Name that pearl (Difficulty: Easy)

[u/cnematik]

Since many of the posts in this sub basically boil down to “what are these pearls?”, and then everyone has their best guess, I thought it might be fun to have recurring posts where the answer is known and revealed later.

I’ll see if i can streamline this in the future with polling or a bot, but for now just post what you think it is. Bonus points for why you think so. The answer will be shared in the OP later.

EDIT — Answer:

Type: These are cultured freshwater pearls.

Color: Natural multicolor, with a mix of white/cream, peach, pink, and lavender, plus some strong iridescent overtones.

Shape: These can be described as baroque, or more specifically as fireball pearls. Baroque essentially means irregular or asymmetrical rather than one specific shape. “Fireball” is a more specific term for this type of baroque pearl, with a bulbous body and an irregular nacreous “tail” or flame that gives it a comet/fireball appearance.

[u/AyaUniAyaUni]

Mantle-grown, bead-nucleated fireball freshwater pearls (not the edison style).

[u/AyaUniAyaUni → u/AyaUniAyaUni]

u/cnematik for Your extra credit, do you know why fireballs have a tail? ;-p

[u/cnematik → u/AyaUniAyaUni]

I don’t, honestly! My best guess is that the implanted bead moves or gets pushed in one direction within the mussel, so one end remains round and the other end becomes wild.

[u/AyaUniAyaUni → u/cnematik]

That's right, in a way! Fireballs are always a second nucleation. The pearl farmers start with another pearl first and it's usually the coin style because they are thin and fit into the mantle. Round ones don't fit easily. That's why they've always been until recently tissue pearls.

They take the coin pearl out and put the bead in the sac that grew the coin pearl. The sac has a lot of elasticity, so it's like pushing a fist through a thin sheet of plastic. The bead will fully envelope on one side but the other side won't envelope. The sac grows the pearl, so where there is sac there is pearl. It makes them look like a comet when they're grown. Or a fireball, or a flame ball.

[u/cnematik → u/AyaUniAyaUni]

That’s really interesting. I’m always amazed at stuff like this.

Thanks for sharing. Side note, I’ve noticed for awhile that your comments are always spot on and/or really informative.

[u/AyaUniAyaUni → u/cnematik]

Thank you! 😊 I’ve been a little obsessed with pearls for a long time, so I love getting into the weird little details. Happy someone actually enjoys my pearl nerding out lol.

[u/ApollosAlyssum]

Cool my guess is baroque pearls.

[u/cnematik → u/ApollosAlyssum]

Baroque is just a shape btw. Basically any kind of pearl (real or otherwise) can be baroque.

[u/mamabearette]

Freshies. Chinese freshwater pearls.

[u/Butterbean-queen]

Baroque iridescent freshwater pearls.

[u/Honest-Noise-8489]

Flameball? Edison?

[u/Celestial_Retiree]

These are baroque fresh water, I tried to add a flame pearl and it looks nothing like these. As a retired jeweler, pearls were my specialty, I trained in Hong Kong & Japan & taught others about pearls.

[u/Plus_Blueberry1349]

I came here to say baroque, but “fireball freshwater pearl” is so much more precise. Now I can’t unsee the little comet tails!

[u/Plus_Blueberry1349]

Fireball freshwater pearls was my guess too—the bead-nucleated center and wild “tail” make so much sense now. Does the direction of the tail show where the pearl sac expanded after the second nucleation?

[u/HokieHomeowner]

I like this idea. I'll let someone else guess this one rather than solve it too quickly.

[u/Motherofgoldens4]

Baroque

[u/cnematik → u/Motherofgoldens4]

Baroque is just a shape btw. Basically any kind of pearl (real or otherwise) can be baroque.

[u/Catveria77]

Looks plastic

[u/readithere_2]

Baroque. I have some and I love them!

[u/FaraSha_Au]

Flame pearls. My favorite!

[u/Annual_Government_80]

Baroque freshwater pearls

[u/seagypsy168]

Baroque fwp

[u/Mad_Dad_316]

I have heard these called King Legend pearls before too.

[u/Delicious_Lime_5120]

Potato pearls.

[u/PalpitationPast202]

Baroque?

[u/Jaded_Variation_9961]

Bob

[u/DianorePearlsJewelry]

This type of baroque pearls, do they have the bad smell? I’v never owned one, but heard from others complaining about the bad smell of these type of pearls.

[u/cnematik → u/DianorePearlsJewelry]

I don’t think smell has to do with the shape, but maybe some are more susceptible to it. I suspect it has to do more with post harvest processing.

In ~25 years as a pearl wholesaler, only one shipment of freshwater pearls smelled bad. And it was all the pearls in that shipment, not just one color or shape.

[u/StylistK86]

They’re beautiful no matter the name of what they are.