My pearls are first washed in tap water, then we let them sit overnight in mineral oil (to remove all protein residue left on the pearl after the oyster's demise) and finally patted dry with a cotton towel (to remove excess oil).
Simple isn't it? There is no polishing with bamboo chips, nor coarse salt, nothing... the oil is just an efficient remover of protein residue.
We could actually do away with the oil, but the pearl does become clean...and this is not maeshori (pre-processing) which involves allowing the pearls to sit in water for a much more prolonged time.
An enhancement procedure would be a treatment that involves much more time and energy, like tumbling, polishing, bleaching, dying, etc...and to obtain an obviously "enhanced look": if the pearl is dull-make it shiny, if the color is off-make it any other color, want it black?-irradiate it!, etc.
And nothing of the sort takes place with our pearls. It is just a faster way of cleaning the pearls. I does not affect color (do try it Josh!), nor luster, nor anything...this technique is based on Manuel de Osio's system to clean pearls after harvest, although in his days he used the oil released from animal fat.
Ok, I agree...I could just place the pearls in my mouth and slurp
( ) them like marbles until clean...but I prefer not to. Would this be an "enhancing" procedure? Of course not! It is just common sense.
Finally, there are no harmful by-products...we absolutely do not produce nor release any waste related to coloring (dyes) nor bleaching (bleach) the pearls.
