Help needed to validate discovery of saccostrea glomerata ? Natural pearl

[Oystereater]

H

Hello to all forum members.
I am knew to this forum.

The reason I am posting this message is to try & get some help, from any knowledgeable members, about a pearl which my wife found whilst we were out one day,opening rock oysters,to eat, which are quite numerous at many of our local beach headlands.

The area in particular is the mid Eastern coastline of New South Wales, Australia.
My wife bit into a pearl whilst eating an oyster..au natural.
We have had the pearl for over 11 years now.
Its very small, measuring about 4 mm.s by 3 mm.s
The color could be described as grey clods over a lighter background.

However, since hearing about a man finding a rare natural pearl in a Pacific oyster, whilst dining in an oyster bar, we wanted to know whether ours is much the same, or is it from a completely different species?
thanking for any replies,
regards,Andrew.

 

[Bodecia]

Hello and welcome Andrew. Can you take a photo of the pearl close up as possible from all directions on white kitchen paper if possible and white cotton if not. Needs this to have a good look at it. Just crop.

Most of the experts will come online when later. Hopefully someone will be able to help you.
I am from Australia too. Wish I could help but unfortunately cannot.

Dawn - Bodecia
http://www.ebay.com/sch/dawncee333/m.html
eBay Seller ID dawncee333 Natural pearl collector & seller. And all round pearl lover.

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Pearls from Sydney Rock Oysters (Saccostrea glomerata) are not as common as those from Japanese Oysters (Crassostrea gigas). Due largely to the sheer volume of Japanese oysters served around the world. Physically, there's not much difference between the two genus. They prevail mainly in Australia and inhabit sheltered estuaries and bays, ranging from Hervey Bay in Queensland to Wingan Inlet in Victoria.

Pearls from any of the ostreidae family tend to be occluded with calcite and the micro thin nacreous surface is often destroyed or made dull by cooking.

Yours has an interesting mottled blue/gray color.

Incidentally, this oyster was once near extinction. It has made a remarkable recovery since 1989 when the Australian government imposed a ban on TBT-F (tributyltin) anti-fouling paint for vessels under 25 meters.

 

[MSC]

The coloration is really interesting, I hope someone can help you out here. Second Dawn's recommendation of getting closer photos, make sure to use the macro setting on your camera (usually the flower).

 

[GemGeek]

Congratulations on your find. Are you wondering whether you have found something valuable? Often, stories are published about people finding a pearl in their meal. An appraiser is brought in for the story, who says the pearl is worth an amazing sum. But in the aftermath, the finder usually doesn't realize the profits because it can be very hard to sell something that is basically a curiosity.

That said, there are people who collect natural pearls. You can try contacting member JNorris here on this site by private message, although it may take a while for him to get back to you. Also, try contacting www.conchcology.be, a site that has shells, but also sometimes has pearls that go up for auction. EBay is probably the easiest, but probably won't fetch a great price.

It is very hard to tell from your photos, but is there a hole on the flat side? Does it feel solid? Are you sure it is a pearl and not some kind of snail? Better photos will give us more to evaluate.

 

[Oystereater]

Hi Dawn - Bodecia,
hope this image helps.
As I initially mentioned, the pearl is irregular in shape...the flattened area of the pearl..I'm guessing was the lodgeded foreign body...this looks like the lighter yellow looking material, around which the nacre might have grown??

 

[Oystereater]

Better cropped images

Better cropped images

Hello & thankyou for your interesting input.
I have attached 2 more images showing the lacy mottling on the pearl's surface.
Yes, I believe it does have a faint, overall bluish grey hue.
regards,Andrew.

 

[Oystereater]

Not a snail

Not a snail

Hello & thankyou for your reply.
I have added 3 more images...the foreign body as I call it, appears flat & smooth to the touch, it is also different in colour & texture to the rest of the pearl's nacre.
I'm guessing it was, what may have caused a pearl to secrete.

I am curious as to whether anyone else has found something similar & have some info to share about theirs?
Is this small size - normal / average / large ?
Does size of a natural pearl depend upon age of oyster? and or size of oyster?
Does the natural coloring depend on any of above, or to habitat ?, food source ?, type of irritant ?

We are not pearl collectors, but my wife regarded as finding a pearl...GOOD LUCK, so it has stayed in a memento box, amongst some pieces of pink coral, reminding us of some of the great times we had on the beach, when we lived in NSW, all those years before.

I have looked on the net as to the huge variety of pearls available...however I have'nt come across any that have surface colour patterns, like this one.
Beauty & value in the beholder,
this is such an fascinating field, that it could consume many lifetimes of observation, knowledge & experience.

 

[Oystereater]

Hi,
No there is no hole on the flat side.
Looks like nacre grew around & over the irritant/ foreign object/ grain of sand!!!
How large the irritant was is hard to say, x-ray help ?...since thin nacre & thick calcite builup was mentioned, hard to say anything further more.
If you can answer any of the above or any other questions I cited, the info would be handy to know if I have a pearl in some sort of graded condition perhaps???
regards,Andrew & Aleksandra, who by the way, is the finder of "Aleksandra's Pearl"

 

[GemGeek]

Thanks for the new photos. The surface pattern is fascinating. These kinds of things are rare, so I doubt you'll get a lot of people chiming in on the same species. Have you tried holding a flashlight to it to see how transparent it is?

 

[GemGeek]

Scallop pearls can have interesting surface patterns, too. Even though they are a different type, you might enjoy seeing some online.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en....co.uk%2Fblog%2Fmy-ashes-my-pearls%2F;500;346

 

[Oystereater]

Hi GemGeek,
The macro & cropping do not do the pearl any justice.
It looks like a living brain when viewed with an ordinary 10 x loupe.
I read a little about candling, so I will see if I can post some more images under illuminated light.

 

[Caitlin]

Is is possible to capture that 10x loupe in a photo? I'd love the see the brain. That is one interesting pearl!

 

[Oystereater]

Hello again GemGeek,
I tried various ways to illuminate the pearl without any noticeable changes visible..that is, the pearl appears to be solid, non - opaque & not translucent.
In fact I didn't notice any change in lighting other than what is reflected off the surface.

 

[Oystereater]

I was already ahead of you with that idea...however my loupe is an old fashioned double lens eye - piece from a pair of WW2 binoculars...I have had it attached to my key ring for almost forever....the problem I ran into was that the space between the 2 glass lenses in the eye - piece is a greater distance from the actual pearl viewed & the macro setting on my camera would need to be closer...so that did not work.
I may purchase a normal flat plastic magnifying glass & then try the macro close up over this.
Will try & post some more images when time permits.

 

[Oystereater]

Interest in your source of knowledge

Interest in your source of knowledge

[/COLOR][/COLOR]

Pearls from Sydney Rock Oysters (Saccostrea glomerata) are not as common as those from Japanese Oysters (Crassostrea gigas). Due largely to the sheer volume of Japanese oysters served around the world. Physically, there's not much difference between the two genus. They prevail mainly in Australia and inhabit sheltered estuaries and bays, ranging from Hervey Bay in Queensland to Wingan Inlet in Victoria.

Pearls from any of the ostreidae family tend to be occluded with calcite and the micro thin nacreous surface is often destroyed or made dull by cooking.

Yours has an interesting mottled blue/gray color.

Incidentally, this oyster was once near extinction. It has made a remarkable recovery since 1989 when the Australian government imposed a ban on TBT-F (tributyltin) anti-fouling paint for vessels under 25 meters.

THANKYOU FOR YOUR QUICK RESPONSE.
I AM MOST INTERESTED TO UNDERSTAND CLEARLY WHAT YOU HAVE SAID..."pearls from Saccostrea Glomerata are not as common"...DOES THIS MEAN THEY ARE NOT RARE & DO EXIST & HAVE BEEN RECORDED OR CATALOGUED (FOUND) SOMEWHERE ?
HAVE YOU SEEN ONE BEFORE OR KNOW OF ANY IN EXISTENCE ?
THIS WOULD HELP ME TO UNDERSTAND THE CONTROVERSY AROUND SUCH PEARLS BEING LABELLED AS RARE!
ALSO, IF YOU PLEASE, THIS THREAD OF MINE IS CAPTIONED IN A COLUMN UNDER ...WILD PACIFIC OYSTER...IS THIS CORRECT TO INCLUDE THE ..GLOMERATA IN SUCH?

MANY THANKS FOR YOUR REPLIES.

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Saccostrea Glomerata are limited in range, but the incidence of pearls is the same as Crassostrea gigas (Japanese oysters).

By comparison they would be considered uncommon, but not rare.

Rare pearls are only rare if they come from species that almost never produce pearls.

 

[Caitlin]

Thamks Oyster eater! I hope you overcome the technical issues, because I think that pearl is pretty special!

 

[Oystereater]

Hello Caitlin,
wrote all this out as a reply to your thread but reply was wiped out.
I'll keep it short.
I thought it was interesting too.
Told rare, then, "not as common as",also read elsewhere... of little value..a shame because I
believe I have a REAL PEARL, not a man made CULTURED ONE...but the other dominates the industry.
If mine were as large as the legendary fabled heirlooms of history then it might be regarded as having some worth..bit unfair.
Lastly, no answers forthcoming to questions asked about whether another pearl from ...Glomerata even exists????

 

[dmj]

yes they exist like pearls from any type of oyster you just don't find them in any and need thousands to find good size pearls but this species is found around most of nz and aus so pearls will also be found in all area s