[Jewelry making - Article 00682] - Re: [Orchid] Working with South Sea's Pearls

[John Donivan]

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>     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) 

    Thomas, working with it is pretty simple. Assuming you don't have a
    lapidary outfit...... You can cut nacre, which is what all shells
    and pearls essentially are, with a hacksaw - a wet diamond saw is
    best, but a hacksaw (or coping saw) will do. Everything you do will
    generate lots of dust, BTW - bad dust, but not toxic (poisonous).
    Again, a wet lapidary wheel is best, partly to keep the dust down,
    but you can grind it with a large (like 4"-6") Cratex wheel or a
    belt sander. You'll soon see why I keep mentioning dust - there'll be
    a lot of it. Mother of pearl, which is a shell, takes a fine polish,
    but pearls are not polished, they have a natural luster. which is to
    say that if you touch the mabe' itself with any of your tools it
    will become garbage. You can polish it but it won't be a pearl, it
    will be polished mother of pearl. It works very much like a hard
    plastic. As for value, I really can't say. I know natural (undyed)
    cultured south-sea mabe's are into a couple of hundred dollars or so,
    depending. If yours is hollow, you'll need to fill it, too. Many
    mabe's are a shell with a MOP back and resin inside to support it. 

http://www.donivanandmaggiora.com
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