My daughter has a friend who has gotten into pearl parties where they get pearles in oysters and open them.

I am suspicious, because the pearls are marketed as "natural" I expect them to be seeded, but they come in a variety of colors.

She had developed an obsession with these, and is thinking of ordering a batch of 40 of them for $250 with some that have 4, 3, and 2 pearls in them.

The colors range from blue to rose, and others..... They give fancy names to the ones that transition...... probably as a way to flog off imperfect pearls.

They are not very round and show ridged around the circumference.

I see a number of these on eBay some are sold as akoya pearls for about $3 each. Others are as little as $1.80 each some labeled as fresh water.

so the questions: (for my education)

1) how are the colored pearls created ?
- dyed?
- do they insert a large colored seed and get a thin layer of growth on top?

2) how much of a scam is this?


I think that I can talk her into sending one to someone to have them look at it, if anyone want to see one.

I know that posting a picture is of little value, so I am not going to waste your time.


Thanks for taking the time to look at this, I have absolutely no background in this area so I am looking forward to learning more. (before my daughter gets into this for more than she has) So far a few hundred dollars. Her friend holds online Pearl Openings kind of like an online Tupperware party.

This is an interesting area... Check out this site for bulk purchasing:

http://www.alohapearls.com/product/600-Big_Bulk_Collection_of_50_Freshwater_Oval_Pearl_Wish_Pearl_Oysters.html

Hmmmmm... A fresh water pearl, in an oyster - a salt water critter. And they already know the size and the shape of the pearl inside. Think maybe something was planted? And an akoya pearl that size would wholesale for more than that...

Some of the colored pearls are natural color freshwater pearls. Others are dyed. The one I saw come out once that was already half-drilled? Yeah.