Natural Black Pearls...?

[Rorz]

Last year I sailed across the Pacific on a small yacht. We stopped at a small atoll in the Western Pacific and I found about 20 large oysters growing on the reef....the oysters were obviously growing naturally and were around 8-10 inches in diameter. To my utter surprise, I found 2 quite large Black Pearls sitting in the flesh of two of these oysters!
Now, I have researched a little and am pretty sure that these are natural. We were hundreds of miles from any pearl farm, the oysters were growing naturally on a remote reef etc. Anyway, i went to the dentist and had them Xrayed (See attached image).
The first Pearl is about 17mm/12mm. The second, almost 'heart shaped' pearl is 16mm/16mm. They weigh about 4 grams each.
The first pearl is much darker than the second, but both very beautiful.
Any thoughts, opinions, advise in this matter would be truly appreciated......

 

[pearl guide]

Hi Rorz and welcome to the forum.

I've removed the broken images from your post above. Would you mind using the Go Advanced tab in the reply so that you can upload the images directly? Your images were linked to a folder withing your hotmail account so they don't appear on the thread.

 

[Rorz]

Last year I sailed across the Pacific on a small yacht. We stopped at a small atoll in the Western Pacific and I found about 20 large oysters growing on the reef....the oysters were obviously growing naturally and were around 8-10 inches in diameter. To my utter surprise, I found 2 quite large Black Pearls sitting in the flesh of two of these oysters!
Now, I have researched a little and am pretty sure that these are natural. We were hundreds of miles from any pearl farm, the oysters were growing naturally on a remote reef etc. Anyway, i went to the dentist and had them Xrayed (See attached image).
The first Pearl is about 17mm/12mm. The second, almost 'heart shaped' pearl is 16mm/16mm. They weigh about 4 grams each.
The first pearl is much darker than the second, but both very beautiful.
Any thoughts, opinions, advise in this matter would be truly appreciated......

 

[jshepherd]

They look like keshi (non-beaded cultured pearls). So if they are indeed unrelated to any pearling operation, they would be natural blacks. You would definitely want to get them lab-certified to find out for sure.

 

[Caitlin]

Anyway it turns out, those are a very special find. They will be worth more if certified as natural. It could be worth it. Also, I hope you find a way to put them into jewelry!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Lovely pearls! Lucky you!

 

[Rorz]

I found these pearls in Aitutaki, Cook Islands......there are definitely no pearl farms there. How does one differentiate a keshi from a natural pearl...I had read that keshi's may have 'void's' internally?

 

[jshepherd]

It's an imperfect science that only certain labs do well, and even then they aren't always correct. Because the pearls do look so much like keshi, you would need certification to get the real value out of them without question.

 

[pattye]

Those are beauts! Congratulations on an amazing find.

 

[jshepherd]

I just have to ask too ... is that X-ray shot with the pearls in a mouth It looks like they are sitting on a set of molars!

 

[Rorz]

Yes, but its not a 'real' mouth.....we used a dummy mouth...dentists idea! Anyway, Im gonna send these pearls off to get them evaluated. Where would be the best place to send them in your opinion?

 

[jshepherd]

Ha! That's great. Because they look so much like keshi, I'd suggest SSEF. It's a bit more difficult than getting a GIA certificate, but GIA is much better versed in diamonds than pearls. Also, if they go on the market, there is a good chance they would go to Europe, and SSEF is what you need in order to sell them there.

http://www.ssef.ch/

 

[Rorz]

Ha! That's great. Because they look so much like keshi, I'd suggest SSEF. It's a bit more difficult than getting a GIA certificate, but GIA is much better versed in diamonds than pearls. Also, if they go on the market, there is a good chance they would go to Europe, and SSEF is what you need in order to sell them there.

http://www.ssef.ch/

Ok, great.....thanks for the advise Jeremy. I am presently in New Zealand but will surely be back in Europe sometime soon. I actually have a video clip of me finding the pearl in Aitutaki.....I wonder if this would be sufficient proof that they were found naturally?

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Nice find. Do you have photos of the pearls in the oyster? Like archaeology, natural pearls lose much of their intrinsic value once they are removed. Certification can restore some of the value, but as Jeremy said, even that is subjective analysis. Provenance is really important when evaluating the difference between keshis and naturals.

 

[Rorz]

One more question.....looks like it will cost about 400 pounds to certify the 2 pearls with SSEF. Happy to do this if they are worth lots of money, any rough estimate of their value if keshi or natural??....i.e. is it worth the investment!?

 

[Rorz]

Nice find. Do you have photos of the pearls in the oyster? Like archaeology, natural pearls lose much of their intrinsic value once they are removed from the mollusk. Certification can restore some of the value, but as Jeremy said, even that is subjective analysis. Provenance is really important when evaluating the difference between keshis and naturals.

Yes, i think I do have a photo or two.....i'll see if i can get them and post them.

 

[Rorz]

Ah, here they are. These were taken about 5 mins after we found the pearls on a nearby sandbank.

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Yes, i think I do have a photo or two.....i'll see if i can get them and post them.

Excellent, like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. There are enough experts here who could verify naturals by how and where they are located in the tissues.

 

[Rorz]

Cool, ill see if I have some images of us actually opening the oyster before we pulled and prodded at the pearl. I seem to remember the pearls were sort of enclosed in tissue.....I think i exposed the pearl for the pictures above.

 

[DrTKStern]

One more question.....looks like it will cost about 400 pounds to certify the 2 pearls with SSEF. Happy to do this if they are worth lots of money, any rough estimate of their value if keshi or natural??....i.e. is it worth the investment!?

Rorz, You will more than get your money back if GIA or SSEF report them out as naturals. Very nice. Tom Stern, MD