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This couple was quite earnest in their request for my opinion. You could see it in their eyes, they knew something wasn't quite right about the necklace. So I felt I had an obligation to be straight with them, and I was. It wasn't an easy conversation to have, but a necessary one. I showed...

By shell beads I mean mother of pearl shell cut and drilled. Could be the same as the shell pearls you mentioned. However, these had heft, they had the weight of pearls. 9mm, very round, very clean. It just doesn't make sense to take a clean CFW and irradiate it. While turning them over in...

I was handed a strand of pearls yesterday and asked to ID them. I only had a few minutes, and no loupe with me. This strand was purchased in Greece (I think) for about $1200 usd, and sold to the consumer as Tahitian black pearls. 100% these are not natural color black pearls. They are the...

It can be tiresome to deal with consumer questions - the most frequent one I hear is "are these real pearls or are these cultured pearls?" But to hear rubbish from colleagues is profoundly frustrating. julie.

I'm arriving Tuesday and leaving Monday. I have an appointment Saturday morning. Maybe Friday? Do you know the place I mentioned? It's a couple of blocks from the Arizona hotel. julie.

anyone going this year? anyone want to meet up for a cup of coffee? there's a little coffee/bagel shop a block from AGTA. julie.

Actually Wendy, the drill holes are made from worms. Pearl worms. julie.

a sick mollusk = green pearls? Oh, that's a good one. I suppose a pink pearl is from a mollusk that's in love? Thanks Wendy. I'll file this one away with the rumor about Tahitians being colored by bettel nuts. I realize pearls are a very misunderstood gem, and part of my job is to educate...

Numerous times this past year I have heard consumers and patrons at art shows mention that freshwater pearl color is due to the injection of color into the host mollusk during cultivation. At first I would just correct them and forget about it, but hearing this time and again has me wondering...

I clean pearls for clients using warm water and gentle soap. It easily removes make-up and lotion gunk. julie.

this looks like their retail site, hence the prices. julie.

I just called Rio, the books are on back order. I too had to go thru the German publisher a couple years back. julie.

I tend to decide on a case by case basis. Do you generally tell, or not? julie.

Heidi, I appreciate your approach, and tact. Last week a woman at the art show was waxing poetic about her Majorcans, insisting that they weren't "real" fakes. She sure wasn't happy with me when I described the process of dipping glass beads into glue and fish scales. I'll take a more...

Hello Hector - thanks for your reply. I am very excited for you and this new venture. Last night I read your paper on inducing relaxation in the queen. Having lived in Key West for many years, this sure gives a whole new twist on a "drunk conch"! Best of luck to you. I (and many of my...

Is this cultivation only being performed on the Queen conch? Any attempts to cultivate pearls from the Horse conch? Are you able to control color at all? And what about color fading in uv light? Any attempts at stabilzing the color? Or will this always be a 'night time' gem? When can those...

Thanks y'all. I'm drilling a bunch of pearls at one time, freshies and tahitians. There are no shortcuts, that's for sure. julie.

Thanks Barbie currently I'm drilling 4 times, but it's tedious work. And these drill bits dull quickly and are a bit pricey, so it adds up. thanks for the suggestions. julie.

I also use a 2 part epoxy. Called Epoxy 330, get it from Rio. Dries water clear, as long as I mix it correctly there are no problems. I've only used Rio's pearl solvent to remove old glues from pearls. It works fairly well, although it evaporates quickly. What is this stuff called 'Attack'...

For those of you drilling pearls, got a question for you. Starting with an undrilled pearl, and taking it up to 1.2mm drill hole, how many drill bit sizes do you use? Do you start with .6, and increase in incriments of .10? That would require 8 different drill bit sizes to get to 1.2. Do you...