Playing with Pearl Treatments

I am curious if anyone has experimented or has knowledge of certain
pearl color treatment techniques. I plan to play around with some of
the treatments below but would appreciate any insight into any
processing techniques including proper dilutions, wavelengths, etc.

  1. Freshwater pearl bleaching: Most FWP, as they are harvested, are
    brownish orange. They are then soaked in a bleach bath under
    intense flouresent lights for a period of time.

  2. Freshwater pearl irradiation: Apparently, irradiating pearls
    essentially burns the inner nacreous layers of a pearl to form a
    brownish color. This appears as a grey to peacock color on the
    surface.

  3. Pearl dyeing: I have read that pearls are dyed with a silver
    salt (silver nitrate, silver chloride, etc) and silver is deposited
    on the surface of the pearl creating a gray to black color.

If anyone is familiar with any of these processes, I would
appreciate any specific you have–or even methods that
don’t work.

Thanks,
William

Pearl dyeing:  I have read that pearls are dyed with a silver salt
(silver nitrate, silver chloride, etc) and silver is deposited on
the surface of the pearl creating a gray to black color. 

Be aware that these silver compounds are the same ones that killed
photographers. silver nitrate is extremely dangerous and all
cautions apply as the poison can be absorbed easily through the
skin.

the MSDS for this chemical

http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/SI/silver_nitrate.html

Teri
America’s Only Cameo Artist
www.cameoartist.com