What are Atocha Pearls?

[Caitlin]

Is "atocha" a new variation on akoya? I have never heard of atocha pearls.

 

[jshepherd]

Also, I just did some reading on Akoyas on this site, and that started me wondering if the early (and poor quality) Chinese akoyas were sometimes tagged Atocha for tourists?

Actually the early Chinese Akoya were of the highest quality, produced to early Mikimoto standards. When the world became aware of Chinese Akoya (25 years later), the Japanese argued the quality to be low to protect their own interests, and sold the highest grade Chinese as Japanese. They still do that today.

Also, they were never called 'Atocha'. I agree with Zeide that it appears to be a butchering of 'Akoya'.

 

[Gemsveritas]

Too ugly to bid

Too ugly to bid

Thanks Caitlin, Zeide and Jeremy!
You are obviously right. I was thinking of a low bid if they are akoyas with a 14kt clasp, but now I think that they are too ugly - little lustre, blemished, unmatched and the clasp looks damaged too.

I was originally going to buy some pearls from ebay for study purposes, but this site convinced me that I need more experience with pearls before I make that leap. To that end, I am starting with freshadamas from Pearl Paradise and I am anxiously waiting their delivery.

Best regards

 

[jshepherd]

Strack provides accurate dates, but I have seen the Japanese on the ground there for years, and have been telling people long before Strack came out in English. They buy everything in some sizes, and good luster and better in other sizes. You see the same factories at the shows selling differentiated Chinese and Japanese, but strangely the high quality Chinese is never there, and neither is the low quality Japanese. So what happened to the top grade Chinese? How is it that although the large part of every harvest in Japan is of low to unacceptable jewelry grade, yet you never see it? You do! It is marked as Chinese.

It does not take a genius to see what they are doing. That is why I feel so strongly that sellers of "Japanese Akoya only" are unethical, or in the least, uneducated.

 

[Valeria101]

It sounds like someone was playing with words 'Atocha emeralds' has almost become a label, when the treasure recuperated from the wreck of a Spanish galion of that name (and a couple others) gave new meaning to the rarefied legend of 'old mine' emeralds, but no remarkable pearls came through then and those in the FlEaBay picture have absolutely NO chance of being associated with the said historic site and source.

What makes Atocha items a rare case is that the hoard was catalogued and sales documented, so that items are tractable and keep changing hands with the historic value attached. The best reference that comes to mind about them is a catalog: 'Gold and Silver of the Atocha and Santa Margarita', June 14 and 15, 1988, Christies New York. and Mel Fisher's website, of course. There were other documented finds, the latest in 1997 (check?) - a 1715 Spanish vessel called the 'Anchor'.

The pearls included in the hoard had been though allot... and even to begin with they weren't nucleated rounds for Pete's sake!