Natural color Chocolate Tahitians

[Jaye]

Can these really be natural color?
My friend bought these two strands from a jeweler shop here in Bkk for $$$ in the early 80s. She was told they are natural color and that it was rare.
The pearls in real life doesn’t have much luster, and looks very dull.

I know the professional retailers are all in HK, but all inputs would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[pattye]

You pose an interesting question, Jaye. These just have a look that makes me lean toward dyed freshwater pearls. One thing that can be evaluated best in person is if we can "see" or envision where the round nucleus is inside the pearl. Also some pearls look flattened or have a flat spot, which could mean they are tissue nucleated freshwater. It might be that the photos and the lack of luster are making it difficult to interpret the shapes of these pearls. Also I'm not seeing the type of blemishes common in Tahitian pearls. I'd love to reach through the monitor and examine these pearls closely!

 

[Jaye]

Pattye, when she pulled them out to show me, that was my first thought also; dyed freshwater pearls. But upon closeer inspection i do see nuances of tahitian color under the different shades of the brown. One pearl has some blue orient in it...
I’m suggesting to her to take it to GIA here in Bkk, they might be able to assess. I also sent the photos to a Japanese pearl dealer.
But, the fact that these were bought in early 80s, and for big bucks is kinda puzzling to me.
Were the chinese dyeing pearls as early as 80s?
Thank you for your input, it’s an interesting mystery, isn’t it?

 

[Jaye]

Pattye,
Here is a shot of nucleus showing on one strand-

 

[pattye]

There are brown tones in the Fiji pearls, but much lighter. Tomorrow I'll check Strack to see what info there might be about when pearls started being dyed. Yes, an interesting mystery; I hope we get some answers!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I've been looking at Strack's book as well. Dyeing of pearls has a very long history, from the end of the 19th century with silver nitrate. (p.651)

p. 655: "Around 1920, the first Japanese cultured pearls were sent to Paris for dyeing. An organic colouring agent was used in the so-called French method."

p. 640, fig. 640: "Chinese so-called 'flats' (freshwater cultured pearls) from the nineteen seventies [bolding mine] which have been dyed with an organic dye."
(The photo in the book shows dark gray baroque shaped pearls without the peacock type colors of later dyed FWP. The color is rather like the color of your pearls in the photos above).

p. 652: "In 1997, artificially dyed black Chinese freshwater cultured in round shapes and sizes of up to 11mm were offered on the market in Hong Kong....they have an astonishing resemblance to Tahitian cultured pearls, as they almost perfectly replicate the green to purple overtones and are already called 'peacock pearls' in the Asian pearl trade."

What I'm getting from this is that various kinds of dyes have been used, but the practice is old.

 

[pattye]

Wow, so where you can see the nucleus, is it dark also? I'd expect a mother of pearl nucleus to be white or striped with tan.

PD, thank you for the info about dye; not surprised to find the process has been around for some time.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I'm reading here that gamma ray radiation darkens the nucleus:

• Irradiation. Gamma-ray irradiation darkens the nucleus and results in darker pearls, sometimes dark enough to resemble natural color black South Sea pearls. The advantage, of course, is they can be sold for much less. Irradiation also enhances orient (the display of iridescent colors) in some pearls. In either case, the pearls retain no radioactivity, thus, the enhancement is considered harmless. Most experts believe this treatment is permanent.
• http://www.professionaljeweler.com/archives/articles/1998/sep98/0998fys2.html

Any chance the nucleus is also a pearl?

 

[Luvglitz]

This whole thread is very interesting. Thank you Pearl Dreams for your research.

 

[Jaye]

Thank you PD, Pattye-
My Japanese dealer wrote back last night and said, ‘if they are real Tahitian, and bought at that time period, chances are high that they are natural color’. BUT, she needs to see the pearl IRL to see if they are Tahitians. She will pass it along to her Japanese colleagues to get more info.
She also said that brown Tahitian doesn’t have that much luster to begin with, and from 30 plus years ago...

 

[Katbran]

My first thought also was dyed freshwater... but the close up shows a bit of green under the brown. What size are these ??
If that's the nucleus showing through that thin cracked nacre.. then there's not much nacre there.

 

[Jaye]

Pattye, here is photo of 2 cracked pearls. Nucleus is black.

 

[Jaye]

Katbran, the largest pearl is around 14 mm, while the 2 cracked pearls are aroumd 9 mm.
There are all sorts of blues and greens, and cocoa, and bronze, coppery, etc. under the predominant brown.
But such lack of luster! And those other colors don’t really pop out and you, you kinda have to look at them closely.
But i do know that she didnot take good care of them. And they haven’t been worn in 30 years.
She only remembered them because we were going through all the pearls my mother had left for me.

 

[pattye]

So interesting!! Thank you again for the great photos of the damaged area on the pearls. The dark nucleus seems to indicate irradiation, dye or some combination of color treatment. Freshwaters with bead nucleus were definitely not available 30 years ago. And 14mm pearls would be more likely to be salt water, bead nucleated pearls.

 

[Jaye]

So, inyour opinion Pattye, these are saltwater, irradiation dyed.
I’ve pretty much come to the same conclusion based on what PD posted.
Haven’t heard anymore from my Japanese friend. Busy in HK.

So my friend was sold a dud.! Told her last night that that was the possibilityand she seemed annoyed, but then said - ah 30 years, we move on.

 

[Katbran]

I wondered from the photos if they were large as that would indicate Salt Water if they are that old.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

It does sound like they were saltwater (since bead nuked FWP weren't around yet then) bead nucleated, and irradiated to get the color. Probably the natural color wasn't very attractive; it's not the really good pearls that are dyed.
This was an interesting thread.

 

[LVLanghanke]

This was a super interesting read. I have never seen pearls like that before and had no idea what to make of them before reading the replies.

 

[Cees]

For me these are natural colour Tahitian pearls

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Interesting colors, Cees. I wonder how often it is that a Tahitian pearl with those natural brownish colors turns up?