Mother of pearl source

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hello, I am looking for a source of good quality mother of pearl
shell in the Australasian region. Any help would be appreciated

Rose Donovan

2 
    Hello, I am looking for a source of good quality mother of
pearl shell in the Australasian region. Any help would be
appreciated Rose Donovan

Hi Rose, I returned from Rarotonga with a 44 gallon drum of mid-sized
black-lipped shell. I’m in Auckland. Call me 817 6816 if you want
some. I can also source golden-lipped mop (comes from the Philipines)
in the raw.

Brian
B r i a n A d a m
N E W Z E A L A N D
www.adam.co.nz/workshops

3

Hi Brian! I know nothing about how to use mother-of-pearl. I want to
coat the outs ide of a small pearl-shaped perfume bottle with
mother-of-pearl so that the bottle looks like a giant pearl! Is this
possible? Can it be done with mother-of-pearl or are there products
out there that mimic the look of pearl which are easier and/or
cheaper to use? Would appreciate your contacting me if you could
provide me with some ideas. My e-mail: @stephanie_young
Many thanks from Stephanie in NYC the "Big

Apple"

4 
    Hi Brian! I know nothing about how to use mother-of-pearl.  I
want to coat the outs ide of a small pearl-shaped perfume bottle
with mother-of-pearl so that the bottle looks like a giant pearl!
Is this possible?

Hmm. Pearl shell as you might expect is a hard immovable brittle
material. Coating a bottle just might be outside its sphere of
influence :wink:

There is a veneer version of some common shells: paua, abalone,
black-lipped and golden-lipped mother of pearl.I have a brochure
here from ‘Shell laminate and tiles’ <www.paua.com>. The laminate
sheet is 0.5mm thin. But it still probably won’t wrap round a curved
surface.

I’d look into special paint effects.

Brian
B r i a n A d a m
N E W Z E A L A N D
www.adam.co.nz/workshops

5

Stephanie, If you are only trying to get the appearance of a large
pearl, let me make what may be a sacrilegious suggestion. Years ago
when I was young and poor, I had a wonderful Pearl ring I loved. The
Pearl was not real and after a while it peeled. I was devastated. I
also loved platinum iridescent pearl nail polish. Well I carefully
coated that naked glass bead with layer after layer of the nail
polish. Guess what, it worked! I know shell can be dangerous if
inhaled while processing it, so perhaps there is an alternate for
you. Teresa

6

I’d suggest that you try some of the more esoteric enamels such as
opalescents over opaque whites. It works best if you apply a
transparent between the two but many whites are very soft and combine
with the silver causing a green flecking on multiple firings.

Tony Konrath