Soaking Pearls overnight in saltwater to revive them?

[Caitlin]

This is after the salt slurry:

 

[jshepherd]

Moisture is good for South Sea and Tahitian pearls. It is good for any pearls that are not treated. But soaking them would not be the right way to infuse moisture.

have you ever noticed that display cases filled with South Sea and Tahitian pearl jewelry usually have little cups of water in them? This is to keep moisture in the air. Not a lot of moisture is needed. For cleaning the pearls, just a damp cloth is fine.

The akoya you are referring to are not treated at all. They have been washed - no one would want to wear them otherwise. Stephen Metzler was the first to have a chance to really look at them in our office yesterday.

 

[Caitlin]

Re untreated pearls.

I am fairly positive that Jeremy is the first to introduce untreated pearls to his customers.

I think the first untreated strands he brought back were the transitional strands. The natural color in the pearls were strung from dark to light, then through some shades of white.

Since then he has brought back more untreated strands and the ones he has brought back are so high quality, they do not need it!

Jeremy, are the untreated akoyas some of the ones from your farm? Are they the first such untreated akoyas to reach the public?

 

[jshepherd]

They are a product of Xuwen Pearl Paradise, yes. Are the the first untreated? I doubt it. This style has been sold locally in the past, both in China and Japan. But they are most often treated, and sold as white pearls - almost exclusively when they come this direction.

 

[Caitlin]

When you sent me the transitional strand, you said you guaranteed it was the first untreated strand I had ever seen.

Just to be clear, you were speaking of cultured freshwater pearls? Or am I wrong?

 

[jshepherd]

Yes, and the next untreated akoya will likely be the first you have ever seen as well. Those freshwater were from the first time I ever decided to buy loose pearls pre-treatment.