Dyed?

[maiakity]

I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on weather these are genuine golden SS, and if they are treated or dyed. I received them and in person they appear much lighter and more yellow, more vivid than expecting and they do seem to be a bit more orange-y around the top drill hole (but not the bottom, interestingly). Thoughts?

 

[maiakity]

And here's another pearl from the same seller, you can see what I mean about the darker color around the drill hole in this one, it looks just like mine does...

 

[lisa c]

You mean, does that look like dye collected at the drill hole? I'd hesitate to say, but a better angle shooting the hole almost directly on, maybe 8* off center would allow a more definitive answer.

No, I enlarged the second picture and I want to take it back. From the pic enlarged, and at that angle, the drill site looks clean. I think the depth of luster looks good, too, photo 2.

Photo 1, I think the play of light and depth of luster says not dyed.

(I'm still the perpetual student, so this is a classroom exercise for me could the Pros please weigh in? Remember, I'm holding my breath, here, so please... )

 

[Cyril Roger Brossard]

What is the size (in millimeters) of above mentioned pearls?
Are both side of drill hole darker in intensity?
Can you see the color of the nuclei and the nacre?

Just being curious.

 

[perlinda]

Hm.. usually dyed golden South Sea pearls are darker in color. But the orange-y color concentrated around top drill hole (I can see it in all of the pics) is making me suspicious.

 

[maiakity]

What is the size (in millimeters) of above mentioned pearls?
Are both side of drill hole darker in intensity?
Can you see the color of the nuclei and the nacre?

Just being curious.

They are about 9 MM, only the top hole seems to be darker, the bottom looks normal. When I look inside the drill hole all I see is white.

 

[Cyril Roger Brossard]

They are about 9 MM, only the top hole seems to be darker, the bottom looks normal. When I look inside the drill hole all I see is white.

9mm that is equivalent to 0.29 to 0.30 momme definitely very small.
Size for a south sea would be around (at least) 1 to 2 millimeters more than what you have. This said, yes 9 mm SS could be produced...

The nacre's color (white) may not be indicative as well, I mean to say lateral cut of MOP do show color variations and gold tone is at times seen all the way till the periostracum BUT not all the nacre is gold, there is a stratification that is present, so the fact that you see white inside (should be a very small hole though) may not be a telltale.

Better wait for more experienced to give you better advise.

 

[maiakity]

Here is one more pic (not my pearl) from the same seller, looks to be very similar to the pair that I bought...any thoughts on the darker spot actually ON this pearl? I think you can see the drill hole a little better in this one too...



I inquired with the seller about possible treatments/dyes to the pearls. She was very nice and responded right away that she buys from several different vendors, and the only treated pearls she purchases are the "chocolate" ones (which she discloses right in the listing). There is just something about the color of these that just seems a little off to me, although that being said I haven't seen that many golden SS in person. I really do like the shape and the luster of these, I just want to make sure that my first (and probably only) purchase of golden SS are actually that, Golden, and not dyed. Thanks for all of your input and opinions!

 

[Cyril Roger Brossard]

On the last picture, the dark area in the red circle, is it a blemish or the reflection of an object?

 

[maiakity]

It's a blemish, here is the same pearl at another angle:

 

[lisa c]

Can you photograph inside the drill holes of the pearls you actually have?

This morning I'm using a magnifying glass with the enlarged setting of my screen, but it's only an iPhone4, so you know how small that is.

Last night I took out some dyed, bead-nucleated pearls to look at. It's a batch of pearls that I was trying to take the dye off of, pale aqua. Anyway, on the pearls I hadn't interfered with, the appearance of the drill holes on each pearl wasn't uniform. One entrance of the drill hole had a ring of dye concentration. The opposite entrance hole of the same pearl could look very clean, no dye concentration ring at all. A caveat with this information is that this was not a good dye run to begin with, the coverage was thin, and dye concentration spots were very pronounced.

Were they sold to you as natural-color? Were they expensive? Is the vendor well regarded here?

eh, I'm an idiot. I just remembered I have some pale,yellow-dyed pearls, so I dug them out. I was hoping to see how the light played around the dyed pearls and then compare it with the play of light in your photos, and peek into the drill holes. I'm still an idiot however, because
1) I cant see into the drill holes clearly enough to describe the layering, and
2) the best description I can come up with is that the light bends differently. It illuminates all the way around my Un-dyed pearls, and the dyed pearls don't show the same way.

so, inexperienced student vote - undyed.

 

[lisa c]

Does anyone remember the recent post where 3 SSPearls were pictured side by side, 1 was dyed, 2 were not dyed? Who posted, where can I find it? I'm about of data for my phone or I'd continue to look.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Not sure if you mean this thread; the photos are not side by side but there is 1 not enhanced and 2 enhanced:

https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5619

 

[Pearl Dreams]

There's also this thread:

https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6328

 

[lisa c]

Thanks, I was Hoping you were reading as you're so good with research.
The post was three in the same photo, I'm quite sure 1dyed, 2natural color, there was mention of overtones...
No luck w Tahitians, (although I did find three chocolates in a row) still scouring

 

[maiakity]

Can you photograph inside the drill holes of the pearls you actually have?

This morning I'm using a magnifying glass with the enlarged setting of my screen, but it's only an iPhone4, so you know how small that is.

Last night I took out some dyed, bead-nucleated pearls to look at. It's a batch of pearls that I was trying to take the dye off of, pale aqua. Anyway, on the pearls I hadn't interfered with, the appearance of the drill holes on each pearl wasn't uniform. One entrance of the drill hole had a ring of dye concentration. The opposite entrance hole of the same pearl could look very clean, no dye concentration ring at all. A caveat with this information is that this was not a good dye run to begin with, the coverage was thin, and dye concentration spots were very pronounced.

Were they sold to you as natural-color? Were they expensive? Is the vendor well regarded here?

eh, I'm an idiot. I just remembered I have some pale,yellow-dyed pearls, so I dug them out. I was hoping to see how the light played around the dyed pearls and then compare it with the play of light in your photos, and peek into the drill holes. I'm still an idiot however, because
1) I cant see into the drill holes clearly enough to describe the layering, and
2) the best description I can come up with is that the light bends differently. It illuminates all the way around my Un-dyed pearls, and the dyed pearls don't show the same way.

so, inexperienced student vote - undyed.

They were sold to me as natural-color pearls (actually, this particular listing didn't specify, but most of her listings DO specify natural color, when I messaged her to ask about these specifically, she told me that the only treated pearls she sells are the chocoloate ones and she discloses the treatment, per the seller all others are naturally colored), I'm not sure she is regarded one way or the other here as I don't know if she's a member, but here's her shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheMerryBead. It's already too dark here to get any good pics, the flash washes out the color and I can't seem to get them to accurately represent what I'm seeing, I'll try to take some and upload tomorrow. Thanks again for your input!

 

[Cyril Roger Brossard]

is it US45 per piece or US$4.5 per piece?
9 to 9.5 mm again is small for SS, but maybe possible.
full of blemishes.

 

[maiakity]

These were around $40-45 USD per pearl, I liked the color on these but didn't purchase these specifically because of the heavy blemishing. The one's I received are clean (no blemishes at all), but I did question the natural color.

 

[perlinda]

The more I look at it, the more I think the pearls are dyed. The concentrated orange color in spot and drill hole is the main reason, but also because of the body color. Does the color look like the pictures? Because to me, the color doesn't look like most golden south sea pearls. It looks a bit like this.. https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1014&p=8945#post8945

 

[maiakity]

The color looks somewhat like the pictures, but a little lighter and more yellow than the one that I posted (the very first pic I posted in this thread is that of the actual pearls I bought, just the seller's pics and not mine). I'll be really bummed if they are dyed, I don't think I can send them back. She really seemed like an honest seller (a few of her listings ARE of treated pearls, and they disclose this). I agree that the color doesn't look like most golden SS's I've seen either, however I know that they can come in such a wide range of colors and I haven't seen many in real life to compare with, either.