Pinctada Maculata (Pipi) Pearls

[pearlescence]

But I never did get the answer!

 

[SteveM]

We reawakened that thread and tried again. Answers remain elusive, or the question remains misunderstood.

 

[MSC]

I love seeing tangents on questions! You guys are awesome

Someone recently asked me if the surgical procedure for pearl culturing was painful for the mollusk. I don't have good access to journals any longer and couldn't really find any information on whether mollusks have pain receptors in their nerve endings. Does anyone here know? I presumed that yes they do because it could be a triggering response to parasitic invasion. I hate to presume though....

 

[CortezPearls]

I love seeing tangents on questions! You guys are awesome

Someone recently asked me if the surgical procedure for pearl culturing was painful for the mollusk. I don't have good access to journals any longer and couldn't really find any information on whether mollusks have pain receptors in their nerve endings. Does anyone here know? I presumed that yes they do because it could be a triggering response to parasitic invasion. I hate to presume though....

I believe we have discussed this subject intensively over the years. Let me see if I can find the threads.

 

[SteveM]

Alex Collins just arrived into town today. He owns a Tahitian pearl farm on Takaroa and brought a bunch of special pieces to do a live stream from our office tomorrow. I thought he was only bringing Tahitians, but he brought his collection of natural Pipi too!

View attachment 468043

The above lot, which was saved from its alternative fate in Hong Kong, has been sorted in preparation for design work. That perfect golden drop is 7mm x 8.7mm. It looked smaller in the live stream, so a nice surprise!

 

[jshepherd]

The above lot, which was saved from its alternative fate in Hong Kong, has been sorted in preparation for design work. That perfect golden drop is 7mm x 8.7mm. It looked smaller in the live stream, so a nice surprise!

I can't wait to see the finished piece!

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

I love seeing tangents on questions! You guys are awesome

Someone recently asked me if the surgical procedure for pearl culturing was painful for the mollusk. I don't have good access to journals any longer and couldn't really find any information on whether mollusks have pain receptors in their nerve endings. Does anyone here know? I presumed that yes they do because it could be a triggering response to parasitic invasion. I hate to presume though....

They don't have a brain, hence pain is not processed the same way. In nature, creatures like mussels survive where even other molluscs cannot. These settings are often fraught with environmental stresses. Storms, falling or tumbling rock, logs ashore, radical temperature shear, predation etc. occur commonly.

Mantle sensitivity cause valves to close when contacted. Broken shells are common in the wild. The mollusc's ability to rebuild shells and regenerate tissue is quite advanced. When damaged, mussels cannot merely close their shell, instead must restructure new barriers. One might think if the creatures were tortuously distressed or otherwise greatly infected, they will not survive.

On the grand scale of evolution and environment, an epithelial transgraft is a minor pinprick on a mollusc's physiology and well being.

 

[SteveM]

I can't wait to see the finished piece!

PIECES!

I just re-watched that live stream with Alex Collins. He commented upon query from Jeremy that the two Poe Pipi lots were collected over a period of about six months. It should be clear collection and harvest are two different things.

I'm attaching the text of a 1995 article from Pearl Oyster Information Bulletin, as it offers an eyewitness account of the harvesting process on Tongareva, historically the most prolific of all P. Maculata populations (in 1995 already in steep decline). Families would spend days and weeks harvesting and opening thousands of mollusks resulting in a handful of salable pearls, to be stored in a jar for a rainy day. After many months or years, enough pearls might be accumulated to cash out to a pearl trader in Rarotonga for a new TV, fridge, etc.

The pearls in Te Poe O Te Kuki Airani (Post 1) were 'collected' from locals on Tongareva by a resident pearl trading family over a period of four years, from 1978 to 1982.

I can believe that the two lots Alex presented were the result of six months' collecting among fishing families in the Tuamotus, the subsequent result of cumulative years of harvest.

 

[SteveM]

Sharing a little progress with the Poe Pipi lot from Alex Collins, here with a snapshot from the jeweler's desk.

While my idea is to mass the pearls for cumulative effect, the 8.7mm drop had to remain apart as it would make a striking pendant on its own (and is of comparative value to the remainder of the lot).

But there are rounds in matching pairs that also merit exclusion. This delicate tincup necklace would be the result. As the pearls are perfect the necklace is to be two-sided.

 

[SteveM]

While my idea is to mass the pearls for cumulative effect,

Just today a new thread appeared regarding TASSELS that induced my posting of the project in mind.

 

[SteveM]

We'll bring that tassel back to this thread via a progress report today, pending final construction. What a project it has been sorting and setting that 110-ct lot of Poe Pipi from Alex Collins! As is readily apparent, it is in skillful and experienced hands.

Cap is two-sided 18k with a hinged bale. Tassel strands finished with gold beads. A hank of semi-round 2mm Poe Pipi collected years ago for an abandoned project served to create a Poe Pipi chain in lieu of a gold chain for the tassel. It will be a more frequent 'wear' on its own than the more elaborate torsade that introduced this thread. Maybe gold was the better investment, but why if you can acquire more of these increasingly rare natural pearls?

Platinum necklace featuring round pairs and the 3ct drop is also in the final stages, no updated photos yet.

 

[jshepherd]

Wow, wow, wowzers!!!

 

[pearlescence]

Double wow, wow and wowzers!

 

[BWeaves]

WOWZA is right!

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Extraordinary!

 

[pattye]

What a beauty and such a delight to wear!

 

[SteveM]

What a beauty and such a delight to wear!

Thanks all, yes I think it’s turning out as well as hoped, and the frosting on the cake would be exactly as Pattye says, that it be wearable.

 

[SteveM]

By the way, this was the hank of Poe Pipi. It was astonishing to see, even the South Pacific locals are baffled how it was possible to create so many matching strands in the full range of PP colors. I’ll stick my neck out and surmise that Pearl Paradise may have access to any remaining strands, in like manner to the strands of small Pteria Sterna offered during the recent live stream.

 

[BrendaKY]

Sharing a little progress with the Poe Pipi lot from Alex Collins, here with a snapshot from the jeweler's desk.

While my idea is to mass the pearls for cumulative effect, the 8.7mm drop had to remain apart as it would make a striking pendant on its own (and is of comparative value to the remainder of the lot).

But there are rounds in matching pairs that also merit exclusion. This delicate tincup necklace would be the result. As the pearls are perfect the necklace is to be two-sided.

That’s going to be very pretty

 

[BrendaKY]

In the absence of a scientific section, a scientific discussion may arise or be questioned in other threads nonetheless. For some who don't strictly adhere to the tenets of science, comments may be misconstrued as an affront or ill-informed. Whilst incorrect, mythical or all-or-nothing comments are made, these may often derail the original poster's topic or otherwise be moderated/locked by admins without resolution.

P-G is an educational forum, but one of marketing, fashion, history, limited identification etc., but not objective science or research. Not everything in pearl science can be cited, but collective observation, speculation and replication within that context ought to be acceptable. Especially when controls are disclosed or demonstrated. In debunking inaccuracies, falsehoods or pseudoscience, open discussions are what flesh these things out.

I don't buy pearls. I don't (necessarily) sell pearls. I don't wear pearls. I study pearls in biology, archaeology, paleontology, ecology and origin. Even under all of those disciplines, my contribution here is generally confined to identification from limited imagery.

Most of that goes over heads, but there are those where it doesn't. Objective scientific discussion oft requires an extra layer of moderation, thus a reasonable explanation for it's absence. I'm sure the moderators are already considerably burdened in their ongoing tasks.

I’m just a pearl lover and wearer but have really enjoyed reading your conversations. This is all so interesting!