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Carved pearls

#1

I was a member for a while and am back to ask members a question. I
have been working on carving pearls and did a step-by-step article
on this for the April issue of Lapidary Journal. It just seemed too
easy and I keep wondering why it has never been done before. Or has
it? I know there are traditional carve pearls. But deeply carved
pearls?

Anyone have any ideas? I work with large, low-grade freshwater
pearls, because they are cheap. See example and please let me know
what you think. Meanwhile, I have set up three classes around the US
to teach this.


Betsy
These photos are by Jim Lawson.

#2 
It just seemed too easy and I keep wondering why it has never been
done before. Or has it? I know there are traditional carve pearls.
But deeply carved pearls?

I’ve seen beautifully carved, as well as facetted, pearls, often
Tahitian black and white, but others too, over the years. I have a
couple black ones that I bought something like 15 years ago. Now,
whether they are, or you would consider them, as deeply carved as
those in your photos, I don’t know. But other than the look, there
shouldn’t be any serious technical differences beyond simply the
aesthetic skill of the artist doing the carving. More valuable
pearls might discourage some people from carving too deeply to avoid
any risk of breaking it, or loosing too much weight in case someone
was interested in the weight, though I don’t recall these being sold
by weight. Rio Grande currently carries carved pearls by an artist
named Chi Galatea Huynh. I’m sure there must be others too, though I
don’t know.

Peter Rowe

#3

Are they durable? Very pretty.

Beth Wicker
bethwicker.com

#4

I conducted the bathroom floor test with one of these pearls – with
and without force. In other words, I dropped and threw the pearl on a
ceramic floor. A thin layer of nacre chipped a little on the ridges
of the carving, but I was able to remove the damage by sanding it
away with a salon-style sanding board.

Betsy