Is it a pearl?

[Sarah-Lee]

I will start off by telling you I am very confused! I found what I believe to be a natural pearl while in the atlantic ocean last week. From doing the simple tests I found online I am even more convinced. But I brought it into a jewellers on tuesday, and she laughed at me and said it was plastic. I didnt believe her. So I brought it right to a gemologist at another jewellers and was told they would be able to test it and xray it, but the guy didnt even talk to me, had someone else tell me it was plastic and said the only way to tell is to destroy it. I know from online research that the only way to tell for sure is an xray, not destroying it! Since both of them had said plastic, I decided to do a flame test. I actually had several people try as well and all of us concluded it is not plastic. It does not bubble, melt or discolor, but it gets hot. Nothing else happens. Could these jewellers only be used to man made pearls? What I have is white, approx 15mm round, but NOT perfectly round. There are brown spots which I believe to be flaws. I can see swirls, and other "darker" colors throughout it, but not quite on the surface? It does not look like it would be your perfect beautiful pearl. But I still believe it is one given the research ive done and where I found it. Needless to say, I dont believe it is plastic and I am taking it to one more place next monday, and the girl I spoke to seemed to actually know about natural pearls because she mentioned cleaning, and tests etc. along with a fee. What I am wondering, is if you have ever heard a gemologist say in order to tell if a pearl is plastic that it needs to be destroyed? Any advice would be greatly appreaciated. Thank you. and sorry the pictures are not the greatest, they were done from my phone.

 

[waimeamomi]

I'm not an expert on natural pearls, bu it doesn't look like a pearl to me and I'm not sure what in the Atlantic Ocean would produce a pearl of that size and shape. I'll be curious as to what you find out.

 

[Caitlin]

Usually pearls in the ocean without a shell dissolve rather quickly, so people are highly, highly unlikely to find a pearl loose in the ocean. It has never ever been heard of to find a big round one anywhere but in a pearl oyster.

Recently someone found a round translucent object in the ocean and the best guess was it was some part of an air pump or something. This looks entirely different; it may be stone. It is man made, because nothing in nature comes perfectly round, especially not natural pearls.

That thing is huge for a pearl.

 

[KarinK]

Hi Sarah-Lee,

Quote: "Since both of them had said plastic, I decided to do a flame test. I actually had several people try as well and all of us concluded it is not plastic. It does not bubble, melt or discolor, but it gets hot. Nothing else happens."

I don't know a lot about natural pearls, but I recall reading many times that if a pearl is found in a cooked oyster, the pearl is pretty much ruined because of the heat. From my limited knowledge what you have doesn't look like a pearl to me. If it had been, it would probably not have been very happy with the flame test.

Does it feel warm or cold when you pick it up? The objects ability to conduct heat might add usefull information. You can try hold it on the inside of your wrist or on your tongue.

- Karin

 

[waimeamomi]

Actually this looks somewhat like a mother of pearl starter bead. Don't know what it would be doing there, unless as Caitlin said the nacre dissolved off of it.