Tips on how to tell if a pearl has been treated?

[cookierookie]

Hi all,

if you could please suggest any tips to tell if a pearl has been treated, that would be great! the treatments i'm looking to be able to tell are:

1. Dyeing (e.g. checking for accummulation of dye in pits)
2. Coating
3. other luster enhancement treatments that i'm not aware of
4. irradiation
5. Bleaching
6. excessive polishing/tumbling

Thanks guys!

 

[pattye]

Val,

On your website you state this: "Pearls that have been treated, polished, irradiated or dyed tend to change colour and/or lose their lustre after a few months or a few years, or when exposed to certain elements such as sunlight." What has caused you to come to this bold conclusion? That hasn't been my experience. It seems like you are making this claim to make your pearls seem the best.

Only by tracking the pearl every step of the way from farm to your stock room, can you be relatively certain what "treatments" have or have not been applied.

The previously mentioned pearl books in another thread should be helpful, and I can highly recommend the GIA Pearls Course, which is online. Other threads on this forum address your questions and can be found if you do a search.

 

[cookierookie]

Hi Pattye,

if that is too misleading, please suggest an alternative to the text.

from my experience and also things that I have learnt from people in the pearl industry, dyed pearls change colour from around a year's time to 5 years time, and even faster esp when exposed to sunlight. akoyas always change colour. when writing this i had akoyas and the dyed deep golden SSPs in mind. Polished pearls don't change colour, but the luster does fade as it isn't permanent. maeshori from my understanding, is also not a permanent treatment, and the luster goes from as soon as 6 months after, making its shelf life short. I was told that by a GIA document and also some reputable suppliers in the industry (won't name them here).

as for irradiated pearls, I probably shouldn't have included them there! irradiated pearls do not change colour at all, right?

if there is something where i should stand corrected, please let me know, i know i still have plenty to learn in this industry

 

[Caitlin]

I have dyed pearls that go back to the original rice pearls they dyed metallics colors. No dyed pearl I own has ever turned another color, or lost its luster. Old white akoyas can get more creamy, but the natural silver gray akoyas have not changed color in the almost 5 years I have had them.

You are the first person I have ever heard makes these claims, so some backup source is a good idea. The Chinese do a great job of dying pearls. They keep their luster and color.

Buyers should be careful when choosing Tahitian pearls of the jet black colour, because unethical sellers can dye Tahitian pearls of another colour to make them appear jet black.

I would also be interested in the source for the above remark.

We only supply cultured pearls of a natural colour, so clients can be assured that none of our pearls have been dyed, treated or irradiated.

In light of this thread and others you have commented on, how can you claim this if you do not know when pearls have been dyed? I am getting confused.


I second Pattye about the GIA course. You could also get Pearls by Elisabeth Strack. It is like a pearl course but covers the material more deeply.

 

[Marianne]

Caitlin, I also have some vintage (15years old) dyed grey rice pearls in a necklace that has been worn at least a hundred times... no fading or loss of luster. I also have some of the earliest dyed brown and dark blue/black freshwaters and they have not changed in color or quality. If you have a reputable supplier, there should be no worries.

 

[Caitlin]

I have those blue/black metallic, siver metallic, and bronze metallic rice pearls from at least 15 years ago, because I bought them when we lived in our old house and we have been here for 24 years. I have some chartreuse dyed pearls. I think I might have a photo up here somewhere. I love them! They are as good as new. I no longer buy dyed pearls- I have too many, but the black dyed freshwater 12mm klonks have only increased their luster since I got them in 2005 at the gem show. I even wear those when I sweat, (Tucson in the summer!)because they are pitted anyway, but they have not changed one bit, either.

That is what I love about freshwaters! They are so durable! Even the natural colors keep their luster. I think you'd have to lay them out in the sun and turn them daily to bleach them, but it might work. Another experiment?

 

[pearlescence]

Hi
I've looked at your website and the comments made in this thread, and I'm a little confused. How can you be beying pearls and then selling them when you don't know this stuff? The information on your website seems at odds with what I understand to be accurate information too.

 

[Amrita]

I have to say that there are few pieces of information on your website that are not aligned with my understanding.

 

[cookierookie]

Oh no...i just typed up a reply and my AVG update closed my browser! now i have to retype it ALL...sorry if it all sounds a bit rushed now!

Hi all,

thanks for your comments thus far, really appreciate it. Sorry if the website has been confusing, just please bear in mind that the blog section was written only specifically about SSPs and Tahitian pearls, as by that time we had already stopped dealing with FW and akoyas.

A lot of what I have written is based on local experiences here in the Philippines. So maybe it does not sound "universal" enough.

I am not sure what kind of dye has been used in the pearls sold at markets locally here in the Philippines, but I have had people ask me why their golden SSPs have faded or change colour over time. A dyed golden SSP (a lot of times sold as natural colour SSP) can retail for as little as USD 47 here, and we are talking about a good-size, minimum 13mm to 14mm range. Some have also complained that their white SSPs bought at markets here lost lustre after a year or so. The time varies, usually anywhere from a year to 5 years. Some say longer. A lot of the local vendors here that I have spoken to claim to have gotten their SSPs from Japan/Japanese wholesalers. There are also claims that they actually buy (some would say leftovers) from the HK fair. But I don't know if they are telling the truth.

I also have a strand of akoyas (A+ grade) that had average luster and of pinkish colour turn into low luster and brownish-pink colour in a matter of 8 months. A friend of mine who owns a nice strand of akoyas bought from 10 years ago has kept it in her safe (never worn), and has changed to a greyish champagne colour. However it's important to note that it did retain its lustre.

I have myself come across dyed jet black Tahitian South Sea pearls sold here. At first I was told that they were of a natural colour, and I decided to walk around and have a look at other stalls first. When I came back to the store the second time, they admitted it was dyed (the colour was also too uniform to be natural). The opening price was 75,000 php, but they were willing to lower it down to 45,000 php, which is slightly more than 1000 USD. The strand was a graduated strand from about 11mm to 13mm. In the photos it's the top strand. A vendor here has also sent me photos of some dyed Tahitian pearl earrings, they are jet black in colour. I did not buy any of those jet black Tahitian pearls. I have attached another photo of a lot of pearls that was sent to me via email (claimed to be from the Philippines, but you never know) and that lot is really un-pretty (I find it hard to call pearls ugly), I have no idea if anything has been done to them, so maybe you guys can weigh in on that one.



As for literature, yes, I am seriously considering the pearl course. For now, my references on this matter has been the following:

http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/golden-pearl.htm
http://www.gemrockauctions.com/docs/gemstone-articles/pearl-treatments
http://www.solitaireinternational.com/images/2110112304pearl_update_oct11.pdf (article by the GIA)
http://www.nationalpearl.com/pearl-education#
https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/showthread.php?t=157
https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1558
http://www.imperialpearl.com/EDUCATION/PEARL_TREATMENT/TREATMENT_PEARLS.html

If you have suggestions on how to further improve our website, I highly appreciate it, and could you please email me instead? my email address is valerene@serenitypearls.com. Thanks!

 

[Caitlin]

That was a lot of sources, some of which are arguable. You came to different conclusions than I did, based on the same sources.

The worst problem is mixing all the pearl types up. Dyeing South Sea pearls to gold is a separate issue from most freshwater pearl dyeing.

In the latter, there is no attempt to conceal the fact the pearls are dyed.There really is no need to guess, but it is obvious from the color itself. In the 7 years since the 2 p-g threads were written, I haven't bought any dyed freshwater pearls where there was any doubt. The freshwater dyes have gotten so excellent in not rubbing off, etc, in the last seven years that some of those complaints are very rare, now. The badly dyed stuff just doesn't make it to the trade fairs in the US. I don't know about the Philippines, but I bet they get more of the cheapo grade stuff than we see.

The golden SS pearls seem to be the major area where treatments are not disclosed and the treatments seem to vary a lot in quality. Strack went into this in detail at one of the AGTA talks in Tucson. That yellow dye collects in the divots as in the photo above, which is blatant. Sometimes the job is much better and takes a loupe to tell.

I wonder about bleaching some akoyas. It appears that they just get more creamy or yellowed over the years than untreated pearls would have. But it is kind of a return to their natural color that has made me state that I think a lot of bleaching of akoyas is just to get them sold, because Miki thought white with pink overtones was the only color worth producing, so the public was not educated properly in the first place, when Miki could have done it. He seems to have created expectations for the highly processed colors in akoyas. Just my personal opinion, but I have held it for a long time.

As for your web site, maybe best not to advertise it until it is first rate, as we do comment on them, publicly on this forum. I still think there is a bit of a disconnect between some of your claims and the actual appearance of the site's business. It is just confusing what you do. Sell pearls wholesale? Sell jewelry wholesale? Who designs it? Where is it executed? how can one find it retail? .... and having things that are sold or unavailable up online just adds to the confusion. It is a disappointing site as it stands, now, but keep us up on it as you go.

 

[cookierookie]

Hi Caitlin,

I am trying to remove any trace of FW and akoyas from our website for now, so that everything I write there only points towards SSPs. As I had mentioned before, I was not referring to FW in those posts at all. So I think the key is to remove FW and akoyas from our website since we have stopped selling those. I agree that when people read the blog, it could be confusing as they wouldn't be entirely sure which type of pearls I am writing about. Customers who see us in person will however know that we really only do sell SSPs and Tahitians.

Our website does not advertise any kind of "retail" yet as the retail side is still in the trial period. Our main business is wholesale, that's why in the headings there is only wholesale and supply, no retail is mentioned. We can manufacture for jewellers too (for countries where labour is expensive) if they want to, since labour is cheaper here in the philippines. The design is up to jewellers, they are the ones who request the designs they want and manufacture for them.

As part of the trial for retail, we are trying out customized retail for some end customers in Asia. They are involved in the whole design process, and our selling point is innovation, where they will own one piece of jewellery that can be worn quite a few ways, e.g. pendant as a ring, interchangeable pearls on a ring etc.

The photos that you see in our gallery are samples products of what we are capable of doing. E.g. http://serenitypearls.com/2012/07/south-sea-pearl-pendant-3/, the long pendant in this photo is actually detachable. The bottom two pieces can be detached and worn as earrings. I'll look into uploading some photos of loose pearls into the gallery as well, so it showcases both sides of the business, hopefully that would make it better.

I forgot to add re the dyed black Tahitian pearls. To the general public here or the average person who doesn't know anything about pearls, they only have the vendor to trust. So even though the dye job on that strand and earrings is mighty obvious to us, to the average buyer, it really isn't, and they get tricked a lot here. It's the philippines, a lot of hanky panky goes on here.

 

[Caitlin]

The photos that you see in our gallery are samples products of what we are capable of doing. E.g. http://serenitypearls.com/2012/07/south-sea-pearl-pendant-3/, the long pendant in this photo is actually detachable. The bottom two pieces can be detached and worn as earrings. I'll look into uploading some photos of loose pearls into the gallery as well, so it showcases both sides of the business, hopefully that would make it better.

Thanks for the info. I would enjoy seeing more photos of the above detachable piece.

For online freaks like us on p-g.com, it is a good idea to really make sure the website is ready for viewing and the viewer can be clear about what the site is about. If you have a blog, post at least once a month. I visit a lot of sites when I shop and I leave as soon as I see stuff I don't understand or is incomplete. Even faster for wholesalers.

 

[cookierookie]

Hi all,

I have made some changes to the website, let me know how it looks so far. I'm still waiting for my web designer to get back to me about uploading new feature photos on each product page... I'm not very tech-savvy!

Anyway I think we have moved away from my original question. I did not phrase my question very well, but basically I do know the answer to all those questions, but I'm looking for any new information, if there is any. Does anyone have any updated information for the treatments mentioned? Are they done in any new ways now?

Thanks!