Philippines South Sea Pearl farms

[jacques.christophe]

Hi everyone! I would just like to share images and experiences of our day to day on the pearl farm! Few people really get to see where these golden south sea pearls really come from.

enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=156355&id=355406978947

if you guys have any questions about Philippines south sea pearls I would love to help answer them!

great to see so many people sharing a passion for pearls!

 

[turquoise712]

How to tell between natural colour and enhanced/treated colour in SSP?

How to tell between natural colour and enhanced/treated colour in SSP?

[is there any way of knowing whether a pearl has been enhanced or treated/tinted? When they say a pearl is natural, does it mean they weren’t cultured? I was in the market for golden SSPs, and was guaranteed by a seller that I can have her pearls xrayed to be sure that they weren’t cultured and offered returns. That’s when I trusted her.









QUOTE=jacques.christophe;74606]Hi everyone! I would just like to share images and experiences of our day to day on the pearl farm! Few people really get to see where these golden south sea pearls really come from.

enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=156355&id=355406978947

if you guys have any questions about Philippines south sea pearls I would love to help answer them!

great to see so many people sharing a passion for pearls![/QUOTE]

 

[Katbran]

First of all thank you Jacques for the link ! We love our gold pearls here !!!

[is there any way of knowing whether a pearl has been enhanced or treated/tinted? When they say a pearl is natural, does it mean they weren’t cultured? I was in the market for golden SSPs, and was guaranteed by a seller that I can have her pearls xrayed to be sure that they weren’t cultured and offered returns. That’s when I trusted her.

I would be surprised if they weren't cultured unless you bought from someone who specialises in Natural (wild) pearls.

The correct use of natural means that they have not come from any oyster / mussel that has had any human interference at all.

Cultured means that they were grown on a farm under controlled conditions.

Many sellers use the term 'natural' quite loosely and usually just mean that they are 'real' pearls and not shell pearls.

I too am very interested in the various methods of enhancing the colour of gold pearls. And, how can the treatment be spotted- especially if they are undrilled. I saw three strands in HK one Champagne , one dark and one medium. The seller immediately disclosed that the medium strand was enhanced. It was a very pretty shade and looked quite natural. It surprised me as I'd sort of assumed that most dyed pearls would be a darker gold .

 

[pearlescence]

It's quite hard to tell on a single strand whether the colour has been enhanced. But when they are in a lot the pearls show a sort of brownishness and ear-waxy look which is a real tell. (applies to the dyed gold edisons which Grace is churning out by the thousands as well)

 

[jshepherd]

[is there any way of knowing whether a pearl has been enhanced or treated/tinted? When they say a pearl is natural, does it mean they weren’t cultured? I was in the market for golden SSPs, and was guaranteed by a seller that I can have her pearls xrayed to be sure that they weren’t cultured and offered returns. That’s when I trusted her.

Unless the seller is offering you a GIA or SSEF certificate with the pearls, she is lying to you. Actually, I can already tell she is lying to you. Don't waste your money on an X-ray.

 

[Cees]

Thank you Jacques Christophe for the photo's. Still on my wish list to go to Palawan.
Golden pearls are my favourite

Treated pearls can be bought from a number of wholesalers on the Hong Kong Fair. Most of them are honest to reveal if they are or not.

From a number of wholesalers I would never buy even one single pearl.

 

[LondonPearl]

Most of the treated gold pearls are produced in Japan. They generally buy cheap light cream / yellow pearls which are hard to sell and make them gold. I know of two companies in Kobe that offer such treatments. Sadly a good percentage of this “gold” is sold on as “natural” colour. I frequently exhibit at the Hong Kong show (hall 1 p22 next week) and it is an uphill battle to explain why my natural colour gold pearls are the price they are in the face of unscrupulous dealers who sell the treated pearls as natural.

 

[jshepherd]

Turquoise said the vendor stated the pearls were natural and not cultured and offered a guarantee based on X-ray. That means the vendor is lying. Whether the color is natural or not is irrelevant. The vendor can't be trusted to tell the truth, so even if they were treated, they would claim the color is natural.