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
