Repair a scratched pearl?

Hi all, I have a 3 cm sized natural gray colored Broome Bay baroque
cultured pearl that has a scratch in it andI was wondering if there
is any way to save this pearl? Can a scratch be buffed out? If so,
should I attempt it myself or are there professionals who can do
this? This is just such an awesome pearlworth saving… Thanks in
advance, Alex.

try a q-tip and vinegar - what you are doing is giving the scratch a
very mild acid polish.

Mark Zirinsky, Denver

Hello Alex, I suspect only an oyster could really repair the
scratch.

You don’t mention if the pearl has been drilled. If not, the scratch
is the location for a peg hole. Otherwise, design a mounting that
incorporates a vine or some such strip of metal to cover the scratch.
Sometimes accidents create wonderful things! Judy in Kansas

I have always found that often minor scratches can simply be buffed
out with a felt wheel and some tripoli. It may change the luster of
the pearl where you do it however so you should be careful about how
much you buff it.

Daniel R. Spirer, GG

Alex, check the archives on this, someone recently gave some good
advise on this. Some pearls can be buffed, possibly even sanded with
1500 grit , then polished. Depending on how thich the nacre layers
are. If you do go through a layer andd polish, it may not be as bad
as the scratch. And you can think how to set the pearl hiding the
scratch.

Hello ,

You certainly can polish pearls , to what extent depends on the
pearl . A baroque pearl suggests thick nacre [pearl layer] . You
might try “sanding” the scratch area with a 3-M radial bristle
brush [ use a fairly fine one ] the radial should be able to follow
the contours well , and follow it up with polishing compounds on a
small mandrell mounted polishing brush . [ I like ZAM on pearls]

Mark Clodius

After scratching a large blister pearl while setting it, I took a
(oh, what the hell)! chance and used ZAM on a felt buff with a light
hand, and the result was as good as new. The surface was not even
dulled! I doubt that this would work with lesser quality pearls with
thin nacre as one would probably polish right through it, but with
Fresh Water, and thick nacred pearls, one would no doubt have good
success.

Susan Ronan in Coronado, California, where the marine layer is
hanging around all summer, leaving very little sun for the
visitors…