"Reject" Pearls

[perlas]

I bought this lot because they were quite a curiosity at a cheap price. These are labeled by a seller as "reject pearls" from Mindanao, Philippines which I got about 8-10 years ago.

I am quite certain that the smaller ones are South Sea keshis, with the larger light yellow and gray ones as south seas.

The bigger ones with black spots - are they because they were produced by sick oysters? If so, do they affect pearl durability?

Some colors of the pearls do not strike me as south sea. Not sure if some farmers were experimenting but I would like to know the thoughts of the experts. The lot may have been produced by different species, but then again, I also have no experience on pearls produced by sick pinctadas!

For reference, the size of the smallest gold pearl keshi is 7.9mm X 5.3mm.



Same pearls turned around:



Closer look at black spots:

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

I have a friend who would love to carve skulls from those.

A "sick" oyster rarely survives. These are from perfectly healthy oysters. There's any number of reasons why pearls develop dark spots.

The dark spots are conchiolin. It's the first step in laying down mineral layers in shells or pearls. In this case, the sac may have burst and the newly regenerated portion is "starting over again" Had these pearls remained in the oyster for another year, they'd likely have the iridescent layers applied over it.

 

[perlas]

Thank you Dave for that piece of knowledge. Does it mean they are less durable than the fully nacre covered ones? It feels as hard a nacre and you said your friend carves them but I'm not sure how durable they are.

 

[BWeaves]

The pearls with the black spots are probably the sort where the bad side is either sliced off and mounted as a half pearl, or the setting covers the bad part.

I can't imagine a pearl being a total reject unless it was ugly on all sides. And even then, it would be ground up and used for medicine or beauty products.

 

[MSC]

I think those would make amazing skulls!

 

[pattye]

Perlas, appreciate your sharing such interesting pearls. Great examples of the beauty of imperfection.

 

[amti]

Thank you for sharing! I have never seen pearls with dark spots and so this is an entirely new thing for me. Thank you to Dave too, who continues to educate me. FWIW, I see beauty in all of them. Very neat collection and you can definitely make some interesting pieces with them!