Natural Abalone Pearls

[Caitlin]

I would talk to Tish or Wes again and ask their range of per-gram prices. Tish and Wes have some very large ones- What did they pay or value them at?

Have you contacted jnorriss yet?

Maybe make it into a cowboy belt buckle? (I guess that wouldn't help if you are not a Cowboy........)

 

[NorCalChef]

I contacted JNorris yesterday and he pretty much told me the same thing, that because of it's size it would have more value to a collector than to a jeweler. But he did give me a approx. dollar value so I at least have an idea of what its worth is, (coincidently, I found out he only lives a few miles away from me). Funny thing is that my family has lived in this area for 4 generations and we/they have always rock picked or dive for abalone, I couldn't even tell you how many pearls that were thrown away, given away or just plain ignored over the years for not knowing the value of them. The abalone that produced this pearl also had another pearl in it (oval, about half the size of a marble) that was given away to a friend and later sold for a tidy sum. Oh well, hind sight is alway 20-20, thanks for all the information and help everybody, I'm going to keep checking in here daily for any updates.

 

[SteveM]

There are now a couple of threads here dealing with the vagaries of abalone pearls—Caitlin, myself and others trying in vain to devine the value of their oddball shapes and sizes. It's an incredibly difficult proposition, and forum trade members are the most vague of all, having experienced—despite a pernicious fascination—the lack of demand for these supposedly rare items (thus their relegation to jewellery sculpture and other dead-end museum pieces).

My newcomer's view is that abs are valuable only insofar as the intensity of their overtones (blue/green/peacock), and their usefulness. Intensity of color and good taste demand prudent size and shape/symmetry. The attached photo is ample evidence that a selection of such freeform and workable pearls can be found.

It would be great to see the pros take a more proactive role (like Jeremy Shepherd with his untreated freshwaters from China) to refine this category for wider appreciation and application.

Steve
Seattle

 

[NorCalChef]

Well, I put it on Ebay starting at $1500, we'll see where it goes...

 

[pattye]

Hi NorCalChef!

Easy to find your listing searching under red abalone pearl! I buy on ebay a lot, and I am hoping you won't mind my comments. You seem to have some good photos. They need to be larger and clear enough to show the colors you say are in your pearl. Also indicate which photos show the back of your pearl. Also please give the thickness through the middle. You might take a look at DruzyDesign Treasures store's photos, just as an example, she sells high end items, multiple photos with clearly shown colors. I know from my limited photo trials, not easy, at least for me to do! Don't get discouraged if it doesn't sell right away, you may need to relist. That seems like a fair price, it looks like it would make an interesting piece of jewelry!!

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

 

[SteveM]

The price is in line with reports I've heard originating with abalone fishermen, who are generally offered in the range of $10 per carat by the trade for gem quality, in this case starting slightly lower (for 175ct), presumably because NorCal has been advised that the Red range of overtones will not attract quite the same amount of interest as blue/green. So for the right buyer this appears to represent a good opportunity.

Steve
Seattle

 

[NorCalChef]

Thanks for all the information, I will re-list if it doesn't sell with the suggestions/changes you offered.

 

[Caitlin]

Hi NorCal

Please post the link to your auction here to make it easy for us to find. I wish you the best for it.

 

[NorCalChef]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Red-Abalone-Pea...ryZ10243QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Caitlin]

Hi Nor Cal

Good Luck

 

[Raisondetre]

I would also suggest you provide more secure shipping options and insurance, as well as extend it to world-wide shipping. Even for small purchases of a few hundred bucks I pay extra for Fedex. Of course, customs are a problem but people who can afford $2500 for a rare pearl probably wouldn't mind that and need to take it into account - this needs to be in the disclaimer as well. You'd have better luck because there are many collectors all around the world.

 

[Dave]

Abalone Pearl

Abalone Pearl

Hello everyone, my name is Dave and I found this site while searching for information on abalone pearls.

My Buddy comes from a family of long time fishermen in southern California. His family also owned a wholesale and retail fish market for a very long time. He has a collection of a dozen or so abalone pearls and was interested in selling a few if the price was right.

He showed me a few of them a couple days ago and it led me to my search for information on the subject.

I have read most of the topics here on the subject and recognize some names and businesses that also came up during my search so I thought I would start here.

This must be the lowest quality piece he has, because he gave it to me
But I thought I could use it as a test, since I am neither abalone pearl expert nor a photographer.

He calls this one "The Fish" because the design on one side resembles a fish. (At least to him and I).

Click on thumbnails for larger image:




Sadly, I lost most of the brilliance and colors in the pictures but I was mainly interested in seeing how they would show up in this post.
I should have used a quarter, it's closer to the actual size than a dime.

Eyeballing it against a ruler I would say this one is 27mm long 15mm wide and 7mm at it's thickest. (weight unknown but feels solid)

I have seen it mentioned several times that the value of these pearls run from $15 a gram, upward. I have also seen a few posts where contact has been made with someone in the business through private message or email.

Would it be worth my time and trouble to try to photograph these pearls?
Some of them have been looked at by jewelers and a gemologist and told my friend they were worth a considerable amout of money. Would anybody here be able to give some sort of "ballpark figure", or be a serious collector of abalone pearls?

Thank you for taking the time to read my post.
Dave

 

[Dave]

I hope this isn't against the rules or anything but I thought perhaps somone might enjoy these pictures of abalone shells.

(Plus the fact that I found a ruler and still trying to figure out this camera)


He gave me that a couple years ago and I thought it was the most beautiful abalone shell I had seen. (until yesterday).

One of the pearls he has is very small but it is a brilliant white "pearly" color that really sparkles.
I was amazed by it and he told me it was from a "Sorenson" Abalone.
I never heard of a white abalone before, even growing up in Southern California and being a sport fisherman myself.

He ran off and a few minutes later brought me this Sorenson shell, this one has a flaw in it and a bunch or worm holes, but looks absolutly brillant in person.


Hope you enjoyed those as much as me,
Dave

 

[Caitlin]

Hi Dave
Thanks for the photos. If you want to sell to anyone except in person, photos and weigths in grams are very helpful. If you read all our posts on the subject, you know as much as we do. However you are welcome to post more photos.

Since your pearls are not as huge as the last one, they may be more saleable to the folks previously mentioned. I imagine photo, dimensions, and weights on each one would be helpful to them too. Maybe one photo with them all and the combined weight. It would be great for the record to have them here too. We see very few of these pearls.

If they aren't dried out and chalky $15 per gram is a good starting price, especially if you sell to a wholesaler, but they could be worth far more. It is not an easy market, though.

 

[Dave]

Thank you Caitlin for you advice and taking the time to reply.

I think I found a source for a good scale, a friend has a gold shop and makes jewelery but he's been sick recenty. I'm sure he could weigh them and I'll edit these posts at that time.

I told my friend that most of the abalone pearls I seen online are cone shaped, and none of the ones he showed me so far were. He said he prefered the egg shaped ones and brought me a cone shaped pearl and an irregular shaped one to play around with.

I don't feel comfortable having his prized pearls in my possession but if I can get the pictures to start turning out better he'll bring them down and I'll get the pictures. I don't want to try till I get a little more practice.

Here is one I'll call The Cone

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger image)







Sadly, the pictures loose most of the colors and brillance

Size (approx)
Length= 49mm
Width= 19mm
Thickness= 10mm
Weight= Unknown (will edit as soon as possible.

Regards,
Dave

 

[Dave]

Continued-

The forum only allows a certain number of images, here are a few more:

 

[Dave]

This one I'll call "Small and Curved"

 

[Dave]

"small and curved" part 2






This one is approx:
Length= 25mm
Width= 11mm
thickness= 11mm

Thats all for now, Have a very nice day everyone!
Dave

 

[Dave]

A couple more for you all.



I was showing my friend Wes Rankin's website and some of the very beautiful abalone pearls there. He was very impressed with them and very disappointed with my pictures.
I just can't seem to get close to capturing the beauty of his pearls.
My pictures make the pearls look metallic and loose most of the colors, rainbows, and natural shine of the pearls.

The one pictured above on the right comes close to the beauty of the Rankin's but looses so much in my pictures.

Maybe it's because I know nothing about photography.
I have a cheep little digital camera and I'm taking these pictures without a tripod under lowsy florescent lighting in my office. LOL
Oh well, at least you get a rough idea.

Here is another of the larger one, shame it has a flaw on it.


The Pearl on the left is what we believe to be one of the rarest abalone pearls in the world.
This one comes from the "Sorenson" Abalone, or "White Abalone"
Please see the picture above of a white abalone shell and notice the luster and colors in the shell.
I'm unable to capture the beauty of the pearl so I will not be posting any more pictures of it until I get a more representitive one.

Sorenson Abalones were prized for there sweeter and better flavored meat and commanded a much higher price at market when they were availible. What made them so rare was that they were deep water abalones growing in depths up to 200 feet.
That put them well out of reach of sport divers, a trained deep sea diver using a helium-oxygen breathing mixture was needed to get them. Divers like that didn't come cheep and usually had a lot more important things to do than collect abalones.
I have seen statistics given that only one out of several hundred thousand abalones will have a pearl. Out of all the abalones harvested, only a very very small number of them were Sorenson's.
Therefore it is safe to assume that a Sorenson pearl is the rarest of the bunch. My friend comes from a family with generations of commercial fishermen and has never seen or heard of another Sorenson pearl.

If anyone of the experts ever has, or has another picture of one I would please love to see it.



I'll hire a professional photographer if needed.

Large Pearl:
size= 23mm x 17mm x 10mm

Round medium:
size 14mm x 8mm x 9mm

Sorenson:
size 14mm x 8mm x9mm

One well known person has contacted me, but I would have thought more would have been interested.

Dave

 

[jshepherd]

Caitlin,

$15 per gram is way, way off. Especially for decent pieces, even $150 per gram is impossible. From what I have seen from Jeremy Norris, everything is by the carat, and prices are in the $200 to $500 per gram. I am sure they go much higher as well for some truly stellar pieces...