14.5 kgs Tridacna gigas "Pearl"

[newtopearl]

Deleted

 

[CortezPearls]

Hi there!
What I see there is not a natural pearl, but a fragment of "Giant Clam" shell...I don't even think it's fossilized. I have a collection of fossils and have seen many, many different fossils and this just looks like normal shell to me. The use of "fossilized material" (with material being shell, tusks, bone, etc) is sometimes used as a ploy to avoid the material from being confiscated, since this is an ENDANGERED SPECIES, protected by the CITES treaty.
So, you may end up selling it inside your country...but once it is "exported" it will be confiscated, as it should.

I would not recommend anyone from buying this piece of polished shell nor do I find real value in it.

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

A friend went to Siargao Philippines and was offered and sold a clam the locals had kept for years. He got it evaluated by a gemologist and it was identified as Natural True Giant Fossilized Clam Pearl. High level of Ca at avg of 95% and other minerals. Composed mainly of Aragonite. We don’t know a lot about pearls, would you guys be able to spare some time and explain how much this is worth, where can we sell? Thank you.

A "friend" and a "gemologist" you say? On this forum, we normally divulge friends who are legitimate dealers, after all they have nothing to hide.

Likewise legitimate gemologists have no problem allowing their certifications to be posted.

If this monstrosity is comprised of 95% calcium, how can it possibly be "mainly aragonite".

It's true, you do not know a lot about pearls because there is no pearl here. It's not a fossil either. This is a cut shell from an endangered species.

However, we can help you with value and a place to sell. Nothing and nowhere.

 

[Curiouspearl]

Hi there!
What I see there is not a natural pearl, but a fragment of "Giant Clam" shell...I don't even think it's fossilized. I have a collection of fossils and have seen many, many different fossils and this just looks like normal shell to me. The use of "fossilized material" (with material being shell, tusks, bone, etc) is sometimes used as a ploy to avoid the material from being confiscated, since this is an ENDANGERED SPECIES, protected by the CITES treaty.
So, you may end up selling it inside your country...but once it is "exported" it will be confiscated, as it should.

I would not recommend anyone from buying this piece of polished shell nor do I find real value in it.

Just want to ask based from the photos, but can a light tesr also be done on clam shells? One of the physical tests to determine a real pearl is if the light passes through and creates a warm light like that one on the photo

 

[BWeaves]

I've never heard of that test before. That doesn't sound very scientific.

 

[CortezPearls]

Just want to ask based from the photos, but can a light tesr also be done on clam shells? One of the physical tests to determine a real pearl is if the light passes through and creates a warm light like that one on the photo

Haven't heard of that "light test" before, and I've attended dozens of lectures on pearl identification.
What you have there is just a giant clam shell, polished (either naturally in the ocean or by man, I believe it's the second option due to the lack of drill-organism damage).
Fossils are rarely translucent (I actually never seen one or heard of one, but I have some open space in case they ever find one) so you basically have so many facts wrong that it just begs the question of if you really ever tried to find someone that could tell you what you have: any biologist would tell you. A schoolteacher.

 

[Curiouspearl]

Probably the lectures you have attended only featured the small ones which made light test impossible. Light test is one is the physical ways to chck if it's pearl or not that is zccording to gemologists and minerologists.

 

[jshepherd]

One of the physical tests to determine a real pearl is if the light passes through and creates a warm light

This is not correct. You may be referring to candling, which is a method of using a light source to examine the internal structure of a pearl. It's often used to determine whether a pearl is beaded (cultured) or natural. But light passing through and creating a warm light is not a test to determine whether a pearl is real or not.

 

[CortezPearls]

Probably the lectures you have attended only featured the small ones which made light test impossible. Light test is one is the physical ways to chck if it's pearl or not that is zccording to gemologists and minerologists.

I mean, not only lectures...books too!
You really need to find someone who knows what they are talking about and not just doing as if they do. If not, just reading some pearl books or gemological journals/papers will be helpful.
Put a little effort into it and it will reward you.