# Baroque pearl

- Page: https://taslar.bumba.tr/en/stones/baroque-pearl/
- Turkish: Barok inci
- Kind: Variety
- Classification: Organic gems
- Crystal system: Orthorhombic
- Hardness (Mohs): 2.5–3
- Specific gravity: 2.6–2.85 g/cm³
- Refractive index: 1.52–1.69
- Lustre: Pearly
- Transparency: Opaque
- Colours: white, cream, pink, lavender, golden, silvery, grey, black
- Streak: White
- Cleavage: None
- Fracture: Uneven
- Composition: Platelets of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃, mostly aragonite) bound together by an organic substance called conchiolin; this layered material is nacre. Most saltwater cultured pearls have a shell bead nucleus at their centre.
- Texture: Thin layers of nacre stacked concentrically, like the layers of an onion. Under a loupe the surface shows fine, wavy lines, which is why it feels slightly gritty against the teeth.
- Value ladder: 5/9 step, Ornamental stone

A pearl that is not round but irregular: each one is unique, and its Portuguese name later gave a whole art movement, the Baroque, its name.

Baroque pearl is the general name for pearls that are not round but irregular in shape. The shape can range from a slight lopsidedness to distinctly oval, curved, pinched or lumpy forms. A baroque pearl can be natural or cultured, saltwater or freshwater; it is not a separate kind of pearl but a shape class. Most freshwater cultured pearls grown without a bead are baroque, and so is a large share of every Tahitian pearl harvest. Perfectly round pearls are usually worth more, but well-formed baroques, each one unique, are sought after by jewellery designers and pearl lovers.

## How does it form?

A pearl grows inside a pouch of nacre-making tissue, the pearl sac, within the mollusc. If the sac fits tightly all round the core or bead inside it, nacre builds up evenly and a round pearl forms. If it does not, nacre also fills the gaps left in the sac and the pearl takes an irregular, baroque shape. That is why perfect roundness is rare and baroque shapes are far more common.

Cultured pearls turn baroque for several known reasons. Most freshwater pearls are grown with only a piece of tissue and no bead, so they are usually baroque. In saltwater cultured pearls, organic residue on the surface of the bead nucleus can stop the nacre from sticking there and lead to a baroque shape. In China, when a round bead is placed in a sac first opened with a flat bead and the sac does not fit it closely, the pearl grows irregular, sometimes with a tail. The small “keshi” pearls that form around the leftover tissue when an oyster rejects its bead are often irregular too.

## What is it used for?

- **Jewellery:** baroque pearls are used in necklaces, earrings and rings; because each one is unique they are popular in original jewellery designs.
- **Figurative jewels:** jewellers have made use of their odd shapes as the body of a figure in figurative jewels; the merman-shaped Canning Jewel is a famous example.
- **Art history:** the word itself entered European art history and gave its name to the ornate art movement of the 17th century.

## The story of the name

The Portuguese word “barroco” means a flawed or irregular pearl. It appears in an inventory of treasures from 1531, used to describe pearls, and a Portuguese dictionary of 1728 explains it as a “coarse and uneven pearl”. Taken into French as “baroque”, the word widened in meaning and came to be used in art criticism; in the 19th century it became the name of a whole period of art, the Baroque.

## Where does it come from?

Most baroque pearls on the market today are freshwater cultured pearls grown in China. On the Tahitian pearl farms of French Polynesia, more than 40 percent of the harvest comes out baroque or semi-baroque. The South Sea pearl farms of Western Australia also yield large baroque pearls prized in jewellery.

## How to recognise it

- The shape is irregular: symmetrical shapes such as drops, pears, buttons and ovals are called “semi-baroque”, completely irregular shapes “baroque”.
- Some show parallel grooves running all the way round (rings), or a tail-like spike reaching out from a bulb.
- Real baroque pearls are made of nacre, so they feel slightly gritty when rubbed together; glass and plastic imitations feel smooth.
- Whether there is a bead inside, and so whether a pearl is freshwater, saltwater cultured or natural, can only be settled with X-rays in a laboratory.

## Fakes and imitations

- Glass and plastic imitations: they have no nacre and feel smooth when rubbed against the teeth or against each other.
- Dyed pearls: some black and dark baroque pearls have been dyed with silver salts; the seller should disclose the treatment.
- Cultured pearls sold as natural: most baroque pearls in jewellery are freshwater cultured pearls; natural baroques are far rarer and should be backed by a laboratory report.

## What determines its value?

Lustre, size, surface quality, colour and the beauty of the shape set the value of a baroque pearl. According to GIA, perfectly round pearls are the rarest and usually the most valuable, but well-formed pear, oval and baroque cultured pearls are also prized. The most valuable baroques are large South Sea and Tahitian pearls, while the baroques most often seen in jewellery are the more affordable freshwater cultured pearls. Natural baroque pearls are very rare, and pieces with a history can be of museum value.

This information is educational, not buying, selling or investment advice. Value varies enormously with quality and treatment.

## Myths and misconceptions

- Myth: A baroque pearl is a flawed, worthless pearl. Fact: Round pearls are usually worth more, but a baroque shape is not a flaw; it is a shape class. Well-formed baroques are sought after, and large South Sea and Tahitian baroques rank among the most valuable pearls.
- Myth: The Baroque art movement has nothing to do with pearls. Fact: The word “baroque” comes from the Portuguese “barroco”, meaning a flawed or irregular pearl. First used for pearls that were not round, it later became the name of the ornate art and architecture movement of the 17th century.

## Did you know?

- The 1694 dictionary of the French Academy defined “baroque” as “only used for pearls that are imperfectly round”; the word later became the name of the ornate art movement of the 17th century.
- In the “Canning Jewel”, on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the body of a merman holding a sword and shield is made from a single large baroque pearl. Long believed to be a 16th-century Renaissance piece, it was found, according to the museum, to have probably been made between 1850 and 1860.
- Baroque cultured pearls with a bulb and often a pointed tail, which first reached the market in China in 2002, are called “fireballs”.

## Where is it found?

- Zhuji, Zhejiang, China (Major deposit): China’s largest pearl market. Most freshwater cultured pearls, grown without a bead, are baroque; bead-cultured baroques such as “fireballs” are also produced in China.
- Manihi Atoll, Tuamotu, French Polynesia (Known locality): The first harvest of Polynesia’s first pearl farm, in the 1960s, included baroque black cultured pearls.
- Gambier Islands (Mangareva), French Polynesia (Major deposit): On most Tahitian pearl farms more than 40 percent of the harvest is baroque or semi-baroque.
- Cygnet Bay, Dampier Peninsula, Western Australia (Known locality): Among Australia’s longest-running pearl farms; its Pinctada maxima oysters yield a range of shapes, including baroque forms prized in jewellery.
- Broome, Western Australia (Major deposit): The main centre of South Sea pearls, which together with Tahitian pearls make the most valuable baroques.

## Sources

- [Baroque pearl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_pearl), Wikipedia
- [Baroque (section: Etymology)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque), Wikipedia
- [Barok (Sözlük Maddesi)](https://kureansiklopedi.com/tr/detay/barok-sozluk-maddesi), Küre Ansiklopedisi
- [Pearl Quality Factors](https://www.gia.edu/pearl-quality-factor), Gemological Institute of America (GIA)
- [Polynesian Black Pearls (M. Goebel & D. M. Dirlam), Gems & Gemology 25(3)](https://www.gia.edu/dam/migrated-assets/_assets/ba822c74c2bdbdc1-Polynesian-Black-Pearls.pdf), GIA, 1989
- [Continuity and Change in Chinese Freshwater Pearl Culture (D. Fiske & J. Shepherd), Gems & Gemology 43(2)](https://cms.gia.edu/dam/jcr:d34964af-1ff2-4d67-8b1d-b4c818179151/Continuity-and-Change-in-Chinese-Freshwater-Pearl-Culture.pdf), GIA, 2007
- [The Canning Jewel (M.2697-1931)](https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O33882/the-canning-jewel-jewel-unknown/), Victoria and Albert Museum
- [La perle de Tahiti (note de l'Institut d'émission)](https://www.ieom.fr/IMG/pdf/la_perle_de_tahiti.pdf), Institut d'émission d'outre-mer (IEOM), 2006
- [Pearl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl), Wikipedia
- [Zhuji](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuji), Wikipedia
- [Manihi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manihi), Wikipedia
- [Gambier Islands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambier_Islands), Wikipedia
- [Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm](https://exploroz.com/places/55671/wa+cygnet-bay-pearl-farm), ExplorOz
- [Broome, Western Australia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broome,_Western_Australia), Wikipedia
- [South Sea pearl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Sea_pearl), Wikipedia


Source: https://taslar.bumba.tr/en/stones/baroque-pearl/ · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0