11mm Mabe Pearl. A Mabe Pearl is a half-round Pearl, hemispherical, created by attaching a nucleus, preferably mother-of-pearl, to the inside of the shell, rather than to the live tissue of the particular oyster. The oyster does its thing, attempting to protect itself from this introduced foreign body by producing a secretion to cover and envelop it; this secretion is “nacre” and is the very substance of Pearl. Left for two to three years, allowing a good thickness of nacre to develop, it is finally removed from the side of the shell, its nucleus extracted, leaving a hollow which is filled with resin and then the flat rear capped with mother-of-pearl.
The 11mm Mabe Pearl in the above ring is one of the last from a small packet of these gemstones, of Japanese origin, purchased from a Dutch Pearl business a quarter century ago, from its long-gone City showrooms.
The above solid 9ct Rose Gold ring, crafted in Sydney, was designed specifically, a quarter century ago, for the top quality Japanese 11mm Mabe Pearls from the above-mentioned Dutch packet.
Note; this is a very solid Rose Gold ring, its 9ct Rose Gold content weighing 5.8 grams. At current world Gold prices, as of December 2024, the cost price of the Gold involved in this Sydney-crafted Gold ring represents over 40% of its retail price before GST.