[Jewelry making - Article 00654] - [Orchid] Working with South Sea's Pearls

[Thomas Janstrom]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========

    I have a recently received a South Seas pearl oyster shell (about
    the size of a man's hand) with a "half" pearl (~1/2" is diameter,
    absolutely gorgeous silver grey iridescence too)) embedded in the
    lip. Not having worked with pearl shell (or pearls of this calibre)
    before I'm slightly uneasy about just cutting into it to liberate the
    pearl, but I "can see" a pendant with this beauty in it and really
    would like to make a start on this. BTW I can probably get some more
    from the same source as she just likes to see them being appreciated,
    the two she gave away to friends on the return from her travels have
    disappeared into various brick-a-brack draws or what ever and have
    not been seen for 18+ years, this hasn't made her very happy. 

    So where/how do I start? I would imagine getting my hands on a book
    or two will be a good start, so any suggestions on this front? 

    The other thing I'd like to try to establish is a ballpark value
    figure for this pearl, so here is what I know.. 

    The shell was collected (along with about 20 others) in the vicinity
    of Tahiti about 20 years ago, they were not purchased, but collected
    either from the sea floor or beaches (this one has some scratches
    that indicate that the oyster was removed from the shell with a sharp
    implement) at the time the collector was told they were worthless and
    to dump them over board (thankfully she didn't!!!!). I'm almost
    certain that they have not been artificially seeded (would
    artificially seeded oysters be "running" free on the seafloor?), the
    dome isn't quite round, nor is it half as high as it is round, so it
    is kind of a low dome shape about 5.5mm high and 14.71mm in diameter.
    The colour transitions from a black grey on the lip "side" to a
    sepia-grey on the oyster side, the iridescence is very uniform and
    rather intense with hints of blues and greens and quite a bit of
    peacock blue as well. 

    So with out a picture (I will post one within 24hrs) what would be
    good guestimate for this little treasure of the sea? 

Cheers, Thomas.
Janstrom Designs.
____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________