Mabe pearl ring

[Hinz]

This mabe pearl ring belongs to a friend and she's asked me to evaluate it for her. It measures 16mm with a 10mm dome and is set in an unusual 18K white gold ring. It's color is a dark steel gray with rose and lavender overtones with a little blue-green, very difficult to photograph adequately. There are some tiny pinprick size bump blemishes as seen in the photos. Though it does not appear to be dyed, I'm unsure about labeling the mabe pearl as Tahitian or what it's origin might be, and hope the experts here would offer their opinions about it.

 

[lilliefuzzysocks]

There are a lot of dyed mabe on the market, finding a real Tahitian would be remarkable.

 

[Hinz]

I've been able to answer my own question so would like to share the answer: under UV light, this mabé fluoresced red - so I was able to confirm it is a Sea of Cortez pearl. I've been traveling and just had to wait until I had a UV lamp.

 

[pattye]

How cool is this!! Awesome detective work, Hinz! Any idea what the age of the piece would be?

 

[Katbran]

well done !!

 

[BWeaves]

I didn't feel qualified to comment on this ring, but my gut feeling was that it did not look like a Tahitian. The only large dark mabe's I've seen are SoC and it did look a bit like a SoC. But I wasn't sure that it wasn't something else, either, like a regular mabe that was filled with something colorful to give it color through the translucent nacre. It's great that you were able to check it for fluorescence, which confirms it's SoC.

It's a very special ring. And the fact that it was set in 18K gold means the jeweler knew it was a very special pearl.

 

[morella]

Could Pteria Penguin show red fluorescence also?