Golden Natural "Basra" Pearl

[goldnugget]

Hi!

Just bought an 11 carats Golden natural "Basra" pearl from an Indian Jamindar's son. He claims it to be a very rare treasure from his parents. The experts on the forum, your comments about the pearl pics please.

 

[Valeria101]

Hi!

Sounds interesting!

Now... 'Basra Pearls' are Gulf pearls... and various colors (deeper cream to 'golden', pink, peach.. dark ones) are possible although quite unusual. Also, the term is broadly used to mean natural (non-cultured) pearls from any source.

Whether this particular pear is a natural pearl from any location at all (not that it matters much), I am not sure. Possible, but... just can't tell from that picture! If anyone can... The color, the shape and the blemishes could well be a cultured pear of any type or an unusual natural one. The picture reminds me strongly of a ringed and crackled nucleated pearl, but I cannot say there's no chance this could be natural, because rings and cracks and knocks do happen on those too.

Basically, I couldn't think of anything better then getting a lab report.

My 2c. Hope more expert opinions are on their way.

 

[jshepherd]

It is impossible to be definitive from the photo, but it could be a great find. You would certainly need to get the pearl certified before anything else.

Has the pearl been drilled? Is there a story behind the pearl? We may be able to rule out fraud before sending it to a lab.

 

[goldnugget]

Thank You!

Thank You!

Dear Pearl Experts,

Thank you for your advice. The previous owner of the pearl, belongs to a "Zamindar" royal family of Lucknow, India. He is a friend of mine, and holds priceless gems in his estate. He himself is a whole sale dealer of gems, and antiques, with long experience and reputation. He sells only natural gems.

I bought the pearl for my personal use. I am Reiki Master, Numerologist, Dowser, and Tarot Reader. All my divinity skills attest to its authenticity. However, I am highly scientific in my attitude, and I will get it tested by a qualified gemmologist soon. At least to know of its materialistic worth!

With kind regards from India, to all at Pearl-Guide.com

 

[Slraep]

Hi Goldnugget,

Certainly it can be a natural. Is that a tiny drill hole on the top? It can be an estuary pearl. They come from Bangladesh and can be bought($$$) in Dhaka from reputable sources. They are formed in an environment that bathes the mollusc continuously with 6 hrs of salt water, then 6 hrs of freshwater. The colour would match an estuary pearl also. They are considered freshwater pearls although they are both fresh/salt water and are expensive. If yours is truely an estuary pearl, it has the prefered colour of golden pink. These pearls command high prices in India where there is a collector market for them.

Slraep

 

[Caitlin]

Hi goldnugget
That is a beautiful natural pearl. It has the slight lines deep under the surface that my natural Bahraini baroque pearl has. I have never seen lines like that in a cultured pearl. The color is not like any Gulf pearls I have seen. I would think Slreap might be right about the origin because it is a very rare color in Gulf Pearls.

If the photos are true to color- that is as close to genuine padparadscha color in a pearl you are going to see and is probably why slraep mentioned the saltwater/freshwater phenomenon of the Bangladesh pearls which produces colors like this one.

All in all I think this pearl has precisely the spiritual qualities Indians (esp Hindus) prize in a pearl and you are quite a lucky guy to be its caretaker for this generation.

You are also lucky to have a friend with such a collection and expertise. I hope he lets you look at his treasures and learn about their many spiritual qualites- this is just too good an opportunity to miss!

 

[goldnugget]

Thanks a lot!

Thanks a lot!

Thanks a lot for your expert comments. More details about the origin, and history of the pearl are on their way. This is supposed to be a natural pearl from the Basra in Gulf, and not of Bangladeshi origin. Will post more details soon.

 

[goldnugget]

The Gems Dealer's Feed Back

The Gems Dealer's Feed Back

The previous owner of the pearl, who is the Zamindar of Jaunpur, near Lucknow, India has sent me the following details. In his own words :

"Dear Sir

The Pearl is undrilled,and can be worn in a Ring,or whatever ornament u get it stud in.

Basra is a place in Iraq,world famous for Pearls.
With the technological advancements,chemicals,bye products,and oil spills Petroleum,the MOST EXTINCT AND BEST species of Oysters did not survive.
One can not imagine that Billions of Gallons of Petroleum got spilled into the Sea with time,u can get an idea on google search.

There are my own ancestorical item samples of all the precious category of Gemstones,which makes it very helpful to distinguish Origin,alongwith 18+ years of experience.

Basra are light weight as compared to other Natural Pearls.
This is due to the same material thin layer over layer deposits.
Other Pearls have a solid,chalk like core.
The layers are either Golden,as this one,or Blackish Grey colours,but the Golden one is the best.

Please see by magnifying glass,i have scratched a side on which u can see the layer by layer formation.
Rest and Best u will see soon,when u receive it."

 

[Caitlin]

How big in diameter is and 11 carat pearl?

I find several of his remarks puzzling. Like the weight of Basra pearls as opposed to others. to my understanding Basra pearls are from the pinctada radiata the usual Persian Gulf pearl oyster. There is nothing very different in its weight than any other natural pearl. Maybe Basra lost its p radiatas, but they are flouishing in other parts of the gulf, like around Bahrain.

He seems clueless about other pearls. Maybe he is talking about cultured pearls as opposed to natural when he talks about the chalky centers. That is a mistake. No natural pearl would be chalky on the inside and shiny on the outside- if that is what he means. If the pearl is chalky, it is chalky on the outside too and therefore an inferior pearl.

Cultured pearls have nucleii made from mussel shells. Mussel shells are essentially mother of pearl and they are not chalky.

And Heavens, WHY on earth would he scratch the pearl? Thats weird! The point is not to let the pearls get scratched!.

He is correct in saying that natural pearls are composed of layer upon layer of deposits of pearly material (a combination of conchiolin glue with calcium carbonate- which is chalky, but it is changed greatly by the addition of the gluey conchiolin and you don't see the chalky stuff unless its a bad pearl.)

OK Folks, any corrections?

I am not sure about this but Basra is mainly noted for seed pearls, so a larger one is more special. It would also be around 100 years old (at least) if a natural from Basra.

 

[Slraep]

Hi Goldnugget,

All natural pearls(any pearls) have a thin layer-over-layer nacre deposit, so I don't understand what the seller means by this. If you scratch, no, gouge, any natural pearl(don't do it) you will see layer after layer. It's very normal to have more conchiolin than aragonite in the natural pearl's centre. I don't know why Basra pearls would be different, unless the seller is comparing them to MOP nucleated pearls. I was under the impression that Basra pearls that are golden in colour are really med-dark yellowy gold and do not have any pink. I still think it is an estuary pearl. Sorry.

Get the pearl to a lab as soon as possible.

Slraep

 

[Slraep]

He is correct in saying that natural pearls are composed of layer upon layer of deposits of pearly material (a combination of conchiolin glue with calcium carbonate- which is chalky, but it is changed greatly by the addition of the gluey conchiolin and you don't see the chalky stuff unless its a bad pearl.)

OK Folks, any corrections?

I am not sure about this but Basra is mainly noted for seed pearls, so a larger one is more special. It would also be around 100 years old (at least) if a natural from Basra.

Hi Caitlin,

Actually calcium carbonate is chalky. It is a basic building block of the outer rough layer and inner irridescent layer of a pearly mollusc shell. It's the basic building block of a pearl too. Aragonite, the fine crystalline form of calcium carbonate, makes up the interior shell of pearly molluscs, and pearls. The fine aragonite crystals glow!! Calcite is the other crystal form that can result from calcium carbonate and it makes up the pearly mollusc's external shell(not too glowy,eh?). The conchiolin is just an organic protein that acts like a glue and can affect colour, it's usually kind of milky to fairly transparent. Aragonite is harder, has a higher specific gravity and is denser than Calcite.

You are right, the scratching of a natural pearl and some other things the seller is saying is mighty weird and he doesn't seem to know much about pearls.

Sorry again Goldnugget, this is just my personal opinion.

Slraep

 

[Valeria101]

Hm... the seller does describe the pearl in a rather unusual way. But leaving language aside, a large part of his description is obscure: if he really refers to subtle differences between the composition, density and weight of various natural non-cultured pearls. The bit about pearling in the Gulf having been wiped out by oil spills is rather wrong, but that's not really about this pearl in particular, is it.

I'd still have it tested.

I would still say that the color could be that of a Gulf pearl. However, the grand total of two brownish pink pearls of this origin I have seen to base my statement on were not fished infront of me and it could be that they were wrongly labeled as well.

Unlike 'Slraep' I know nothing of Estuary Pearls.

It would be nice to see what a lab report will turn out saying.

 

[Caitlin]

Hi Slraep I think you quoted the wrong sentence......How about this one?

He is correct in saying that natural pearls are composed of layer upon layer of deposits of pearly material (a combination of conchiolin glue with calcium carbonate- which is chalky, but it is changed greatly by being in a crystaline form known as aragonite with the addition of the gluey conchiolin and you don't see the chalky stuff unless its a bad pearl.)

If I were to rewrite the sentence, I should add the underlined part to make it correct?

So what makes chalky pearls? Inferior aragonite formations? the breakdown of the aragonite back into plain old calcium carbonate?

Hi Gold Nugget
Hope you don't mind getting a lesson in the stuff pearls are made of. But your friend really does not know much about pearls- maybe less than I know... I was not impressed by your friend's pearl talk and I would add my voice to others saying you really should get it certified because you are probably paying a small fortune for it.

We had a person on this forum who said that Basra pearls can come in that pink/gold color- so I am not ruling it out.

 

[goldnugget]

Thank You!

Thank You!

Dear Pearl Experts

Thanks for all your enthusiasm reagrding the nature of the pearl. As you all have rightly pointed out, I shall get it to the lab soon. Will post the results.

With kind regards

 

[Slraep]

Hi Slraep I think you quoted the wrong sentence......How about this one?
If I were to rewrite the sentence, I should add the underlined part to make it correct?

So what makes chalky pearls? Inferior aragonite formations? the breakdown of the aragonite back into plain old calcium carbonate?

Hi Gold Nugget
Hope you don't mind getting a lesson in the stuff pearls are made of. But your friend really does not know much about pearls- maybe less than I know... I was not impressed by your friend's pearl talk and I would add my voice to others saying you really should get it certified because you are probably paying a small fortune for it.

We had a person on this forum who said that Basra pearls can come in that pink/gold color- so I am not ruling it out.

Hi Caitlin,

Okay, that's a better description. I know you know exactly what it is!

One of the reasons pearls are chalky is that there is more milky opaque(coloured to a degree) conchiolin deposited than crystalline aragonite. Ideally there should be lots of the glowy crystals and just enough conchiolin to keep them together.

It is possible that sometimes the aragonite crystals are not well formed. The less aragonite is crystallized(kind of confusing because calling something aragonite means it IS crystallized), the more it looks like its precurser calcium carbonate, you are right about that. I think that aragonite crystals vary from being transparent to translucent, depending on a bunch of complex conditions. Nucleation of aragonite crystals also has something to do with the thin layer of conchiolin they are on. It's not something researchers fully understand. Biomineralisation is quite mysterious. It's some beautiful organic architecture, that's for sure. Nothing manmade can compare to it.

Slraep

 

[Slraep]

Hi Goldnugget,

I'm crossing my fingers that it may be an estuary pearl from Bangladesh because it has the optimal colour(read: most sought after) and would be expensive. If it turns out to be a natural oriental pearl as the seller says, the optimal colour for these is a lot lighter(light cream). The lighter colours are very sought after to replace parts of, or collected to complete, necklaces. The darker colours are harder to sell.

It turning out to be a padparadscha estuary "mukta" would probably be better than it turning out to be a dark natural oriental pearl.

Slraep

 

[Valeria101]

The previous owner of the pearl, who is the Zamindar of Jaunpur, near Lucknow, India has sent me the following details. In his own words :

"Dear Sir

[...]

Basra are light weight as compared to other Natural Pearls.
..."

Good to have these threads stay around for a while... until the right information falls into place!

Too bad the letter was so hastily written. I'd bet he meant THIS about pearl weight. LOL! A rogue, low-teck, but handy test for nucleated vs. non-nucleated pearls that exploits the lower density of pearls compared to nacre.

The gemology course material at U-Texas where the aricle comes from are quite good. For some reason, I din't pay too much attention to the pearl bit when redaing them (a few ages ago). Just happened to go back...

Citing the relevant bit:

"Reliably and accurately distinguishing natural from cultured pearl is difficult, and is usually done with an x-ray radiograph. This can reveal whether the nucleus comprises the majority of the pearl (as in most cultured pearls) or how thick the nacre is. A simple but nondiagnostic test is S.G.; most cultured pearls will sink in a liquid of density 2.74, whereas most naturals will float.

[...]

Specific Gravity: varies with source and with the type of nucleus; naturals 2.66-2.78, cultured pearls 2.72-2.78.

Persian Gulf - 2.715 "

 

[knotty panda]

Wow! Interesting! Sure beats smashing the ugly one with a hammer.

 

[Slraep]

Oh wow, a doctor, eh?

Slraep