My Tahitians

[PaulaPaints]

I hope I am not over- stepping as a “ newbie” here, but wanted to share a pic of my small collection of T’s. The first on left is a Galatea pendant with turquoise nucleus, it was my very first T. The second middle piece is a Stephen Douglas rhodium octopus slide. The last strand is from PP. I do also have a couple pairs of T earrings which I forgot to put in here, just simple drops. I love these pieces, Tahitians are my favorites,

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Very nice collection -- and we love eye candy! Neck shots too! (hint hint)

 

[BWeaves]

OOOOO lovely. I'd love to see a closeup of the Galatea pendant with turquoise nucleus. I've only read about those. Never seen one in real life.

 

[Charlotta]

Beautiful tahitians, they are my favorites to.

 

[PaulaPaints]

Here you go, BWeaves. I’ve had this Galatea for several years, I think this type was one of the first he did, seems like most of them now have tiny diamonds “ imbedded” in the pearl and various other things going on with them. I prefer the simplicity of this one. Sometimes I wear it on a turquoise leather or silk cord , I actually prefer it like that than on the fine gold chain. The flaw you can see quite clearly in the photo is not noticeable IRL ( and evidently neither is the fact that it’s quite dirty .... LOL, I wear it a LOT!)

 

[BWeaves]

Thanks for the closeup.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

The carved pearl is very pretty, but as this forum deals in facts, I feel obliged to point out that the SSEF (Swiss Gemmological Institute, which is like our GIA) analyzed the bead nucleus in these pearls in 2009 and found them to be dyed barium sulphate, not any kind of turquoise, reconstituted or otherwise.
This was published in their magazine, Facette.

Excerpts from the article in the link below (scroll down to page 11 for the full article.)

"...According to the producer, turquoise, citrine, and amethyst have all been used as bead materials in their cultured pearls....

"Based on the chemical composition, we deduced that the material was barium sulphate powder that had been dyed and then hardened with an epoxy binder. The dye was not identified but it seems clear that such beads could be produced in any colour desired...."

"...When our client was informed of the identification of this material, he indicated that he was not aware that the material being used was imitation turquoise and that they would be changing their marketing of the materials accordingly....

http://store.palagems.com/gem_news_docs/Facette16_small.pdf

However when I look at the Galatea website today I still see this statement:

"Interior bead is man-made reconstituted turquoise, specially manufactured to Galatea's specifications for the creation of this pearl."
https://galatea.shopinde.com/product/2097?v=5382&r=1

 

[lilliefuzzysocks]

Thank you Pearl Dreams. There are many vendors who I am sure know exactly what they are selling, but marketing them still as turquoise.
https://pearls.com/collections/galatea-1

 

[Pearl Dreams]

P-G is all about shining the light of truth on pearls. Thank you for that eye-opening link, LFS.

It's very disturbing to think that people are spending a lot of money on pearls purported to have "a colored gemstone center", and they have no idea it's not gemstone material at all.

 

[lilliefuzzysocks]

Pearl Dreams, It's not just the turquoise in the Tahitians. After I heard about the Turquoise that changed to RC then to stimulant I had my Galatea gemstone anniversary pendant tested at a well respected lab. It came back heavily treated precious gems. I called a jewelry store in another state to ask about the exact item they were selling online in their store. I asked if the precious gems were treated and they said NO. I was so disgusted with this line I sold my anniversary pendant on ebay at a loss. I will never buy Galatea again.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Just wow.

When you think about it, "heavily treated precious gems" is an oxymoron. The very thing that makes gems, gems, is their rarity. Heavily treated stones are anything but rare (witness lead-glass filled rubies, which do not deserve the name of ruby.)

 

[pattye]

Ten years ago when I was at the Tucson Gem Show, I saw the Galatea carved pendants and thought they were very pretty, then a few years ago was truly disappointed to find they are misrepresented.

Your Tahitians are gorgeous, PaulaPaints! Thank you for sharing your growing collection with us!

 

[PaulaPaints]

Yes, I am aware ( and was at time of purchase) that the nucleus material inside the Galatea is not actually real turquoise. The dealer I purchased it from explained the process clearly & honestly to me ( which I already knew) and while it might not be everyone’s “ Cuppa”, I still think it is a pretty piece and I enjoy it immensely. For the sake of simplicity, I describe the nucleus as “ turquoise “ to those who ask about it..... an opportunity to talk a little about how cultured pearls are created to those who still think it’s a “ grain of sand”��

 

[86Corvettegirl]

You have some really nice T's! I really love you octopus necklace & would love to see a neck shot! I like the contrast of colors in your Galatea pendant. The carving is splendid!

 

[Marianne]

Love the colors in your lovely strand!

 

[suchi]

Lovely collection PaulaPaints. Tahitians are my favorite too.

 

[cmd2014]

I’ve always thought the Galatea pearls with the turquoise colored centers were beautiful. I like that yours is simple and elegant. You have a beautifully curated collection.

 

[Katbran]

To be fair, those test go back to 9 years ago. They are listed now . as you pointed out, as RC Turquoise and I don't know that they have been tested since 2009 have they ? Weren't they listed as Turquoise before when tested ? If they are, now, RCTurquoise then he's fine.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Rio Grande sells them as "simulated turquoise".
https://www.riogrande.com/product/g...mm-round-pearl-with-simulated-turquoise/73928

 

[jshepherd]

To be fair, those test go back to 9 years ago. They are listed now . as you pointed out, as RC Turquoise and I don't know that they have been tested since 2009 have they ? Weren't they listed as Turquoise before when tested ? If they are, now, RCTurquoise then he's fine.

They were never described as imitation or simulated until the SSEF complained to a CPAA member about a year and a half ago. It appeared, nobody selling them in the US knew they were imitation. RC Turquoise is a made-up term, implying they are reconstituted turquoise and yes, a sample from RIO Grande was tested last year and found to be dyed barium sulfate, which is why RIO changed the description on their website from turquoise to simulated. They are not gems, they are not reconstituted, they are not synthetics, they are imitations.

I was told two different stories about why this was the case. The first is that turquoise and other gemstones are too porous, so it was never possible to grow a pearl sac and a pearl around them. The second was that elements in turquoise poison pearl oysters. Either way, legally this should have been disclosed.

That report was from 2009. There was another lab test last year. Yet they are clearly described as GEMS in this video in 2014.
https://youtu.be/Y5tcKRFzM60?t=16s