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Pearl with a fine line - broken?

Roselina

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This is my first post in “Pearls”. The one jewellery topic I understand close to nothing of. I have this loose pearl lying around. Upon inspecting it closer I detected that it has a fine line. It almost looks as it was E42EAF7F-91C6-4B30-9231-3CDB0D96C8C0.jpeg 013538BB-FF31-4B7A-B5D0-D4CB44C8FDCE.jpeg ripped. It once was an earring I think. Is it indeed broken and will rip eventually or is that something else?
Thank you for your input!
 

Pearlescence

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If you run your nail over it can you feel the line? It looks like a crack in the nacre, but it is very faint and may be stable. It is one of those situations where you can happily use and wear it but you couldn't sell it.
 

Roselina

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If you run your nail over it can you feel the line? It looks like a crack in the nacre, but it is very faint and may be stable. It is one of those situations where you can happily use and wear it but you couldn't sell it.

Thank you! I can't really feel someting. But maybe my finger are just not sensitive enough. It looks like it is split from within. It looks kind of cool, like a two color tone pearl. I won't sell it anyways. I might just check with a jeweler to see if I can use it somehow. I'm happy it won't fall apart right away.

:)
 

yssie

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I see a couple of things - did you mean the red? Or - am I imagining a - delineation of some sort, and a colour change - at green?

1621457773310.png
 

Daisys and Diamonds

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Well as they say around here welcome to the nacre side

Its a very pretty pearl
i can see why you want to use it

but you don't need to ask a jewler for inspiration
We have our PS pearl princess here to help you

@MakingTheGrade what do you think ?
 

MakingTheGrade

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I think it’s pretty!
Hmm. I know sometimes pearls get treated with a coating that can get scratched or cracked (my mom had a coated Tahitian that I peeled the coating off of haha).
But sometimes there are also just things that look like cracks. I was told it happen sometimes when I saw a web of cracks on a freshwater pearl
 

Daisys and Diamonds

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This is my first post in “Pearls”. The one jewellery topic I understand close to nothing of. I have this loose pearl lying around. Upon inspecting it closer I detected that it has a fine line. It almost looks as it was E42EAF7F-91C6-4B30-9231-3CDB0D96C8C0.jpeg 013538BB-FF31-4B7A-B5D0-D4CB44C8FDCE.jpeg ripped. It once was an earring I think. Is it indeed broken and will rip eventually or is that something else?
Thank you for your input!

Thinking ahead ...
What size is it ?
You could go minimal and wear it on a thin gold chain
 

Roselina

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I see a couple of things - did you mean the red? Or - am I imagining a - delineation of some sort, and a colour change - at green?

1621457773310.png

Hmm... I didn‘t even recognise the red ones. Interesting. I meant the green one. As long as it won‘t just fall apart, I‘m happy.
 

Roselina

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I think it’s pretty!
Hmm. I know sometimes pearls get treated with a coating that can get scratched or cracked (my mom had a coated Tahitian that I peeled the coating off of haha).
But sometimes there are also just things that look like cracks. I was told it happen sometimes when I saw a web of cracks on a freshwater pearl

Thank you. It might be my entrance to the mysterious world of pearls! I really start to like them very, very much!
 

yssie

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Hmm... I didn‘t even recognise the red ones. Interesting. I meant the green one. As long as it won‘t just fall apart, I‘m happy.

I think the reds are just nacre bumps. Totally normal and totally nothing to worry about!

The green... A "bead-nucleated" pearl is a "cultured pearl" that's created by inserting a round bead (made up of crushed up nacre) and a bit of a donor oyster's tissue into a receipient oyster. The recipient oyster deposits layer upon layer of nacre around the bead, over the course of several months. A "tissue-nucleated" pearl is a "cultured pearl" that's created with only a tissue graft - no bead is inserted into the recipient oyster. The nacre itself is translucent in both cases (nacre is nacre regardless of oyster type) - it's possible that there was a fissure or blockage early on, when the first layers of nacre were being deposited, and later whatever was causing the fracture/fissure/growth plane ceased to be a problem (so later layers of nacre were deposited smoothly) - but it's still visible because nacre is a bit see-through. That's my guess, if you can't feel anything on the surface.
 

Pearlescence

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Pearls can and do crack, usually during drilling or other stressful operations.
 

Daisys and Diamonds

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3663B12F-FCB1-4F6A-85DE-1587B3A53E14.jpeg
that is a nice idea! It‘s not quite 9mm. So not too big, but also a decent size. Time for it to rise again!
Very nice size

Is it drilled all the way through or just half ?
 

Daisys and Diamonds

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Grrrrr i don't know what that thing is (above post not your pearl) but it p's me off
 

Beaders Secret

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Yssie hits the nail directly on the head, this sort of marking is reasonably common on South Sea Pearls, and others for that matter.

Regarding stability, you shouldn’t have any concerns, this is aesthetic not structural.

Incorrect technique or tools (or a drill bit that is past its prime and no longer sharp) can create structural cracks, but they look different and you will definitely know. The tears that form in your eye are a good clue=)2:oops2:
 

beatricecrummles

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If you feel nothing upon running your nails then, you must not worry. I feel happy for you and enjoy your first moments with your very first pearl =)
 

Pearlescence

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Just to clarify: pearl nuclei are not made of crushed-up nacre.
It still looks like a very fine short crack to me. But ignore it and forget about it. Enjoy the pearl.
What are you going to do with it? A ring might not be a great plan, but a pendant would work
 

yssie

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@Pearlescence Yes! Typo. Should have said “crushed up shell”, not “crushed up nacre” - s’pose I had nacre on the brain. Thanks for catching.
 

Pearlescence

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It's not anything crushed up. Shells are nacre. But nuclei are cut out of shells and shaped from whole shells, the best being cut from Mississippi river mussels. There is always experimentation with nucleating material - one Indonesian South sea farm tried with freshwater pearls but the result was indifferent. (I was there and did the harvesting) To get the size needed some early ripples were nucleated with CITES-banned Tridnaca shell. Not only illegal but also impossible to drill. Other materials include turquoise.
But never anything crushed.
 

yssie

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It's not anything crushed up. Shells are nacre. But nuclei are cut out of shells and shaped from whole shells, the best being cut from Mississippi river mussels. There is always experimentation with nucleating material - one Indonesian South sea farm tried with freshwater pearls but the result was indifferent. (I was there and did the harvesting) To get the size needed some early ripples were nucleated with CITES-banned Tridnaca shell. Not only illegal but also impossible to drill. Other materials include turquoise.
But never anything crushed.

The papers I was thinking of explan exactly what @Pearlescence said - whole FW mussel material is considered the best nucleus material. Glad you found this thread and were able to correct my misunderstanding for other readers and TIL :appl:

https://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=AV20120123124
https://www.researchgate.net/public...ck-lipped_pearl_oyster_Pinctada_margaritifera
https://www.researchgate.net/public...ction_use_of_organic_and_baroque_shell_nuclei
 
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