Anybody Know What These Are?

[Cathybear]

A couple of days ago I bought two temporary strands of gorgeous pearls. The photos were sent to me by the vendor, and were done in a scanner. She says the colour is pretty accurate. I'll take proper pics when they arrive.
I was told they were Baroque South Sea Tail Pearls. "THESE ARE SALWATER PEARLS. VERY NICE NATURAL COLOR WITH BEAUTIFUL LUSTRE. THE PEARLS ARE APPROX 11 TO 12MM WIDE AND FROM 17 TO 24MM." She also said they were inventory in her grandfathers shop, which is now closed. And described their colour as natural... creamy white with some pale yellow overtones.

 

[Cathybear]

A second Photo

 

[Slraep]

They are nucleated freshwaters. Between a blob and a fireball. You can plainly see the nucleus. The nucleus is from the Big Clam(Tridacna gigas). Must be. If it is, then you should not buy these. This clam is endangered. Usage is very improper at this time even though China did not sign a CITES agreement on this. Again, it's very improper to buy this!!

"The giant clam is the world’s largest bivalve mollusk. It can weigh as much as 500 pounds, and has a porcelaneous interior. While its size and shell color are ideal for nucleus production, the giant clam is a threatened species. Importing the giant clam or its derivatives is illegal in the US and other countries that are signatories to CITES, an international treaty intended to protect endangered and threatened species. China is not a signatory."

Slraep

 

[GemGeek]

Clearly, they are gorgeous, but can you be sure they are marine? They could be bead-nuked freshwaters. Is the seller willing to guarantee they are saltwater? The problem comes when you go to sell them yourself.

Great picture for a scanner -- thanks for sharing it.

 

[Pearlgully]

Although, I'm not an expert, they look like freshwater "Fireballs".

Gail

 

[GemGeek]

Yeah, I missed the second photo while I was posting. Those colors are freshwater.

 

[Cathybear]

The problem comes when you go to sell them yourself.

What a pity, I guess I'll have to keep them BOTH!!! heh heh

 

[jshepherd]

I was told they were Baroque South Sea Tail Pearls. "THESE ARE SALWATER PEARLS. VERY NICE NATURAL COLOR WITH BEAUTIFUL LUSTRE. THE PEARLS ARE APPROX 11 TO 12MM WIDE AND FROM 17 TO 24MM." She also said they were inventory in her grandfathers shop, which is now closed. And described their colour as natural... creamy white with some pale yellow overtones.

Baroque South Sea Tail Pearls... that is pretty funny. You should check out some other scammer's "suspended planting" pearls. They probably share pearl tales.

Sounds like the seller is feeding you a line. Those are bead-nuked freshwater and cannot be more than a couple years old. The technology is less than a decade old.

 

[Slraep]

What a pity, I guess I'll have to keep them BOTH!!! heh heh

Maybe you should take a look at the INCU's Red List first. I don't know why you would want pearls that are nucleated with Tridacna gigas.

http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/22137/all

Slraep

 

[Caitlin]

I guess I am in on the "tail" of this one, but they look like nucleated freshwater pearls, which typically develop a tail like that. No south sea pearl does that. Ever.

There is an excellent article about it here on this site.

 

[Cathybear]

Or she was guessing. Maybe her grandpa is ga ga ,or whatever.
I bought them simply because I thought they were beautiful.

 

[Caitlin]

Slraep

Where is an article for Kathybear to look at about using Tridacna gigas nucleii? In fireballs?

If they are tridacna gigas nucleii, I would hope that no one who knows what they are, would support it with their dollars.

 

[Cathybear]

https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20
I found this, but still don't know how to tell if the ones in the photo have giant clam nucleii

 

[GemGeek]

Your pearls may not have the giant clam nuclei, but mine do! You didn't know when you bought them, and neither did I.

 

[Cathybear]

Well nice to know you didn't flush them down the toilet.
If I saw those somewhere and didn't know what they were I'd have bought them too.

 

[Slraep]

Slraep

Where is an article for Kathybear to look at about using Tridacna gigas nucleii? In fireballs?

If they are tridacna gigas nucleii, I would hope that no one who knows what they are, would support it with their dollars.

Hi Caitlin,

All the info is on Pearl-Guide.

https://www.pearl-guide.com/innovation-continues-in-chinese-freshwater-pearl-culture.shtml

Hi GemGeek and Cathybear,

I too bought a pair of big fireball earrings before I knew! Now that I do know about the type of nucleus used, you couldn't even PAY ME to own any. If you see the fireball shape, the round part where the nucleus is, and a longish tail---it's FW with a Tridacna nucleus for sure. No doubt about it. They are pretty easy to spot once you've seen some. I'm certain you both can spot them now.

Slraep

 

[Cathybear]

Hi Slraep,
what did you do with your earrings?
I'll keep these, but I now know not to buy any more.

 

[Slraep]

Hi Cathybear,

I kept them too. Throwing them away wouldn't make any sense. I just chalked it up to not knowing. I do use them to show friends what not to buy and why. They are very pretty but I have lots of equally pretty things that don't contribute to the decline of a big and beautiful mollusc.

Slraep

 

[Cathybear]

I thought that too; what's done is done, and burying them in the garden wouldn't change anything - except the dog would probably dig them up! lol

 

[GemGeek]

The question is, do all fireballs have giant clamshell beads? I thought only the larger ones had them. My Ikecho pearls are gigantic, so the giant clam is clearly involved. I would think that Catherine's pearls have 10mm beads and those are readily available (non clam).

A tail is typical of bead-nucleation of any kind. Here are baroque silver south sea pearls (no clam used). They definitely don't have the long streamer associated with the freshwaters, although I've seen a lot of freshwater pearls shaped just like this, but smaller.



So does anyone know at what size the giant clam nuclei become suspect?

Are they only an issue in Chinese cultured pearls?

We know from Slraep that MOP and composite MOP beads are available up to 20mm. Could it really be cheaper to destroy giant clams? That is disgusting, if it's true.