KIMA (Tridacna sp) Pearls

[CathyKeshi]

What amazing perfection ... such a gift to watch this piece progress ... Congratulations!

 

[Gemandpearlover]

Stunning! Looks like a necklace that you would see as part of a royal collection or in a museum.

 

[GemGeek]

We need more close-ups! LOL! Monili was the perfect choice. Is "our pearl" amongst the treasured pinks?

This was well worth the wait. OMG! LOVE! Hugs to you and your lovely wife.

Blaire

 

[SteveM]

Thanks all, we are still in a bit of a cloud as this has certainly worked out well. The museum-quality aspect is not lost on us, and in fact the chain itself will no doubt provide the most use. But the pearl is a once-in-a-lifetime gem, and the fact that I acquired it in an intense yet relatively short period of collecting would increase those odds exponentially.

What a wonderful job Jeremy did.

No, the Koivula Conch is not here, another perfect gem that requires the perfect 360º setting, maybe in a pendant as an intermediate station in combination with one of the smaller Kima drops at the beginning of this thread?

 

[SteveM]

As for more closeups, my pearl photography capabilities have sadly lapsed. Best of all would be direct viewing, let's see if Ruckus is resurrected or some other opportunity!

 

[SteveM]

We need more close-ups!

Got out the bright lights and the iPhone, using a third party Camera app with macro setting. These shots do offer some additional detail.

 

[Pareltje]

A jewel fit for a queen! Amazing!

 

[parfaitelumiere]

lots of tiny scratches on the back side indicating shaping if not outright carving, and the barely chatoyant top side has a very uneven, most likely abraded, surface.
.

sadly abrasion or surface correction is very common in this area.
my corrected pears are trisidos semitorla and atrina vexillum.
Very hard to say, from a picture, if the pearl is fully natural, corrected, or re-shaped, as most of sellers take very bad pictures...

 

[SteveM]

sadly abrasion or surface correction is very common in this area.
my corrected pears are trisidos semitorla and atrina vexillum.
Very hard to say, from a picture, if the pearl is fully natural, corrected, or re-shaped, as most of sellers take very bad pictures...

You refer to the pearl in post #9, a useful example as this thread has as its primary purpose a definition of authenticity, which can only be obtained through comparison with the "wannabes". While non-nacreous pearls are not subject to the level of fraud found in the world of natural nacreous pearls, the pitfalls nonetheless exist. Fortunately, non-nacreous 'fakes' are far easier to detect.

 

[parfaitelumiere]

Yeah, some non nacrous made from shell, or even sometimes calcite rock are often visible here and there.
Fake conch pearls made from conch shell, some popped on ebay some years ago.
Fake enormous tridacna pearls made from tridacna shell
And some fake "looking like melo" pearls made from yellowish shell or more probably massive calcite.
But this was not my point, my point was about some process to enhance a pearl surface, abrasion, polishing, this is very boring, because almost impossible to see on pictures, and you know it's modified, only once the pearl in hand...