My Maba-gai mabe pearl pendant. A pleasant, albeit rather over-priced, piece that I am happy to own.

[LorenLL]

Hi everyone! I have been spending some time peeking around and asking a few questions, thanks for your super helpful and polite responses.

As a thank-you, here are the photos of my pearls that I find interesting and/or unusual.

This is a 18K gold blue mabe pearl pendant of Mabe-gai (Pteria penguin) variety. I tried my best to adjust the photo brightness, but it is still somewhat greyish in the photo. It has a soothing pale silvery blue IRL.

A little introduction to Mabe-gai mabe pearls (I gather my information from CortezPearls's Ultimate Guide to Blister Pearls and Mabe Pearls and the internet, please feel free to correct me if I am wrong):

As you can see in its name, mabe pearl gets its namesake from Japanese Mabe-gai half-pearls, a commercially cultured blister pearls growing in Mabe-gai (Pteria penguin). The most common body colours of Mabe-gai mabe pearls are blue and white, although there are also Mabe-gai mabes in natural golden colour (any IRL/"in action" photos are greatly appreciated!).

Unlike Paua abalone and rainbow-lipped pearl oyster mabe pearls, typical blue mabe-gai mabes features a more subdued silvery blue with an overtone of various colours found in a rainbow depending on the quality; the colour of white mabe-gai mabes looks more like that of silver-lipped pearl oyster mabes, although good quality ones has a rose-pink to violet-blue overtones.
Amami Pearl(奄美パール), the official site of the major (if not the only) mabe pearl farm in Amami Ooshima, name their blue mabes and white mabes "rainbow pearls"(虹珠) and "sakura pearls"(桜珠) respectively.

Here is another photo I took in shade to better showcase the rainbow overtone (the brightness of the photo is also tuned):

Mabe-gai mabe pearls, especially high quality pieces, are known to be quite rare, so the price is relatively high compared to Akoyas (not counting exceptional quality pearls like hanadamas and ten-nyos). I bought this from a pearl jewellery chain-store in a Japanese department store and OH BOY WAS IT EXPENSIVE (with a huge mark-up too, but that is something one should expect when they are buying rare pearls from places like department stores outside Japan) - the price is around USD$1300, and a 18" necklace would be another $250 if you needed to buy one.

One thing of note is that this is not even the highest quality Mabe-gai mabe pearl out there. The colour is pale, the lustre isn't mirror-smooth, and nacre ripples are visible on the ridge of the pearl. I would consider it average to above-average.
I later bought another Mabe-gai mabe jewellery, with near-flawless mirror-like lustre and mesmerising overtone in a true rainbow fashion...with less than half of the price of this piece. Huge bummer. Aannndddd even that piece is not the highest quality stuff.

I've seen some seriously high quality stuff in pearl specialist store; "metal bearing" lustre on par with hanadama, rich cornflower blue with an even violet overtone or pure white with a thick pink colour halo, symmetric round shapes and high domes...in fact, it is so perfect you wouldn't believe it is real or even a mabe pearl if it wasn't for the fact that it is sold in a reputable pearl specialist store.

Interestingly, I didn't buy the jewellery exactly because of this reason - I just couldn't find anything "Mabe" about that piece. It seems that no matter how beautiful a piece of jewellery or gemstone is, the magic is lost when the piece looks so interchangeable with other things.
(Kudos to CortezPearls and KarinK for their valuable insights on collecting pearls, or other things in general)

Do you also have Mabe-gai mabe pearls? What is your opinion on Mabe-gai mabes compared to other mabe varieties? I'd love to see your comments and/or photos.

 

[CortezPearls]

Hello there @LorenLL
That is one very nice Mabe pearl, albeit unusual looking. I really like special looking pearls.
I believe the main difference amongst Mabe pearls is due to the species (of course!) but also on the processing of the pearls. Whereas some undergoe intensive processing, others are subject to minimal processing.
To me, most Japanese Mabe-gai pearls are highly processed and polished, whereas Cortez and others -Mabe gai from China or other parts of Asia- are not.
I have a few Mabe gai Mabe pearls.

This one is from China. Very traditional looking, but lacking the ultra-sheen of Japanese mabe.

These are from the Phillippinnes.

 

[LorenLL]

Hi @CortezPearls
I don't know the exact name of this shape, maybe skewed marquise? Japanese are more creative in mabe shapes, probably because they are selling them as specialty jewellery. I've seen skewed marquises, kites, hearts with a hooked end, and even mabes in the shape of magatama, a jewel deeply tied to Japanese prehistory and religion.

To me, most Japanese Mabe-gai pearls are highly processed and polished, whereas Cortez and others -Mabe gai from China or other parts of Asia- are not.

Would you mind explaining the specific process and polishing done to Japanese Mabe-gai mabes to make them look different from Mabe-gai mabes from other localities?

 

[CortezPearls]

Hi @CortezPearls
I don't know the exact name of this shape, maybe skewed marquise? Japanese are more creative in mabe shapes, probably because they are selling them as specialty jewellery. I've seen skewed marquises, kites, hearts with a hooked end, and even mabes in the shape of magatama, a jewel deeply tied to Japanese prehistory and religion.



Would you mind explaining the specific process and polishing done to Japanese Mabe-gai mabes to make them look different from Mabe-gai mabes from other localities?

I don't know exactly what the Japanese do. I tried reaching out to one producer for information to use on our site, but to no avail.
I believe it would be a special polishing agent or system.

We achieved similar results with Cortez Mabe when we used aggressive polishing, but the exterior looked more like glass and we decided we wanted an authentic look on the pearls, so no polishing was used.