bead nucleated freshwater : anyone with experience in nacre depth or cracking problem

[Charlotta]

Neat science experiments lisa c. It's always good fun making ropes. You have to post the results when you are done.

 

[pearl-man]

_Those are kinda sizable. Are they your pearls or has someone come to ask your opinion about the cracks?

I have some old akoyas that now have cracks like that, but the cracks are my own fault. I wore them every day for over 10 years, and I bought them used/old from an antique shop, in good shape but not superb, dulled by dirt, but no cracks until...

Anyway here's the story - there was a thread on Pearl Guide way back when about restoring yellowed pearls to white again. I tried most of the remedies. One suggested that rehydrating them in the sun was a good idea. The sun warmed the water, and they did look a little better...I took the idea too far, figuring that warmer water = warmer nacre, which would rehydrate faster. I put them in warmer and warmer water until unfortunately, the last time I looked some were cracked.

The nacre expanded more successfully than the bead? or is the bead intact and some of the innermost nacre cracked? At least the surface layer of nacre expanded and contracted without a crack.

1)Not one of my cracked beads has a surface crack, and
2)size of the bead doesn't matter and
3)the cracks are 2 yrs old and haven't spread to the surface. So, that's my result after 2 yrs - but what does it matter since the appearance is unsightly whether or not the crack progresses? Well, any increase in knowledge is of benefit, of course.

I think impact as a cause would show a crack through the outermost layer of nacre. There are a few PGers who've broken pearls deliberately - I hope one of them will take up the thread here, but

- if someone doesn't the topic has probably been addressed in one of the threads on the forums.

I'm going to leave here and check through the archives, but for now you know at least one cause - hot water, no matter how slowly you heat it up.

I'll be checking on the damage that sonic cleaners do next.

In the meantime, though this is very tardy "Welcome to Pearl Guide!", and I hope you've stuck around in spite of the topic not having been taken up. There's a world of knowledge here, and really good people.

Hey, you're already a pearl-guy! and probably already know this stuff! Dang! Don't I feel stupid.
Well, at least you're still here, right? and posting, etc...and you can do your own checking!

I have seen this happen over the years to necklaces we have strung. My conclusion is that eventho the nucleus and the coating are essentially the same there are chemical differences and physical differences which force them to expand and contract at different rates.

 

[lisa c]

And, bring on our chorus,

for all the Pearl Girls
have brought their hammers,
to add to their test-i-mony...

 

[CortezPearls]

LOL Lisa C... I like your Humor!
Talking about Hammers & Pearls...been thinking I should talk with Taika Waititi and have him do a "Thor" movie called "Mjolnir and Pearls", having Natalie Portman wearing looooots of pearls.
Years ago, I did a video on how I cracked some Cortez Mabe with a hammer, to demonstrate how tough these pearls are. Of course, they did break...but if I had a diamond it would have also shattered, I am sure (BTW: anyone has a diamond I could use to experiment on?)

 

[lisa c]

****Dont get him started!****

 

[CortezPearls]

Now I have Willie Nelson singing at the back of my head..."For all the pearls I've smashed before"

 

[lisa c]

Neat science experiments lisa c. It's always good fun making ropes. You have to post the results when you are done.

Hi Charlotta! Yes, well, these were the get-rid-of-the-dye experiments. I was obsessed with all things pearl, in a more impulsive than scientifically controlled way. I had only pennies and ‘late nights on eBay’, but lots of fun

Step 1) Get more thread and needles
1a) Clear a space
Step 2) Get all of my pearls in the same place.....
Step 3) Warm up by hopping around to Peter Gabriel Live In Your Eyes with Yousson Dor and Jennie Abrahamson. Hurt my knees badly, so sit down with pearls....

Douglas! I love your videos.