Need tips on Cleaning Tahitian pearls after removal from oyster

[llcraig2011]

"You get what you pay for." Truer words were never spoken.

Amti, that first row--

llcraig2011, some on here have bought wholesale Tahitian pearls from ThePearlHouse on Etsy (Jac, who is also located in Hawaii and is a member here on Pearl-Guide.)

I have purchased, a month ago, from pearl house on etsy some 11mm Tahitian pearl drops for a custom order pair of dangle earrings. I liked the pearls. My customer wanted larger drops and pearl house had them. They were unable to provide a match pair, but they matched well enough and customer liked the earrings. I also got very nice green with cherry overtone matched 10mm pair, AA grade, from Aloha Pearls on etsy. I have gotten AA tahitian from Aloha Pearls several times. I should have realized $5 an oyster, for drop tahitian pearls would be a very low grade tahitian pearl! I got maybe 4 pearls that is nice, out of a lot of 25. Yes, my money and time would have been better spent on a matched pair or single tahitians pearls already out of shell and cleaned! I was going to send 5 of the 20 to a family member who enjoys getting the pearls in the shell because she once lived in Hawaii! Now I probably won't send the other five! Thanks for all the info. Please let me know if you think pearls are actual tahitian and akoya pearls.

 

[llcraig2011]

So you can see pearl house tahitian pearls and the Aloha pearls tahitian pearls I have attached photos. The photo of large round pearl pair with one pearl slightly darker than other is pearl house. Very nice pearls and they told me they couldn't match drop pearls and my customer was ok with the difference in color. Size is very close and very smooth pearls. They have beautiful pearls! The one with silver green pearls with cherry and green overtones are a matched pair from Aloha pearls! My customer that bought the pearl house pearls wanted these earrings but they sold before she could purchase them. The Aloha pearls are near round 9-10mm. Beautiful pearls! I have other singles tahitian pearls I purchased from them same quality! So I expected lower quality tahitian pearls for $5 an oyster. I just wasnt expecting the residue/cleaning problem!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

The pinks are absolutely freshwater pearls. Akoyas do not come in that color.
None of the above pearls is an akoya.

The dark pearl with exposed bead is, I expect, a very low quality Tahitian. Perhaps the other dark pearls are Tahitians, but just so you know, I have dyed all-nacre FWP that have those colors and shapes, and are larger.
I do not know if Chinese factories are dyeing bead nucleated FWP of low quality, but it would not surprise me.

It's unfortunate, but consider it educational. Most of us have pearls we "learned" by.

 

[Abi]

Hello, howdy, and Aloha y'all!

I'm just giving my experience.

I live in Oahu, and buy from Aloha Pearls directly at their office. I've been happy mostly, as I get to sit down and choose which ones I want for pieces I'm making. I'm attaching a picture with 3 peacock tahitians I bought from them when they were at a tradeshow here.



I haven't seen any post mentioning this seller on Etsy, but I also buy from Continental Pearl. I buy from their Etsy, and recently have purchased 2 strands from them at the same tradeshow. Continental have been nice to send me pictures when I ask.

Posting the 2 strands I got from Continental.



From what PD said, I am part of the most that have pearls I learned by. If you can return or exchange them, that's great.

I didn't know Jac from Pearl House lives in Hawaii, I wonder is he lives on Oahu as well..

 

[llcraig2011]

The pinks are absolutely freshwater pearls. Akoyas do not come in that color.
None of the above pearls is an akoya.

The dark pearl with exposed bead is, I expect, a very low quality Tahitian. Perhaps the other dark pearls are Tahitians, but just so you know, I have dyed all-nacre FWP that have those colors and shapes, and are larger.
I do not know if Chinese factories are dyeing bead nucleated FWP of low quality, but it would not surprise me.

It's unfortunate, but consider it educational. Most of us have pearls we "learned" by.

Thanks for info Pearl Dreams! I didn't realized they had FW that was that round and high of luster without imbedding a nucleus pearl. Th only ones this size of FW I've seen with this color and lust are Edison pearls and the pink is a different shade of pink. The pink ones came from an eBay vendor I no longer use from China. Nice pearls even if not akoya pearls. Paid $6-$8 per pearl. So may have over paid slightly sinc they are around 6mm in size! I do think the other pearls are low grade tahitians. Yes, very much a learning experience! Thanks for all the feed back, info, and input! I truly appreciate it!

 

[llcraig2011]

One last question about dying FW pearls. I believe someone said the flesh and outer shell of a FW pearl does not show dye in them when being dyed. I had to use dull knif to get shells open and then literally rip the flesh open to take pearl out. Then to clean oyster shell I had to rip the flesh that was attached to the shell (sorry for graphic content). Anyway, do they put dye in water that the pearls are living in in order for the dye not to show on the flesh or outer shells. I'm really confused I thought most dye processes for pearls was after the pearl was removed from oyster and cleaned. I thought at that point they decide which color to dye pearl depending on its natural color. Thanks again for info!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

The pearl is removed from the freshwater mussel in which it was cultured. The mussel is sacrificed in the process. Many FW pearls are cultured together in each FW mussel so many are harvested at one time. And yes, some are quite round now, even without a bead nucleus. Many have great luster, too. The pearls in my avatar are freshwater pearls without a bead inside.

If it is going to be color treated (the process of darkening the pearls to resemble Tahitians involves more than just dyeing them) then this is done together with many other pearls. Afterward the color treated pearl is placed inside a completely different bivalve than the kind in which it was cultured-- a living, immature (small) akoya (saltwater) oyster which has been pried open so that the pearl may be placed inside. The wedge is removed, the oyster is immersed in chemicals that cause it to close up tight, and also kill it and preserve it.

If a pink, white/cream or lavender FW pearl is used, there is no need to color treat it first. It is placed inside the akoya oyster the same way, then the oyster is killed and preserved in chemicals the same way.

This is how people are deceived into thinking that the pearl that they removed from a dead akoya oyster was cultured inside that very oyster. The oyster used its adductor muscle to pull its shell closed before it died, so you are cutting through that adductor muscle.

 

[Katbran]

I won't add much as it's all been said and I agree with all of our PGF posters. I can only say you are 100%correct ..you get what you pay for. So pay a bit more ..but a 'lot' of graded Tahitians that are already sorted by size , quality and colour. This pearl in an oyster thing is obviously not cost effective.

They are clever in their description... they never say that the pearl grew in that oyster. They say you are buying a genuine pearl and a genuine oyster. Sneaky buggers .

 

[amti]

Abi, I believe Jac still lives in Maui. He travels to Oahu once every few months, so send him an email via etsy to arrange a meeting. I've purchased from Continental Pearls as well and they have been very nice.

 

[Abi]

Oh great, thanks Amti!

Abi, I believe Jac still lives in Maui. He travels to Oahu once every few months, so send him an email via etsy to arrange a meeting. I've purchased from Continental Pearls as well and they have been very nice.

 

[llcraig2011]

The pearl is removed from the freshwater mussel in which it was cultured. The mussel is sacrificed in the process. Many FW pearls are cultured together in each FW mussel so many are harvested at one time. And yes, some are quite round now, even without a bead nucleus. Many have great luster, too. The pearls in my avatar are freshwater pearls without a bead inside.

If it is going to be color treated (the process of darkening the pearls to resemble Tahitians involves more than just dyeing them) then this is done together with many other pearls. Afterward the color treated pearl is placed inside a completely different bivalve than the kind in which it was cultured-- a living, immature (small) akoya (saltwater) oyster which has been pried open so that the pearl may be placed inside. The wedge is removed, the oyster is immersed in chemicals that cause it to close up tight, and also kill it and preserve it.

If a pink, white/cream or lavender FW pearl is used, there is no need to color treat it first. It is placed inside the akoya oyster the same way, then the oyster is killed and preserved in chemicals the same way.

This is how people are deceived into thinking that the pearl that they removed from a dead akoya oyster was cultured inside that very oyster. The oyster used its adductor muscle to pull its shell closed before it died, so you are cutting through that adductor muscle.

Thank you Pearl dreamer. I read and watched video on this site about tahitian pearl farming, pearl treatments, akoya and Tahitian pearl info. Appears they destroy the lowgrade oysters and pearls, if I'm understanding the video correctly. I have asked vendor of oysters, if they originated from French Polynesia area And he said Yes. The one pearl with exposed shell pearl nucleus, doesn't have a darkened nucleus so not irridated. The description on the Aloha pearl website very distinctly said tahitian or you could pick freshwater pearls. Obviously the oyster is either an akoya oyster or 5-7month old black lip. They are 3" in size, some may be 4". I've been reading and looking at photos all night of oysters and pearls! I disclose treatments and place of origin or at least type of pearls if I have the info when selling them in my jewelry. I do the same with other gemstones. Very much burnt out on pearls in oysters! Will buy already shelled, cleaned, and polished tahitian pearls in the future! Do-it-yourself pearls seem to be more than they are worth! So I guess my original question never got answered and now doesn't need to be answered. I won't buy them like this again and won't need a quicker way to clean them! Thanks for all the info and time you have all put into responding to my question! I truly appreciate it.

 

[Katbran]

Best of luck ! I agree they have carefully worded their listings to mislead.

 

[llcraig2011]

Just found out from vendor that they took smaller tahitian pearls from French Polynesia area and sent them to China to be inserted into live akoya pearl oysters and then dipped in chemical bath, which kills them and seals the oyster and then vacuumed sealed and shipped back to vendor in Hawaii. They did it because they thought it would be fun for people to get a tahitian pearl in the oyster. He was very confident they are tahitian and even to,d me to send one to GIA to be tested. They picked smaller tahitian pearls so they would fit into the vendor pearl cage pendants. I like the idea. I just think more disclosure and they need to tell people how to clean the residue from the pearls!

 

[raggdoll]

.. then dipped in chemical bath, which kills them and seals the oyster and then vacuumed sealed and shipped back to vendor in Hawaii. They did it because they thought it would be fun for people..

I really dislike this sort of cruelty towards living things, just for "the fun of it". And on top of this they use harmful chemicals. I don't mean to be rude to you since you clearly didn't know about all off this when you bought those oysters in the first place, but now that you do know - please don't support this nasty business!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

...
Very much burnt out on pearls in oysters! Will buy already shelled, cleaned, and polished tahitian pearls in the future! Do-it-yourself pearls seem to be more than they are worth! ... I won't buy them like this again and won't need a quicker way to clean them! Thanks for all the info and time you have all put into responding to my question! I truly appreciate it.

Glad we were able to help, and I agree with your conclusion!

 

[JerseyPearl]

I suggest that you sign up and take the Pearls as One course...you will receive quite a good bit of information regarding Tahitian pearls (as well as other types). I believe the course is still being offered for free to PG members, it is really really helpful!

With respect to the supplier of those oysters, I shudder to think that any vendor would ship off their quality Tahitians to be inserted into oysters...that to me, makes no sense as a business. Why would you degrade your product and associate your brand with all the other pearl party scammers? But not my business to tell someone else how to run theirs...I will say this, if I were ever tempted to purchase from them (and to be clear, I have not) this would put the nail in the coffin for me. My first thought with these, this is simply my opinion...these are pearls that should have been destroyed due to inferior quality.

 

[llcraig2011]

I really dislike this sort of cruelty towards living things, just for "the fun of it". And on top of this they use harmful chemicals. I don't mean to be rude to you since you clearly didn't know about all off this when you bought those oysters in the first place, but now that you do know - please don't support this nasty business!

Raggdoll, I was feeling very conflicted about the process after talking to the vendor. I talked with my daughter who loves pearls and is an oceanographer for Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, USA. She told me they use this chemical in their biology department and it stops the heart almost immediately and is almost painless. She pointed out that it was probably the least inhumane way to kill these oysters! She said vacuum seal them while they are alive would suffocate them and smell even worse than the chemical upon opening; when they are harvested, if they are not re implanted with nucleus, they sit and suffocate until pearl is removed; if the pearl is removed while they are alive, well they are cut, pearl removed, then their bodies are ripped out of the shell or left to be discarded into the trash pile. She also reminded me why she doesn't eat shell fish, the tastiest least fishy tasting shell fish like oysters, lobsters, clams are thrown into a pot of hot boiling water alive! She also reminded me that implanting the nucleus into the oyster is basically implanting an irritant and the oyster secretes the mother of pearl, nacre, to make the irritant less painful. These little akoya oysters have a hard life on the farms. I felt better after the discussion with my daughter though I realized, in general, the farming of pearls is not the most humane thing for these awesome creatures. I love pearls and now have an even better appreciation of how they are made!

 

[CathyKeshi]

There are many misconceptions about pearls, even among scientists and pearl lovers. China and vendors are shipping out these packets, with such dangerous chemicals ... and no warnings for consumers ... chemicals that can stop the heart! This is nothing I can feel good about, when there are honest pearl farmers who will sell beautiful, ethically produced pearls. I would also urge you to take the Pearls As One course.

 

[raggdoll]

Llcraig2011: I am not debating wether or not these oysters are being killed humanly or not, it is the reason behind killing these oysters that makes me so upset. They are not being killed for food, but to amuse people (and let's be honest: also to trick people into paying a lot of money for pearls that are basically worthless).

 

[SunSeeker]

llcraig, the processing and packaging of these oysters is a disgusting, unsanitary, and unhealthy practice. Killing live animals for amusement is not anything you want to be involved with. And any pearls you find in these shells, Tahitians or FW, are going to be of the poorest quality.