South Sea Pearls Used sometimes as a general term signifying any saltwater pearl found in the area extending from the Philippines and Indonesia down to Australia and across to French Polynesia. More often than not, it refers specifically to large white or yellow pearls cultured in the Pinctada maxima oyster-a large oyster found in the South Seas, also called the silver-lip
or yellow-lip (also gold-lip) oyster depending on the color of its shell lip. South Sea pearls tend to range from 9-19 mm, whereas Akoya pearls usually range from 1-10 mm. Allory is puzzled. At the mall, she saw a large white pearl ring in a jewelry store window for $5000. Then, in a another store window, she saw what appeared to be a ring of the same size and quality for $500. She went in and asked the salesman if it was a real pearl ring. He told her it was and suggested she try it on. She liked it, and considering the price of the other ring, felt she was getting a bargain, so she bought it. Now she is wondering why there was such a large difference in price between the two rings. Can you think of a possible explanation?

There is one. The pearl in the first ring was a whole South Sea pearl-a large whole pearl cultivated in a South Sea oyster. The pearl Mallory bought was a 3/4 mabe pearl-an assembled pearl, which was also probably from a South Sea oyster. A mabe pearl grows attached to the inner surface of the oyster shell. After it is cut from the shell, the nucleus bead which was inserted to make it grow is removed, and the remaining hole is filled with a paste or wax (and sometimes also a bead or colored plastic dome). Then it is covered with a mother-of-pearl backing (some bargain-priced mabes are backed with plastic). The resulting mabe pearl has a pearly nacre coating almost the same as a whole cultured pearl. The main difference is that it tends to be thinner. Consequently, some mabe pearls may crack verv easily.

Even though the salesman was not wrong about the pearl being a real cultured one, he should have told Mallory it was an assembled pearl, especially since there is a vast price difference between mabe pearls and whole pearls. (Large fine-quality mabes are available for a few hundred dollars, whereas large fine¬quality whole pearls can cost several thousand dollars each.)

Unfortunately, salespeople don't al-ways disclose important information, and some sellers may not know the difference between a mabe pearl and a South Sea pearl (It should be noted that some people in the trade do not regard mabes as true pearls). No matter what their background is, salespeople should never call mabes South Sea pearls. Only a South Sea whole pearl merits the price and name of "South Sea Pearl."

Mabe pearls are commonly shaped like half pearls, which makes them ideal for pendants and pins. They are also grown in 3/4 shapes to make them appear more like whole pearls when set in mountings such as rings. If a mabe pearl is loose, it's easy to tell it's assembled because the mother-of¬pearl backing has a different appearance than the pearl nacre. In addition, you can see the line where the backing and pearl dome were glued together. When mounted, however, a mabe pearl may look like a South Sea whole pearl or 3/4 pearl, particularly if the bottom of the pearl is encased in gold.

Assembled pearls may occasionally look like whole pearls. The winter 1989 issue of Gems and Gemology shows an assembled pearl which seemed to be a whole natural pearl when x-rayed. But when it was unmounted, it became obvious that two pearl pieces had been glued together. The final GIA Gem Trade Laboratory report concluded "Assembled pearl consisting of two sections of natural pearl or blister pearls cemented together. "

South Sea pearls are cultivated in a variety of places-Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines,Thailand and Burma (now called Myanmar). Currently, Indonesia is the most important producer of pearls in the 9 to 12 mm range. The main source of pearls over 12 mm has been Australia. Australia's first pearl farm was established in 1956 on the Northwest coast at Kuri Bay. Prior to that time, Australia was producing up to 75% of the world's supply of mother of pearl, and pearls were just sold as a byproduct.

The silver-lip (Pinctada maxima) oyster is the main oyster used in Australia to cultivate South Sea pearls. If it's healthy, it can produce up to four pearls inserted at different times. The cultivation period may range from 1 1/2 to 2 years. The oysters that are unsuitable for whole pearls or that reject the bead nucleus are used to culture mabe pearls. Most of the large white mabe assembled pearls sold are cultivated in South Sea silver-lip oysters.

Gold-colored pearls have recently become very popular, but they are rare. The yellow-lip (also called gold-lip) oyster in which they are occasionally found, normally produces light yellow and cream¬colored pearls. Indonesia is the main source of yellow pearls, but they are also produced in the Philippines and Thailand.
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