Akoya circle pearls?

S

Supernova

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Was my first impression and I’m standing by it. But would love opinions and perhaps validation… silver and pink luster - Akoya pearl luster (7mm diameter approximately)
 

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Smileys said:
My photos must not have captured the luster. Definitely not FW
Click to expand...
Plus fancy clasp, professional knotting, French wire. Freshwater pearls do not come in the circle shape as they are not bead nucleated. Someone correct me if I am wrong
 
Freshwater pearls undergo luster treatments that tighten the nacre to improve the luster.
Anyone can use gimp (French wire) and a nicer clasp to improve the look of their pearl necklaces!

I own circled FWP, both white and dyed to resemble Tahitians and GSS. :)

Dyed FWP:
Dyed FWP strand forum.jpeg


In this next photo you can see the circled FWP that I used to make an extender for my SSP necklace. I have more of them, too.
It's pretty common to see Chinese circled FWP listed as SSP from Chinese sellers on eBay. It's actually from one such seller that I bought mine (knowing full well what they actually were.)

Circled FWP extender with my baroque:circled SSP necklace.jpeg
 
jshepherd said:
Yes, definitely cultured Chinese freshwater pearls. Akoya pearls do not circle like this. South Sea pearls can circle in a similar way, but the overall look is different.
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Actually Akoya pearls come in circle shape, it is not unheard of. I have gemological knowledge- schooling. Not just the CPPA, I am actually (soon to be, within days!) a licensed gemologist.
 
Smileys said:
Actually Akoya pearls come in circle shape, it is not unheard of. I have gemological knowledge- schooling. Not just the CPPA, I am actually (soon to be, within days!) a licensed gemologist.
Click to expand...
Do you have a copy of Strack's book, Pearls? On p. 371 there are photos of different shapes of symmetrical and semi-baroque and baroque akoyas. I see some pearls with surface flaws that are perpendicular to the drill hole-- but they are not circled pearls, not really.

I've never seen actual circled akoyas. The nacre isn't thick enough to make the kinds of circles we see in non-nucleated FWP and in SSP.
 
Pearl Dreams said:
Do you have a copy of Strack's book, Pearls? On p. 371 there are photos of different shapes of symmetrical and semi-baroque and baroque akoyas. I see some pearls with surface flaws that are perpendicular to the drill hole-- but they are not circled pearls, not really.

I've never seen actual circled akoyas. The nacre isn't thick enough to make the kinds of circles we see in non-nucleated FWP and in SSP.
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I think that if you saw these in person you might change your mind.
Oh and in the CPPA course on “Akoya shapes” it does say that many shapes are possible… namely circle…. Extraordinarily rare, but possible. And I double checked this info before posting this thread
 
Pearl Dreams and Jeremy are pearl experts. Jeremy is renowned in the pearl world. If you are referencing the CPAA Pearls As One course, Jeremy was one of the developers. I hope you will accept their analysis.
 
jeg said:
Good for you!:arms:
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Actually no, I’m still not convinced. I had this idea though, I have a bunch of loose Akoya pearls that I’ve been practicing knotting with, im going to take a photo of these in comparison to the known Akoyas. I think that will be diagnostic enough.
 
Courses and book learning only go so far; some things are only learned through experience, and over time. This is true in many fields.

Do this: go on eBay, type in a search for "baroque south sea pearls" and see how many of these ringed FWP come up! Also ripple FWP and flameball. White, black, and yellow.

Mostly from China, but not always. Here's one from a USA seller: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1660199089...a44guYcTfigBpqs3NW6bhDGw==|tkp:Bk9SR7qx49X5YQ
 
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Here's one that makes me laugh: https://www.ebay.com/itm/394587225403?hash=item5bdf3b3d3b:g:9L0AAOSwo6lWQgdf&amdata=enc:AQAIAAAA8JOlsvfl5fHah4mvkYVV9U87YrMVOmzNkaxL4Gw3rOrJ7Hg7vu7E3+8hiwg9Fh13eB7TVoVc8GwTsfSSAV3cYi9F9wPUMp2O9VXJ05+6uzo+MbxgCocOYOxHVr78vSmmQbr4EkwM1xLvzgy1m2g2JQfaENDCa2FppNycmTMlYeYh/tTj+RcHaRaEaZ2r6nBUdgx3dnsDy938DSkGXvWg/yd01F4KR+tN4cy1J/eL5D6P6OkYKYW1Zz+KQpsYPvvPEOiWrK7DSfuvMHqdORrc2KQbftwiDXb/Kr+Pgw8BS6QSI2nC2mFgh2hKL7qsCAg8wA==|tkp:Bk9SR67fgNb5YQ

This very photo has been used over and over, by multiple Chinese sellers. Sometimes they list them as baroque SS, sometimes baroque akoya (as in this listing). The ringed FWP from which I made my necklace extender were from a listing using this very photo.
Scams abound.

Scroll down from this listing and you'll see even more listings using the same photo!
 
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This thread became quite interesting!
A debate...these are healthy because we LEARN MORE.
I do have to say this: back in the mid 1990's when I started pearl farming...well, we where trying to LEARN about the many ways to produce cultured pearls (and how not to!) and we were harvesting pearls after just 3 months of culture. This is what you can definitively call "thin nacred" (0.1 or 0.2 mm) in a way you could SEE the bead underneath and we still had several circled pearls. The rings were not thick of course but you could see and say: It's a circlé pearl!
I do believe Akoya can produce circled pearls BUT since Akoya pearl technicians have become quite proficient in their Art, this is not something you would see today. Many Circled pearls are caused by imperfections in the pearl sac, organic matter and even small infections. By having good mantle selection, using antibiotics (biocoated nuclei) and grafting at the appropiate moment you can reduce cirlced pearls to a bare minimum.
The better you become at grafting pearls, less circled pearls will be produced. We saw this at the farm in Mexico...every year, less and less baroques, less and less circled, less and less knobs.
Akoya technicians and very good! They get what they want: round, luminous and clean pearls,
 
This is a photo that an Australian friend sent me quite some time ago! These are Australian Akoya pearls.
Please notice the many imperfections in the pearls...they are pretty! But I believe I see concentric rings in at least a few...

Aussie Akoyas - Circled Circled.jpg
 
It may also be that circles simply don't get to market. I can remember a few years ago when no-one admitted to coloured akoya pearls. Now we fight over them!

Newly harvested akoya pearls from Vietnam with rare shapes and colors


These were fresh that day when I took this and I believe I can see faint circles on two at least = plus some really knobbly 'rosebud' granulateds.


This is one days output from a Vietnam farm I was at-we'll never see many of these pearls, more's the pity. Japanese akoya growers are still pretty much operating in C19 when it comes to wanting only white and round and in all their business attitudes. I wasn't allowed to select...boo.

freshly harvested Vietnamese akoya pearls
 
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