Are browns untreated?

m4816k

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Apr 20, 2007
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Various shades of brown (chocollatte, copper...), I know there are treated ones (read about it somewhere), but do they come untreated as well? Are they only available as freshwaters or...?
 
As much as I can tell, freshwater pearl may come in convincing copper tones. And there are very dark brown ones among the natural 'black pearls' - if that's chocolate, think super bitter 90% cocoa, milk free chocolate. I am not sure what species produced those, but there are a couple of pearl growers on this forum that should know precisely ;)

In my opinion, the chances to find a whole strand of freshwater pearls of natural copper color are slim. And a strand of natural dark brown saltwater pearls is impossible: I have never heard of any such strands offered anywhere at any price. Now, I might have missed allot of news; there's an endless supply of pearls out there!

When the treatment for brown 'chocolate' Tahitian pearls was first disclosed a couple of years ago, there was a bit of confusion on the natural/treated status of these pearls and whether matching natural color existed ... you may find references to mysterious, million-dollar natural chocolate strands in older press articles ;) As the treatment became accepted now (i.e. you can still find the brown pearls in every price range, disclosure and all), rumors of natural chocolate color have faded. :rolleyes:

My 2c.


PS: I am not taking into account here some freshwater pearls with icky, mustard-colored (to put it politely! :eek:) proteinaceous stains. That's hardly 'pearl color'. Now, everything is a matter of personal taste, in the end. Those things sell somewhere, to some folks... apparently.
 
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PS: I am not taking into account here some freshwater pearls with icky, mustard-colored (to put it politely! :eek:) proteinaceous stains. That's hardly 'pearl color'. Now, everything is a matter of personal taste, in the end. Those things sell somewhere, to some folks... apparently.

I heard those are a wonderful match to shopping tv alchoholic diamonds:D
 
I think its safe to assume that most brown pearls are treated to achieve the color. If they aren't color treated then no doubt the seller would be making a very big deal out of this fact, since it would be virtually a one of a kind piece.
 
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