Guest guest Posted August 13, 2003 Report Share Posted August 13, 2003 Dear Ole/Cindy I am looking for a "natural" pearl myself and recently had the chance to talk with a gemologist that's listed on the AGT site who happens to live near my town. He said "non human assisted" naturally formed pearls are very difficult to find now not to mention too expensive for most folks. He had 3 freshwater natural pearls from the Mississippi and they were $450 to $500 a carat. Needless to say saltwater pearls are even more expensive. Also if you have the money don't buy anything that's not independently certified by a reputable institute. At present, Bahrain is the only place where you MIGHT get one that's completely natural. They are not cheap and even there he said you have to be cautious. Happy hunting:-) As far as sandalwood goes, there's the sapwood(cheaper) and the heartwood(the real thang). Heartwood is certified by the government of india and is sold in government emporiums especially in Karnataka in Bangalore and Mysore. I believe the natural habitat is near Mysore. Anyways, no sane person would "powder" heartwood for obvious reasons. So if you want sandalwood "powder" in the states, just go the local health food store and get some sandalwood chips(sapwood) and zap it in a clean coffee grinder or mortar and pestle it. Hope this helps! Suraj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 13, 2003 Report Share Posted August 13, 2003 Thanks! Cindy surajraghavan2002 wrote: >Dear Ole/Cindy >I am looking for a "natural" pearl myself and recently had the chance >to talk with a gemologist that's listed on the AGT site who happens >to live near my town. He said "non human assisted" naturally formed >pearls are very difficult to find now not to mention too expensive >for most folks. He had 3 freshwater natural pearls from the >Mississippi and they were $450 to $500 a carat. Needless to say >saltwater pearls are even more expensive. Also if you have the money >don't buy anything that's not independently certified by a reputable >institute. At present, Bahrain is the only place where you MIGHT get >one that's completely natural. They are not cheap and even there he >said you have to be cautious. Happy hunting:-) >As far as sandalwood goes, there's the sapwood(cheaper) and the >heartwood(the real thang). Heartwood is certified by the government >of india and is sold in government emporiums especially in Karnataka >in Bangalore and Mysore. I believe the natural habitat is near >Mysore. Anyways, no sane person would "powder" heartwood for obvious >reasons. So if you want sandalwood "powder" in the states, just go >the local health food store and get some sandalwood chips(sapwood) >and zap it in a clean coffee grinder or mortar and pestle it. >Hope this helps! > >Suraj > > > >To send an email to: > > > >Your use of is subject to > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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