The jeweler switched pearls and removed pearls from my miki strand

[PearlPoor]

Color of these pearls? Non-pearl expert's answer . . .

Color of these pearls? Non-pearl expert's answer . . .

I think they are chameleon. I always thought of them as silver-grey, even though my husband (of 9 yrs) calls them black. Good call, Jerin and others. All that I read about Mikimoto made me think his pearls were not dyed, at least not in the 1930's and 40's. True?

Picture below is probably the best representation, so far, of how these pearls look when they're "sleeping.

Since this "pearl ****" incident 3 mos ago, I have tried to capture in a photo what my pearl necklace looks. At first, it seemed to be a simple, quick task - like taking a photo of my car or something. LOL at myself. Hey?

After taking many black or blinded-out photos, and only a few accidental nice photos, I found that none actually represents the ""true color of the necklace."

And, maybe, that these pearls do not have a constant color that I could accurately match with a crayon.

I realized that each pearl is different and each pearl comes on stage for the photo in its own little pearly world. They all respond differently and seem to be able to "change clothes" at any given moment.

Geeze . . . it used to be so simple pre-PR (pearl ****).

I just put them on early in the morning or in the evening (in a dimly lit closet) before going to work or going out. So, I think I only viewed them in my bedroom closet - - not in sunlight or other lights.

Basically, pre-PR, once my pearls were on, I never looked down.

Yes, Caitlin, photos are post-PR. Still looking for pre-PR photos. And, yes, the pearls still have their original Miki clasp.

The jeweler owns the store (very small, rural town store), and he told me he does not send out pearl work; that he does all the pearls himself.

Thanks, you guys, for your support.

Pearl Poor

 

[PearlPoor]

Photo-Pseudo-Xrays of my pearls

Photo-Pseudo-Xrays of my pearls

These are some some photos I took with too much light (I guess that's the problem - not a photographer) that I used to investigate Photo Shop, and the results that somehow came about.

Strange pix. I wonder if the very bright, intense lighting, and Photo Shops 'high tech perception of light and color pixels captures "reality"images ???

Could these dark blobs in the pearls represent the nucleus??

The strand on the left is my MM strand.

And . . . after using Contrast, Sharpen . . .

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Cool psychedelic photo! Blow it up and make a poster!

 

[PearlPoor]

Center pearls doesn't look the same

Center pearls doesn't look the same

Another Photo-Pseudo-Xray of Mikimoto UPO*

* UPO = Unidentified Pearl Object

Here is another photo shop morph of an over-exposed pix of my Miki necklace - the bottom strand in each picture (after re-stringing):

same photo with light contrasted in photoshop

Below is my Miki looped around a basket handle - up close - under florescent light. The first photo is ?s is"with no modifications in Photo Shop. Don't you think it's strange that the center pearl looks different from the rest

PearlPoor

 

[PearlPoor]

center pearl - photos

center pearl - photos

I don't think all the photos went through . . so, try again.

The original, unmodified photo taken under close florescent light.

Any ideas about what is inside these pearls that causes these images?

PearlPoor

 

[Ashley]

Those are some interesting photos- I can't quite seem to get a handle on what color your pearls are exactly- the red background is no good for photos. Via reflected red color on the surface of the pearls, you are distorting the true color, and the pearls look pinkish-grey, not the multi-color greys that your original pictures indicate.

Do you have an automatic focus function on your camera? If so, please try to take pictures of the strand under artificial light and daylight on a plain white background- like a piece of paper or a paper towel. Again, a penny or a dime placed next to the pearls throughout various points in the strand will help us establish a visual reference for size.

I am going to venture a guess that these are Japanese Akoya that have been color-treated with irradiation. Irradiation treatment was popular in the 50's and 60's in Japan as a good alternative to Silver Nitrate. It is a popular treatment for many types of gemstones. In pearls, the radiation darkens the freshwater mother of pearl bead nucleus inside the pearl, and does not affect the outer layers of nacre surrounding the bead nuclei, which will flouresce blue. Hence, when you place your pearls under the flourescent light and take infrared pictures, the nucleus appears dark with a blue/white outer ring. They are indeed thick-nacred pearls and will definitely stand the test of time as long as they are taken care of properly.

As for the pearl that flouresces solidly blue- an untreated pearl? What color is the pearl in normal light? Creamy / White-ish / Green tinges? Looking forward to hearing from you- wish I had the strand in my hands to examine myself!

 

[pattye]

Preliminary research I have been doing indicates that in the 40's and 50's there were some color "treatments" going on, most likely the size of these pearls indicates akoyas, not any other kind, but not a natural color. The photos are truly fascinating.

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

 

[Ashley]

I think that analine dye would translate into a coloration that would be too intense to match the soft greys and minks that I see in her pearls- dye is usually pretty saturated, although not out of the question. The Japanese dyed pearls as early as the 1920's.

Additionally, there is Silver Nitrate, but again, I think that the resultant coloration would not match with what she has: soft and pastel.

Irradiation darkens the nucleus, but cannot affect the outer nacre layers, leaving them white, influenced darker by the internal nucleus. Basically, you're looking at a black nucleus through layers of semi-transparent white nacre- it will appear grey-ish, mink, and other variations depending upon the amount of time the pearls spent exposed to cobalt-60.

 

[waimeamomi]

Wow. Are there any photoshop experts that can explain this? If this is a way to "see" inside of pearls, this would be a really great tool, donʻt you think?

 

[Heidi]

Photoshop isn't capable of showing you anything beyond what the sensor or film has captured. So, unless something was actually taken with an x-ray sensor or, possibly, unless the nacre is thin/translucent enough that the nucleus would show through, what we are seeing is the optical effect that Ashley describes above.

 

[PearlPoor]

More photos re: color of Mikimoto's

More photos re: color of Mikimoto's

In this photo you can compare the color to the white paper underneath and the white A- pearls. I ran out of paper towels and money (the dimes) but I will do a photograph like that.

I think this photo is probably the best representation of the color.

Honestly, these pearls really are chameleons. A couple weeks ago I put the necklace in an HP scanner (on red paper - sorry ). Here again, I can say that this is their color.

I found this pictures on the web: Mikimoto 1940 Fugi Ginza Akoyas. My pearls are never white like these, but they do glow colors like these.

Is that where MM's home base was in Japan?

Here is an interesting picture described as: AAA Akoyas (7.5 to 8 mm) from Vietnam.

Also, a picture described as "black pearls"from the Phillipines.

and . . . baroque cultured blue pearls from 1950.

Over the past 2 months (my 300 hours), I found lots of Tahitian pearl pictures, some with similar colors, but I think I understand that Tahitian pearls are much larger.

Since the restringing job, the largest pearl and the next largest pearls graduating away from center, are gone. So, next to the 7.5+ center are pearls slightly over 5 mm, and near each end, they go down to 4 mm, and finally about 3.8. Before restringing the center and neighboring pearls were all dark- actually a combination of black, silver, blue & green. Hard to explain. They were very dramatic looking and would be described as closer to black than silver if they were not in the light. I remember that a lighter color pearl sort of stood out, but it was at least 3rd away, probably 4th , from center pearl. Now it really stands out, because it is the center pearl and the neighbors are suddenly (and not gradually) smaller.

Arrrrrraaaggghhh ! Everytime I think about what this jeweler did, I just get sick to my stomach. I just can't imagine a professional jeweler doing such a terrible thing. That's why I keep thinking that there must be an incredible value here, in terms of dollars or possession of museum type (unique/extinct) pearls for one's private collection. When I say "here" I may be talking mostly about the pearls that are missing.

I guess the necklace could have shrunk some, but he measured it carefully laying it down on his glass counter with a yardstick-type thing permanently affixed. He put the two pieces of the necklace and the few loose ones all in a line against the measuring stick. I don't think there was much space between them, certainly no more than the knew knots take up.

That was when he pointed out to me there was a good sized pearl missing. It was EASY to see, because the pearls on each side of the center were big and beautiful and were very slightly graduated (tapered) for some distance - about one inch along each side of center pearl.

I told him I was worried that I might have missed one when the necklace broke, and that maybe I could find it. He said I could never replace it with "these colors"now.

Got to go find kleenex - crying.

PearlPoor

 

[Valeria101]

Hey, everyone Is anyone else thinking that these are not Akoya and possibly not cultured at all?


PearlPoor (not!), did you question the jeweler who did the restringing yet? Don't leave them time.

From the pictures, it looks like if you needed to replace the larger pearl, then the best matching replacement might not be Akoya, after all, the matching is what counts and mixed necklaces have been done since always. Hopefully it wouldn't get to that...

 

[pattye]

PearlPoor,

You HAVE to take a good friend to stand by your side and go back to that jeweler, no matter how painful, and get information from him. If not a female friend, then perhaps a big burly guy that looks like a body guard????? Even write out your questions ahead of time, because you are emotional, and rightfully so. Perhaps you could check about taking him to small claims court? Is he a member of BBB? (Better Business Bureau) Don't let any more time pass, as Ana says.

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

 

[Sueki]

What did the jeweller say when you went back to complain about the missing pearls?

2 months, 300 hours ?

 

[PearlPoor]

Maybe 1930's Mikimoto ?

Maybe 1930's Mikimoto ?

If these pearls would have cost a lot of money, my mother could not have afforded to buy them back in the 40's or '50's. It is possible that her older sister by 20 plus years, my Auntie Alma, could have given them to her, because she loved pearls, too, and was rather extravagant and flamboyant.

In her (my Auntie Alma) younger days she was the "Girl in the Fishbowl"at Bimbo's nightclub in San Francisco - - also she traveled to Hawaii and other Polynesian Islands (maybe Bora Bora) to learn the hula and bring it back to the U.S. because she was a dance teacher.

Here is a photo of her:

She always brought things back to give away. I have an original ocean liner menu she brought back from one of her trips back then. I have it framed, so this is an exact copy found on the internet:

In her travels as a dancer Alma met famous people (back then . . . 1925-1940) always collected exotic things, like ostrich plumes, native masks, rare sculptures, perfumes, and, yes, jewelry. In her later years - 1950's through 1970's, she invested in real estate and bought several mansions, one on Telegraph Hill in S.F. and one in Marin County. She was always going broke and would lose the houses to foreclosure. It didn't seem to phase her. She just kept being ?untie Alma" always with an optimistic attitude and flair for anything artistic and passionate.

My sister brought Alma (about 200 miles) to visit me two years ago, when I was riding my Lipizzaner stallion, Maestoso II Sabrina (Smokey). My husband wanted to call me up from the trail in our creek, but she insisted on walking down there and seeing me ride. Don took a picture of us. She was 94 at the time. I could not believe she walked down the steep dirt trail to the creek area and that she was not afraid to stand next to Smokey and pet him. She was amazingly spry and balanced - - maybe from all the ballet she did. Sadly, she passed away last year.

This is a picture of my Mom when she married my Dad on August 18, 1946. Alma is on the right. My Mom was 21, so Alma was at least 41 years old. She always looked very young for her age - her chin was always tilted up a little as though she was doing her ballet.

Well, I have rambled on enough about my family.

PearlPoor

 

[PearlPoor]

X-rays and my PhotoPseudo X-rays

X-rays and my PhotoPseudo X-rays

Valeria, when you say "not cultured at all" do you mean . . . the N word? Could that be possible? Here is a picture of pearl x-rays I found on the internet. The webpage says the pearls are, from left to right,

. . . . . . . . . natural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . bead nucleated . . . . . . . . . . . . .tissue nucleated

I saved this photo of x-rays because I wanted to compare it with the photopseudo x-ray pictures I took, like the ones below.

The first photo is untouched - just as it came out of my digital camera. The second photo is with Photoshop's "?uto Level" which corrects distortions in contrast, exposure, and color. I didn't add color or modify anything - - just let PhotoShop's eye "fix"the photo.

I can't find any other photos on the internet of pearl x-rays. Do any of you have some that I could compare with?

A natural pearl has no bead in it, right? Then what is the center "thingy"in the x-rays of the natural pearls above ?

PearlPoor

 

[pattye]

Hi PearlPoor,

Love the story about your family. Your auntie was an amazing person! Like Auntie Mame of the movies, sort of! And your Smokey is gorgeous! I can't imagine having such a glorious and famous horse as a Lipizzaner-----------there is another store or two, no doubt??

Natural pearls are usually caused by a parasite boring through the shell, and then becoming coated in nacre. What's left of the critter often shows up as a dark spot, sometimes a fairly large dark spot in the middle of the pearl. Naturals are going to be more off round also, as compared with bead nucleated.

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

 

[PearlPoor]

X-ray Photo of Pearls

X-ray Photo of Pearls

I forgot to say, the x-ray photo I previously posted is from GIA.

Here is some text about it:

X-radiography separates natural pearls (left) from bead-nucleated cultured pearls (center) and tissue-nucleated cultured pearls (right).

Materials that are transparent to X-rays leave a black image on the film, whereas materials that are opaque to X-rays block them and leave a nearly colorless area on the film.

Natural pearls display concentric and other natural structures.

Well, I have a lot more to learn about this.

PearlPoor

Cultured pearls show either distinct mother-of-pearl beads under the nacre layers or dark structures produced as a result of mantle tissue nucleation.

X-rays are useful in other ways as well, since many materials luminesce in response to them. When gemologists use the word fluorescence, they usually mean the visible light that is emitted when a material is stimulated by ultraviolet radiation.

When used with X-rays, this type of reaction is called X-ray luminescence.

Natural saltwater pearls luminesce very weakly or not at all to X-rays.

Natural and cultured freshwater pearls generally luminesce strongly due to their higher manganese content.

Most bead-nucleated saltwater cultured pearls luminesce to varying degrees because the freshwater mollusk beads typically used as nuclei luminesce through the overlying nacre.

However, if the nacre layer is thick enough ? as with some South Sea cultured pearls ? or if there is a sufficiently thick conchiolin layer (which can block the luminescence), they might not show any visible luminescence at all.

 

[Casey.R]

I love the photos and the story about your family too. Alma was so glamorous! I live in S.F. and I know Bimbos.

 

[Valeria101]

I saved this photo of x-rays because I wanted to compare it with the photopseudo x-ray pictures I took...

I can't convince myself that the artistic photos (beautiful look of pearls, by the way!) really show the inside of pearls... and as such, wouldn't compare them with pearl Xray images. A gemology lab could do this properly

The pearls look almost too good... like most cultured do. But I've got that wrong once already ...