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My thoughts, exactly.

Welcome to the club! I've got DISH, so my range of motion is radically decreasing. It's not painful insomuch a stiffening. Ken follows me on Facebook and I'm always flattered when he likes my pearl posts. I'd rather not impose upon a retired person directly, but perhaps posting the call there...

We were ascended to the TEM lab for high resolution imagery of fixed specimens. Though ground breaking, there were limitation issues. Although we were able to observe modified e-cells, the fixer masked otherwise discernible properties. Namely hormones and some proteins. We then evolved into...

I agree to the extent if were exclusive to that. However, gemology isn't though, it's based on the evolution and acceptance of science not perpetuating myths or giving up. Nacre isn't my only issue with the labs. The absence of proper postmortem analysis is limited to hamstringing themselves...

As to point 1, changing the classification from non-nacreous to slightly or moderate aragonite ought not imply a change in valuation in most cases. Of course, there are outliers. I'm not entirely familiar with variations in melo melo, thus unable to speak to aragonitic scale, but can with...

This is a first draft, hence incomplete. I invite your commentary and criticism that this may be refined.

Call for Industry Adoption: The Aragonitic Scale for Pearl Classification A Necessary Evolution in Pearl Classification For centuries, pearls have been classified under a rigid nacreous vs. non-nacreous framework. This outdated system fails to acknowledge the continuum of aragonite deposition...

A very good question. I considered this in the differential diagnosis. The valves of Order Ostreidae as we know them are highly calcitic in structure, thus broadly present as white. However in this specimen, the color and surface of the conjunctions appear highly nacreous. Matching this point...

This shell presents with two conjoined pearls. Each would have a term of growth within the vestibular mantle as a loose pearl then were erupted into the extrapallial cavity which eventually became fused to the shell. Upon examination of the inner surfaces, the creature had a considerable history...

Agreed. Nothing in this item suggests reversion, decomposition nor concretion from any era other than present. No less a near perfect sphere. >15mm.

Even with my zero fluency in oriental languages, I was bewildered why a knot-less strand of mismatched shaped freshwater pearls with a cheap clasp needed a certificate in the first place.

Of course, giving credence to buyer beware admonishments and the need to get a second opinion. And yes, implying common sense terminology as opposed to scientific descriptions of the object constituency.

It's clever, but not an elaborate fake. The flame pattern (if you can call it that) is superficial as opposed to radiating from the nucleus. X-ray analysis would reveal an absence of nuclear material, instead a striated pattern of bisected growth fronts in the views.

The difference between the auction prices then and now is quite stark. $5.1M down to $1.25M (USD). That's an enormous liability. I have no idea of the circumstances which brought this piece back into the market, but I'd suspect an estate sale or asset seizure because it's doubtful the seller...

Yes, it's an interesting tangent to the discussion. I wonder if it's shelled molluscs or all molluscs? If it's the latter, nudibranchs and some cephalopods would be the exceptions for a great part. I would gather it's the former though. We did identify scaphodpods as cross-lamellar, but I'd...

I would gladly, though I know woefully little of Ms. Strack's eruditions. Much of her work is behind paywalls, in expensive books or with presentations at foreign seminars beyond my austere means.

Aside from the assertion, I found this paper greatly intriguing because it lists several species common to us in the Pacific NW and west coast of Canada. Abalone, mussels, scallops, oysters, Manila clams and geoducks purchased at a fish market in China. It strikes home by directly reflecting...

The link is in the title. It's from the same paper in the OP. My apology, I should have been more specific.

Non-nacreous and porcelainous are subjective terms as to appearance. Nacreous, calcitic and calcareous are objective terms as to structure. It is true in the context of comparing one to another, one is non-nacreous if you ignore the barrier part and solely rely on a (flawed?) structural...

As a side note, this is very interesting and something I've alluded to for a long while. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zhu et al. (2016) reported that no...