Nautilus pearl

[SteveM]

Waiting out the blizzard in Baltimore today, all appointments postponed until tomorrow.
Nothing better to do than look at pearls?

BADAI SEMPUMA from two previously posted images; normal and backlighting, correlated for size and orientation.

Who needs a certificate!

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Nothing better to do than look at pearls?

I just can't get enough ..............

 

[pattye]

Thanks Steve, I set your photo as my computer background (tiled) so I have lots of Nautilus! Not sure what the plural of that is??



This way I can have amazing Kasumi, or a whole pile of them, Sea of Cortez strand, or Nautilus by the dozen!

oops on the lampshade----------

 

[SteveM]

Thanks Steve, I set your photo as my computer background (tiled) so I have lots of Nautilus! Not sure what the plural of that is??

Officially I suppose it's either Nautiluses or Nautili. But your usage is more scientifically respectful, singular/plural at once and without article, such as in the title of Peter Ward's most amazing book, In Search of Nautilus.

Hate to do this to you, but I just tweaked that last image for better size matching of the two pearl images, so you might want to download it again (remember, there's a blizzard going on here and I have nothing better to do!).

P.S. Regarding Badai Sempuma, I don't think we'll ever need to consider the possibility of more than one!

 

[SteveM]

P.S. Regarding Badai Sempuma, I don't think we'll ever need to consider the possibility of more than one!

However, this does bring to mind the variety we have obtained among our Nautilus specimens to date.

The pearl below could be my favorite, with due respect to Badai Sempuma. A large and very tall button of beautiful lustre ('perfect water'?), 16.9cts, 13mm wide by about the same tall. This and an earlier small, lustrous 2.9ct pearl are examples of what I had been classifying as a 'chatoyant swirl', since the swirl/spiral phenomenon was not a clearly visible physical feature of the porcelanous surface of the pearl.

Seeing beneath the beautiful skin of this pearl is by far the most revealing and satisfying result obtained from my candling experiment. It's an incredibly intricate and symmetrical pearl.

No such unearthly ''Eureka" moment as Perfect Storm/Badai Sempuma has occurred to help me name this pearl, but it surely deserves a good one!

By the way, is that an 'S' I see? Talk about an anagram!

 

[DrTKStern]

Beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seeing beneath the beautiful skin of this pearl is by far the most revealing and satisfying result obtained from my candling experiment. It's an incredibly intricate and symmetrical pearl.

Steve. I love that photo of candling. Tom

 

[SteveM]

Steve. I love that photo of candling. Tom

Tom, I now regard candling as an acid test, as this simple technique illuminates (or eliminates) two key factors proper to Nautilus: the swirl and the degree of translucency ('water', 'inner light', etc.). Photography is surprisingly easy compared with the challenges of normal lighting.

 

[CortezPearls]

Wow! Lovely internal structure...looks like a storm brewing... I have never seen such a pattern before in a pearl.

 

[SteveM]

Wow! Lovely internal structure...looks like a storm brewing... I have never seen such a pattern before in a pearl.

Douglas,

Thanks for your input. I learned to appreciate nacre suture features from your posts a year or two ago…

I regret not meeting in Tucson due to the brevity of my stay.

Regarding Nautilus, there is still so much to learn. While we are confident now that we can visually identify superior, rare specimens, and the debate over nacreous/non-nacreous has cooled following determination of the dual biominerality of the mollusk, the morphology that would actually produce the swirl/spiral feature—other than as fractal repetition of the whorl pattern of the shell itself or as manifestation of a natural phenomenon (Coriolis Effect), continues a mystery.

There are those pondering this with greater practical knowledge and methodology than myself. I'll be pushing the thread in that direction.

P.S. My wife still adores her Cortez keshis.

 

[SteveM]

No such unearthly ''Eureka" moment?has occurred to help me name this pearl?

Reading the popular and influential book Rare Earth by Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee this morning concerning the origins and rarity of higher life forms in the Universe, a discussion of the Solar System and its Planets provided the desired inspiration.

Earlier in this thread both Tom and I have pointed out the planet-like appearance of Nautilus pearls, including surface features and atmospheric phenomenae.

Our three GIANTS will carry the names of three of the four gaseous giants of Earth's Solar System (excluding Uranus due to the potential for non-poetic pronunciation, also reserving it in the unlikely event of additional meritorious pearl discovery).

The 32.35 carat giant is clearly JUPITER. Below is Jupiter with front and backlighting, completing the front/back pairing on this thread of all three pearls.

A large and very tall button of beautiful lustre ('perfect water'?)?

The 16.9 carat pearl with chatoyant swirl and submerged swirl structure is mysterious NEPTUNE.

BADAI SEMPUMA from two previously posted images; normal and backlighting, correlated for size and orientation.

The 17.5 carat pearl with the outrageous cyclonic structure both on the surface and within can be none other than SATURN with its spectacular rings.

 

[SteveM]

Our three GIANTS will carry the names of three of the four gaseous giants of Earth's Solar System?

Badai Sempuma will merit its alias Saturn when presented with the others as a set, which shall be called?

 

[pattye]

Brilliant!

 

[GemGeek]

Well duh! I'm reading Rare Earth - it's on my bedside table. Mom stole it from me a while back and I just managed to retrieve it. I thought we had an agreement that if I buy a book, she has to let me read it first. NOT! I didn't even notice that it's by Peter Ward, the nautilus expert! I love all things science and always have. Same thing with Mom the microbiologist and Dad the geophysicist.

 

[newberry]

Perfect names, well done.

 

[SteveM]

I'm reading Rare Earth?I didn't even notice that it's by Peter Ward, the nautilus expert.

How incredible is that!

Nautilus is the fulcrum for Ward's research, given its link to ammonites and paleontology relevant to mass extinctions. He presented the annual Faculty Lecture at University of Washington a couple of weeks ago (an incredible honor, selected by his peers), and although his international stature has been achieved as a pioneer in astrobiology, he ended his lecture with recent PBS footage of himself diving to film Nautilus.

He really cares for these critters.

 

[SteveM]

We begin the next chapter.

As previously mentioned, we are in the midst of a fertile harvest following months of earnest inquiry and collaboration with local sources. Indonesia has proven to be the right location for our search, as the far-flung and remote geography of the country has preserved local traditions, including the mustika regard for Nautilus and its powers. Additionally, Nautilus Pompilius and its subspecies are larger in Indonesia (my latest shell specimen fully 30 cm, larger than the largest examples cited in Peter Ward's Natural History of Nautilus), resulting in our very large specimens collectively known as The Planets.

We have just received the pearls below. An in situ photo of the matching teardrops has already been posted. Pearl with penny and on the left of the pair shot is 12.05cts, symmetrical 10.1mm x 15mm, found in a private collection on Sumatra. Pearl on the right is the 'cooked' pearl, 11.75cts, symmetrical 10.1mm x 14.2mm, found by a diver on an island in the Straits of Makassar upon catching and eating a Nautilus 10 years ago. These are clearly Nautilus in their surface, color and chatoyant characteristics.

The giant drop is another story. This was offered as Nautilus with provenance: Island and decade of finding. The same source supplied one of 'The Planets' and offers huge credibility.

However, I cannot say it is a Nautilus. There is no evidence of swirl, and the chatoyance originates in a fine flame structure which differs from that of Nautilus. In favor of Nautilus-ness, the pearl is supremely translucent and the photos reveal tantalizing blue tones.

The pearl is a perfectly symmetrical 18.3mm x 22mm x 18.3mm, 56.3 carats. Its unblemished surface and flame are perfectly consistent on all sides, the chatoyance ideally situated in the fat belly band of the drop. Nautilus or Naut, I offered and paid a premium. I don't anticipate coming across another centerpiece as spectacular as this anytime soon.

 

[GemGeek]

Nautilus or naut -- the drop is faboo. I can't believe the flame is distrubuted equally over the entire pearl. It calls out to be the pendant of a long necklace -- the better to play with it!

 

[SteveM]

Nautilus or naut -- the drop is faboo. I can't believe the flame is distributed equally over the entire pearl. It calls out to be the pendant of a long necklace -- the better to play with it!

?or use it in self-defense!

The flame is just in specific bands at the lower middle and bottom of the pearl, but those bands are uninterrupted. The flame provides a pleasing accent and is not the dominant surface feature, at least to the unaided eye. The remaining surface without flame is highly lustrous and smooth.

 

[GemGeek]

It sounds like a winner!

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

We begin the next chapter...

If this were a book (hint hint), I just couldn't put it down.

Very exciting, Steve!