Cultured Pearl Treatments

All cultured pearls are cleaned and polished to enhance the luster before being sold to jewelers.   Also Akoya pearls are typically bleached.  There are additional treatments that are applied to lower quality pearls in order to develop a marketable product.

One such treatment is the use of silver nitrate to darken the pearls or dyes to color them.  Akoya pearls are often treated with pink coloring.  Another type of treatment is irradiation with gamma rays to darken the nucleus of saltwater pearls which turns them a bluish tone.  And finally some pearls are coated to create luster.  This is not considered desirable as a coating may eventually peel and reveal the surface of the lower quality pearl.

There are a few ways for a buyer to determine if a pearl is treated.  If a strand of pearls is being purchased look for slight irregularity in the colors of the pearls.  If the pearls are all exactly the same sheen and tone, they are likely dyed or treated with nitrate.  Another way is to inspect the inside of the drilled hole of a pearl with a jewelers loupe and look for dye residue or a darkened nucleus.  Coated pearls must be identified with a strong magnifying device to determine if the pearl has a scaly surface.  Coated pearls will be very glossy.  Unscrupulous pearl dealers have been known sell coated pearls without revealing the treatment.  It’s always important to at least ask, and then obtain a guarantee when purchasing pearls, in order to be sure of the investment.

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