A huge natural pearl pendant, 19th century

FrenchPearl, thank you for the wow appreciation :-D
I didn't use the "soufflure de perle" to qualify Mazda! Only said hat pins made of soufflures were made, as on link in comment #20 showing them :)
It is a plain baroque pearl.

For the weight/size comparaison with La Peregrina (which originally weighed 223.8 grains) with 11grams is a little larger than Mazda.

Mazda with the mount (I don't want to take it off!) is 15 grams.

I estimate the mount to be 5 grams, so Mazda would be 10 grams, or 200 grains or 50 carats.

I suggest a new name: the Nearly-Peregrina!
 
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Pattye, CathyKesh and JerseyPearl, thank you!!! I'm glad the pics helped, wasn't sure... I knew I was lucky on this buy and now need another big bottle of Champagne...

Dave! I'm so grateful for your study of my candling results :-D THANK YOU!
It is a great honor to get your opinion for Mazda beeing an extraordinary natural large baroque drop pearl, possibly originated from Panama Gulf, maybe older than 19th century.

I enquired from Laboratoire Fran?ais de Gemmologie about how to get a certificate.
Though it will cost me 1/3 of the original buying price (minus the Champagne bottle, lol!), I will follow your advices and bring Mazda to them next week.

Of course, I'll give you the follow up ;-)
 
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Kyratango, you have a great eye for pearls! You may need a CASE of champagne :)
 
Wonderful confirmation, kyratango! Awesome, and certification is a good idea, if only for insurance purposes. Dave's reports are always so interesting; in the mysterious (at least to me!) world of natural pearls, he's the pearl guru.
 
Very happy for you and Mazda-Peregrina!
 
Follow up with Gemmological Laboratory report!

I just got Mazda back... The laboratory told me they X-rayed it, Mazda appears to be cut at the top, hollow and filled with a material and a metallic thing as a flag, bottom up, in it!

So, as hollow, Mazda is a soufflure, and they can't say if it is natural or cultivated...

The good news is they gave me back my 85€ deposit and charged nothing for the examination :)
 
Very interesting!

It was probably filled to make sure it didn't break, and the flag thingy sounds like it's the anchor for the bail setting.
 
kyratango said:
they can't say if it is natural or cultivated...
Click to expand...

From a scientific standpoint, any pearl which is drilled or has structure removed and/or replaced with artificial material is considered destroyed.

Unless views of the nuclear material are glaringly obvious or the sources of pearls are known, an inconclusive report is a responsible result.

Your pearl was purchased in 1992. Subtract a few years for formation and a couple more for juvenile rearing could take us back as early as 1985. SS were in production at that time, but this pearl has no bead. That certainly increases the likelihood of natural origin, however there is a semblance of doubt. For example a shell may have rejected the bead, yet formed a keshi from the graft then fell to the sea floor or overboard etc. only to be recovered years later. Any scenario similar is possible. Natural origin is equally plausible.

The great thing about this pearl, it was not purported to be natural by the seller and that uncertainty was reflected in the price. Nonetheless, it's value remains relative to it's mysteries and it's worn and enjoyed for what it is... a magnificent gem.
 
Hello Kyratango,

Wow ! That's fascinating ! I'm trying to get my head around the visual of the upside down visual... Did they give you x-ray pictures that you could post ? Did they write " soufflure de perle " in the report ? Understanding what is a "soufflure" really is a pet peeve of mine. There is no explanation of what is (how it got form) on the internet. The only content that come up on google is actually the thread I started on PG on couple years ago (the one you actually reference in this thread).
There is nothing either on "soufflure" in the Starck book.
If anyone knows, I'd be very interested to get info ( not on modern cultured souffle pearl).
As I was reading the Starck book, I found this interesting passage on "drilling of pearls" p 297
In the so-called half-drilled pearl, the length of the drill hole is supposed to account for about 2/3 or 3/4 of the diameter of the pearl. The pearls are usually fixed onto a piece of jewelry using a special glue. In Paris, the so-called Malakoff glue was used in the past, made up of shellac, colophonium and turpentine.
The drill hole tends to widen with time, due to the exposure of acids on the skin of the wearer. in such cases, the end of the drill hole will appear flaky. Enlarged drill holes were often repaired by filling them with a chalky material, or pearl powder and drilling them again. [.....]careful examination is often necessary in order to reveal such repairs. Radiograph of pearls sometime reveal all possible types of filling materials, which can fill the entire interior of a pearl if a large hollow space was there previously. Plastic material, tiny pearls, and even wire threads have been found as filling materials.
Click to expand...

So i'm reading this as a pearl can have a large hollow space inside.... Is this a correct assumption ?

Kyratango, what do you think ? You are an expert in jewelry, is there any clues from the jewelry mount that inform your guess / assumption ?

And I agree with everybody above, whatever it is, it's a magnificent piece.
Best et au plaisir de vous lire bientot
Sophie
 
pattye said:
Wow, fascinating! That must have been an interesting pearl for lab people to see! Nice of them to refund your fee. Some keshi pearls are hollow inside, too. Or filled with a stinky fluid which has to be cleaned out, leaving a void.
Click to expand...

Yes, they were "wow!" when I brought it! They refunded because they couldn't give a certificate... thanks for your interest :)
 
Lagoon Island Pearls said:
From a scientific standpoint, any pearl which is drilled or has structure removed and/or replaced with artificial material is considered destroyed.

Unless views of the nuclear material are glaringly obvious or the sources of pearls are known, an inconclusive report is a responsible result.

Your pearl was purchased in 1992. Subtract a few years for formation and a couple more for juvenile rearing could take us back as early as 1985. SS were in production at that time, but this pearl has no bead. That certainly increases the likelihood of natural origin, however there is a semblance of doubt. For example a shell may have rejected the bead, yet formed a keshi from the graft then fell to the sea floor or overboard etc. only to be recovered years later. Any scenario similar is possible. Natural origin is equally plausible.

The great thing about this pearl, it was not purported to be natural by the seller and that uncertainty was reflected in the price. Nonetheless, it's value remains relative to it's mysteries and it's worn and enjoyed for what it is... a magnificent gem.
Click to expand...

Dave, I'm completely with you, and will always love Mazda!
 
FrenchPearl said:
Hello Kyratango,

Wow ! That's fascinating ! I'm trying to get my head around the visual of the upside down visual... Did they give you x-ray pictures that you could post ? Did they write " soufflure de perle " in the report ? Understanding what is a "soufflure" really is a pet peeve of mine. There is no explanation of what is (how it got form) on the internet. The only content that come up on google is actually the thread I started on PG on couple years ago (the one you actually reference in this thread).
There is nothing either on "soufflure" in the Starck book.
If anyone knows, I'd be very interested to get info ( not on modern cultured souffle pearl).
As I was reading the Starck book, I found this interesting passage on "drilling of pearls" p 297


So i'm reading this as a pearl can have a large hollow space inside.... Is this a correct assumption ?

Kyratango, what do you think ? You are an expert in jewelry, is there any clues from the jewelry mount that inform your guess / assumption ?

And I agree with everybody above, whatever it is, it's a magnificent piece.
Best et au plaisir de vous lire bientot
Sophie
Click to expand...

FrenchPearl, The "thing" inside is as a flag upside down, so it work as an anchor to secure the setting!

The Malakoff glue you referred to is what I found inside a very damaged soufflure hatpin...
As it was very dirty and uggly, I let it soak in warm water with soap, and it completely falled in pieces!
This glue is not at all waterproof, lol!

All old/antique soufflures (from the 1900') I saw were kind of lobed shape, Mazda in my opinion, is contemporary of its mount, Napoléon III era, but can't say more about its formation :-/

Thak you all for reading the follow-up, and all your nice comments :)
 
I agree! What a neat story and wonderful pearl!
 
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