environmental collapse in the...

Tom, Is The Great Pearl roundup to be a public event? Who will be allowed to attend? I'll be most interested to see how it is organized.

I appreciate all the input concerning these pieces. It has been helpful. I don't have a great wealth of knowledge concerning vintage pieces. As for the selling prices of items on ebay, it is such a caveat emptor market that it is very understandable that such pieces sell low in that venue. On...