New Tahitian baroques

Interesting theory regarding Edisons. The original souffl? pearls that were cut apart had a cement-like filling. If it were dried mud, it would work on the same principle as the blue pills, expanding as it absorbed water. If they are using the pills for souffle nucleation now, no one is cutting them in half because they are too beautiful. :)
 
There were some mistakes in the article. The first is to say that we were wrong about the initial souffl? pearls being nucleated with dried matter. There is plenty of proof that they were not nucleated with the little blue pills.

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The blue implant is used on the first graft and replaced with a bead on the second graft - not the third. So Mr. Humbert cannot sell the first graft pearls.

Otherwise, it was a great article from a trade magazine. They do not usually cover interesting stories like these and Jennifer is very interested in what goes on in the pearl world. :)
 
The souffl? are precursors to Edisons. It wasn't the Japanese blue pill that the Chinese were using, but the material had/has a very similar effect. Some souffl? have dried material (as the photo above) and others have material that does look like wet mud, often expanding as soon as the pearl is drilled.
 
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Blue pill or dried pond scum/mud, they operate by swelling on uptake of fluids:

Imbibition of water increases the volume of the imbibant, which results in imbibitional pressure. This pressure can be of tremendous magnitude. This fact can be demonstrated by the splitting of rocks by inserting dry wooden stalks in the crevices of the rocks and soaking them in water, a technique used by early Egyptians to cleave stone blocks.
 
It was just getting interesting how pearl farming is developing and now it looks like it derails. I was hoping that someone would come up with a solution for the provoked Tahiti baroques to be produced in round pearls that would be a huge step forward.
Let's see who jumps in.

Cees
www.amsterdampearls.com
 
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