What in the heck are these?

Diamondsareforever

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 17, 2023
Messages
104
Lol. Very strange…. Pearls

What in the heck are theseVery strange…. PearlsVery strange…. Pearls
 
Chinese cultured freshwater pearls-- second harvest.

After the first (mantle-tissue-nucleated) pearl is harvested, if the freshwater mussel is placed back in the water, a new pearl forms in the original pearl sac.

If a form is placed in the pearl sac (e.g. a star shape, a round piece of mesh plastic, etc) nacre will be laid down over that. It looks like there are twinned pearls there.
 
Chinese cultured freshwater pearls-- second harvest.

After the first (mantle-tissue-nucleated) pearl is harvested, if the freshwater mussel is placed back in the water, a new pearl forms in the original pearl sac.

If a form is placed in the pearl sac (e.g. a star shape, a round piece of mesh plastic, etc) nacre will be laid down over that. It looks like there are twinned pearls there.
Thank you so much! I bought them
At a charity event and want to resell them
Is there any value? String is broken so
Needs to be fixed
 
They are not valuable, but they are pretty.
Are you artistic? You could restring them interspersed with colorful, inexpensive gemstone beads (e.g. fluorite) to increase their appeal to buyers.

Check out my restringing tutorial:
 
Chinese cultured freshwater pearls-- second harvest.

After the first (mantle-tissue-nucleated) pearl is harvested, if the freshwater mussel is placed back in the water, a new pearl forms in the original pearl sac.

If a form is placed in the pearl sac (e.g. a star shape, a round piece of mesh plastic, etc) nacre will be laid down over that. It looks like there are twinned pearls there.
Interesting about the first vs. second harvest difference! Thanks for sharing this info @Pearl Dreams
 
There's more.
After the 2nd harvest pearl is removed, if a bead is placed in the sac and the mussel returned to the water, the result is a flameball pearl for the 3rd harvest.
Oh I really don’t care for the flame ball pearls. These appear to be paired with Swarovski beads. Any way to donate these? I would remove metal clasp Ofcourse, but no interest in the pearls if somebody wants them
 
If you have a local charity based thrift shop, that would be a great place to donate. We have one in our area I donate to.
Someone who likes to make jewelry will buy them.
I don’t feel like they would know what they are. I live in a very small town. Was hoping one of y’all would want them lol
 
@jeg referred to them as a pearl "lei", which totally fits. Thank you for the information about the 2nd and 3rd harvests! So interesting.
I have some like these that are flat and rectangular. I believe they were advertised as "tissue nucleated", would that be the 2nd harvest?
I also have a strand that was sold to me as "cornflake" keshi, more flat and round shaped. I actually separated them with a 2-3mm off-round pearls to create some pearly interest, rather than the overlapping flattened shapes. I'll most likely re-make them again later. Some shapes are just fun for playing with design.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top