Yes, agree. You know that I did hours and hours of reading here but only realised how thin nacre could be recently. Took a while for the penny to drop, which I have to assume would be the case for most pearl laypeople. The Akoyas in particular. My questions were more to the heart of how quickly might nacre in bead nucleated pearls wear out and could you always tell. I am definitely a fan of freshwaters and Catherine Cardellini has been brilliant in helping me feed my addiction in a 'safe nacre' way!
Worn Nacre
- Thread starter Cathybear
- Start date
Yes, agree. You know that I did hours and hours of reading here but only realised how thin nacre could be recently. Took a while for the penny to drop, which I have to assume would be the case for most pearl laypeople. The Akoyas in particular. My questions were more to the heart of how quickly might nacre in bead nucleated pearls wear out and could you always tell. I am definitely a fan of freshwaters and Catherine Cardellini has been brilliant in helping me feed my addiction in a 'safe nacre' way!
Certificates certainly sound a bit hit and miss!
Caitlin
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2004
- Messages
- 8,502
Hi Fiona
Good quality akoyas have nacre thick enough to wear for decades. I know it is pearl plating and I used to be the most vocal person about it, but as time has passed and I see that there would hardly be any pearls except for freshwaters if there were no pearl plating, I have softened my view. My MiL, whom I have not mentioned for ages, wore 3 akoya ropes every day of her life after age 14. She died at 90+. I got a baroque akoya choker of hers with some wear. It really needs about 12 replacement pearls. Her ropes showed some wear too, around some of the drill holes. She wore those for 60-75 years, daily. They do wear and I think the old akoyas had thicker skins, which is why they are less perfectly round. but they do last a lifetime easily if not worn 24.7. My sister-in-law now wears them on top of the 2-3 she got from her grandmother. People only notice the luster, not the chips around (some of) the holes.
Also Tahitian and South Sea pearls have thicker nacre than akoyas, almost twice as much or more. The one above did wear out, but it was undoubtedly worn next to the skin 24/7 for years to look like that.
The upshot is you can stick to Freshwaters, which get better and more round and lustrous every year, or you can go with your gut and wear pearls you LOVE. I think you found pearls you love and you aren't complaining about the price, so get them and enjoy them. They will last a lifetime of wear. don't even worry about the funky pearl. With necklaces like that, you can easily upgrade the pearls you don't like when restringing. You have chosen necklaces you can wear together or singly, for the rest of your life if you don't sweat on them everyday and don't spray or drip cosmetics or "product" on them daily.
Xray them if you wish, but that would be just for fun. I doubt any of those pearls has thin nacre. If one does, replace it. for that price your vendor may even change one or two pearls out, right now. Ask.
Good quality akoyas have nacre thick enough to wear for decades. I know it is pearl plating and I used to be the most vocal person about it, but as time has passed and I see that there would hardly be any pearls except for freshwaters if there were no pearl plating, I have softened my view. My MiL, whom I have not mentioned for ages, wore 3 akoya ropes every day of her life after age 14. She died at 90+. I got a baroque akoya choker of hers with some wear. It really needs about 12 replacement pearls. Her ropes showed some wear too, around some of the drill holes. She wore those for 60-75 years, daily. They do wear and I think the old akoyas had thicker skins, which is why they are less perfectly round. but they do last a lifetime easily if not worn 24.7. My sister-in-law now wears them on top of the 2-3 she got from her grandmother. People only notice the luster, not the chips around (some of) the holes.
Also Tahitian and South Sea pearls have thicker nacre than akoyas, almost twice as much or more. The one above did wear out, but it was undoubtedly worn next to the skin 24/7 for years to look like that.
The upshot is you can stick to Freshwaters, which get better and more round and lustrous every year, or you can go with your gut and wear pearls you LOVE. I think you found pearls you love and you aren't complaining about the price, so get them and enjoy them. They will last a lifetime of wear. don't even worry about the funky pearl. With necklaces like that, you can easily upgrade the pearls you don't like when restringing. You have chosen necklaces you can wear together or singly, for the rest of your life if you don't sweat on them everyday and don't spray or drip cosmetics or "product" on them daily.
Xray them if you wish, but that would be just for fun. I doubt any of those pearls has thin nacre. If one does, replace it. for that price your vendor may even change one or two pearls out, right now. Ask.
jshepherd
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2004
- Messages
- 6,158
Hi Fiona,
The certificates don't do a whole lot, unfortunately. When pearls are exported out of Tahiti, the entire lot is put through the export examination and the entire lot certified. This means that there may be thousands of pearls that are being exported legally, yet there is only one certificate for the entire lot.
It is true that pearls are smuggled out of Tahiti and these are, for the most part, relatively easy to spot. It isn't only the nacre thickness that will doom a pearl at the Ministry of Perliculture. It can also be the overall quality of the pearl, and thin nacre may present itself with visible beads or a sort of veiny, spiderweb surface.
If a Tahitian pearl or a strand of Tahitian pearls looks to be of fine to good quality, there really is very little to be concerned about. The minimum nacre thickness is under 1 mm, but this is considered extremely thick for akoya, which should last a lifetime. It would be quite rare to have any issues with the nacre peeling or rubbing through.
The certificates don't do a whole lot, unfortunately. When pearls are exported out of Tahiti, the entire lot is put through the export examination and the entire lot certified. This means that there may be thousands of pearls that are being exported legally, yet there is only one certificate for the entire lot.
It is true that pearls are smuggled out of Tahiti and these are, for the most part, relatively easy to spot. It isn't only the nacre thickness that will doom a pearl at the Ministry of Perliculture. It can also be the overall quality of the pearl, and thin nacre may present itself with visible beads or a sort of veiny, spiderweb surface.
If a Tahitian pearl or a strand of Tahitian pearls looks to be of fine to good quality, there really is very little to be concerned about. The minimum nacre thickness is under 1 mm, but this is considered extremely thick for akoya, which should last a lifetime. It would be quite rare to have any issues with the nacre peeling or rubbing through.
Cyril Roger Brossard
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2012
- Messages
- 408
1mm is extremely thin for South Sea pearl... I guess it is just a matter of perspective.
Caitlin and Jeremy, thanks for your posts, they were really helpful in providing some context. I feel much less concerned.
It sounds like the probability of a low quality pearl not being spotted by an educated/informed seller is extremely low. It is also good to know that the bead nucleated pearls still last a lifetime.
Thanks again,
Fiona
It sounds like the probability of a low quality pearl not being spotted by an educated/informed seller is extremely low. It is also good to know that the bead nucleated pearls still last a lifetime.
Thanks again,
Fiona
