My pearl photos

[Jill]

Hello all,

These are pearls my father bought over seas during WWII. They are very dirty and need to be restrung. I have made a primitive candling device and all photos were taken with my iPhone, some with a jewelers loupe attached.

Hope you enjoy, any and all comments (as long as they are nice), are appreciated.

http://photobucket.com/albums/s434/wilkej11

 

[pattye]

Jill,

Welcome~a beautiful lustrous strand! A treasure! I agree, restring as soon as possible. Looks like thick nacre, too. Do you have other pearls in your jewelry wardrobe?

 

[jshepherd]

It looks like one of those 3.5 momme strands from Japan.

 

[Caitlin]

I agree. The neck shot really shows how gorgeous it is. Then thanks for the candling. People rarely do that, but it is interesting. I haven't seen too many candled shots, so I appreciate every chance I get to see how they look. I also appreciate how many pictures you took Wonderful. I will be sorry when they are no longer available on photo bucket.....

 

[Amrita]

Enjoyed the photos, Jill. Thanks for sharing - it is a lovely strand.

 

[Jill]

What do natural pearls look like when they are candled? I saw a few on this forum, but they all looked completely different to me. Just wondering why some of mine have a dark center and others seem to have little things in them.
I went to a local store that sells and makes jewelry out of natural stones, that is where I purchased the loupe. The owner gave me a couple of cultured pearls to compare to mine and he suggested breaking one open. I candled first and then smashed it with a hammer, which was kind of fun. It had orangish spots on it when candled and a perfect circle when split in half. I have photos but now photobucket won't upload.
Thanks for all the comments, I never realized how complexed pearls were.

http://photobucket.com/albums/s434/wilkej11/Cultured pearl
Working again...go figure

 

[pattye]

Jill, I doubt there is any way to generalize what a natural pearl would look like when candled, unfortunately. There are actually very few natural pearls compared to cultured pearls. Different kinds of pearls will look different, size and shape also contribute to what we might see. Some pearls we know are naturals because of provenance, but other pearls have to be examined by experienced, trained professionals with microscopes and lab equipment before they can be certified as a natural pearl. Sorry I don't have a better answer.

It is fun to break a pearl apart to see if there is any relation between what is actually in the center and what you saw when the pearl was candled.

The loupe is most handy to have. It will help you see down a drill hole to look for a bead nucleus and examine the surface of a pearl to see if it is dyed.