Are those basra (arabian gulf) pearls?

[kaisoni]

Are those basra pearls?

 

[lisa c]

This photo looks familiar...?

 

[pattye]

Kaisoni,

What do you know about these pearls? We cannot tell from a photo whether these are natural (basra) pearls. Why do they appear so dark around the drill holes? The pearls appear to be very small, what size are they?

 

[GemGeek]

They certainly do look familiar.

 

[kaisoni]

Those are 22 pearls in total
All photos are of same 22 pcs pearls
Pearl shown in palm is biggest of those , it weighs 1.40 carats
Total weight of all those 22 pearls are 9.70 carats
Average weight of 21 pearls excluding the one shown in palm is 0.40 carat aprox.
Holes are looking black due to the accumulated dirt in them over the period of time
I bought those from a person who deals in old jewellery stuffs like those pearls

 

[lisa c]

(Gasp) the dirty (ancient) pearls?

(this isn't the first time we've seen pearls stuffed with 'ancient' dirt)

 

[Caitlin]

I see nothing that would rule out that they are anything but natural Gulf pearls.

They could use a few minutes of swirling in some soapy water. Maybe a beading needle with cotton thread to pass through the holes after soaking to get them clean. Then towel dry and rephotograph. You will be pleased at how much better they look.


I posted similar pix of my grandfather's pearls, probably back in 2006 or earlier- they were really dirty, too.

What do you plan on doing with them?

 

[Caitlin]

When the pearls are clean, those rings around the holes, like in the center pearl in the top picture will prove to be covering worn nacre of a very delicate type found only in the Persian Gulf pearls. I think there are photos of that effect too, if I only knew where they were......

 

[hbyrne]

I think I'm guilty of posting dirty old Pearl pics too! These ones have really gorgeous lustre don't they?

 

[lisa c]

Nah, regular dirt wasn't the issue. Someone had known of people packing and smearing dirt into/onto pearl holes in an effort to gull the gullible with stories of 'buried' ancient pearls. This photo bears a strong resemblance to such a photo. Sorry :-( for obscure reference.

can someone tell me how to do Image Search on PG?