South Sea Pearl Nacre Thickness

[jshepherd]

Hisano sliced a 14.5 mm South Sea pearl in half this morning to make a geode piece for one of her clients. I happened to see it and had to take a photo.

The pearl has 4 mm of nacre on either side at the thinnest point. The thickness is incredible!

 

[baby nurse]

Incredible!

 

[Jwymark]

Wow! Thanks for sharing. It's great to see visually just how thick the nacre can be.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

That is very impressive!

 

[Purranha]

Ok, aside from the thickness of the nacre, I can't get over that a geode is going to be made from a 14.5m WSSP!?!?!?!
AAAHHHH what a piece it is going to turn out - Jeremy would you please post and share the finished product?
Very curious to see it!!!

 

[BWeaves]

That's amazing. And, yes, I vote for seeing the finished product, too.

 

[jshepherd]

The finished piece will be going to the Laughing Dog Gallery in Florida!

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Will she be able to fit a geode in there? So much nacre, so little space.

 

[jshepherd]

Will she be able to fit a geode in there? So much nacre, so little space.

She actually bores them out more in order to set the stones. It will be beautiful, I am sure!

 

[pattye]

Fascinating, thank you, Jeremy!

 

[JerseyPearl]

Bet that's going to be lovely! And not "boring" at all!

 

[CathyKeshi]

That's incredible. I so hope we get to see a peek at the finished little H piece!

 

[BWeaves]

Where's The Laughing Dog Gallery in Florida? Ah, Vero Beach. Long way from me.

 

[EileenK]

I read on the GIA WEbsite that lustre of pearls corresponds to nacre thickness. Is that correct?

I am confused: are lustre and thickness of nacre two different issues? So that Lustre can fade but nacre remains thick.

Or is it such that if nacre is thick, then lustre is also best, so several years later, lustre remains the same, even if nacre has thinned out?

I am new here to pearls. Just learning.

 

[Katbran]

That's wonderful depth on that pearl !! I'll bet Hisano makes something marvellous!

 

[BWeaves]

EileenK: Luster is the shininess of the pearl. Orient is the play of color, like soap bubbles. Both are subjective to what you see with your eye.
Nacre thickness is actually measurable. It's how much "pearl" is actually laid down on the nucleus (which is usually a round bead made from mussel shell.

Generally speaking, the thicker the nacre, the better the pearl, but that doesn't necessarily mean the pearl will have more luster than a pearl with thinner nacre. Some pearls are more matt. Some are shinier.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Luster is also measurable-- e.g. hanadama pearls are graded on their teri-value.

Luster is dependent not only on the thickness of the nacre, also on how well the crystals of aragonite are arranged.

So while thick nacre is not a guarantee of high luster, a pearl won't have high luster without also having thick nacre. For example-- freshwater pearls without a nucleus are all nacre, but there are many dull FWP.

Also, pearls need to be properly cared for or they can be damaged. Exposing them to perfumes, hair spray, cosmetics etc. will damage the luster.

Storing them in plastic bags prevents their having access to moisture in the air which is good for them. Opals also need moisture.


Edit: I'm clarifying due to confusion this generated: Moisture is good for pearls, opals etc. Air contains moisture, so it's good for pearls to have exposure to air. Plastic bags keep moisture out and so are not good for long term storage of pearls.

 

[BWeaves]

True, true!!!

 

[battah]

Wow, that's incredible! I guess you almost hope for thinner nacre for those pieces?

 

[ericw]

Thank you for sharing ! I agree : just I have carved an SSP pearl, and seen how thicker the nacre is, than many other kinds of pearls.
I think that growth of SSP pearls and tahitian pearls is fast. Anyway, nacre is not so hard than white FWP, aragonite layers seem different, maybe crystals are larger?
Edit : I have looked at the nacre with a strong loupe : FWP aragonite crystals appear larger in the plan of layers.