the story of a bizarre jewel that landed at the GIA lab—a natural pearl that looks uncannily like a fish.
The story of this unique brownish-orange Pearl .
my father bought in 1965 a bag of freshwater pearls in Beirut, Lebanon. The fish-pearl is believed to have come from the Mississippi River, though how it ended up in Lebanon is a bit of a mystery.
Even so, my father was so entranced with it—especially the way it perfectly mimics a fish’s mouth, eyes, and scales—that he kept it as a souvenir.
He kept it with him all this time. He always wanted it near him.”
For years my father believed a fish skeleton resided in the pearl. Earlier this year, the family sent it to the GIA lab for analysis. And while the scientists there were suitably impressed—the pearl “showed a remarkable resemblance to a fish swimming,” they wrote in a lab note—they found it to be all pearl, no fish. Further, they found “no indications of work, such as polishing, that is sometimes performed to improve a pearl’s appearance.”
In the end, there is no logical explanation for why this particular pearl looks so much like a fish.
It’s just the beauty of nature. Perhaps it’s the finger of God...
best to you
see GIA lab not in Gem&Gemology Fall 2017
cyrille.hamoniaux@dbmail.com
