Back in the middle 70's, a Pleurotomaria won shell of the show at Sarasota.
 The entire top had been removed and replaced, if you did not know what you
were looking for you could not find the repair.  The judges did not find
it.  I do not rmemmber who were the judges of that show.  John
 
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> From: Scott E Jordan <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Fake Cypraea sakuraii
> Date: Friday, June 19, 1998 10:30 PM
>
> Dear Gary,
>
> Your examination pretty much mirrors my experience.  The surface of the
> shell looks microscopically pustulated and the shell has a slightly
rubbery
> feel.  Since the interior whorls look authentic, I am baffled as to
whether
> this shell is a molded fake or a plasticized authentic.
>
> This is a true lesson in the completely different relationship between
hours
> laboured and value added that exists amoungst craftmen in the third
world.
> The effort would not likely be worth it at western labor rates.
>
> All in all an interesting learning experience.
>
> Regards,
>
> Scott Jordan
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gary Rosenberg <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Friday, June 19, 1998 3:08 PM
> Subject: Re: Fake Cypraea sakuraii
>
>
> >I have examined a retouched Cypraea sakurai. It was a real but faded
> >specimen on which someone had redrawn the pattern and then somehow
reglazed
> >the shell.  My first reaction on seeing the specimen was that it was the
> >best specimen of the species I had ever seen. Under a microscope
however, I
> >could see that the pattern had been drawn on with brown ink. In a real
> >cowrie, the pattern is laid down in three dimensions, and is slightly
> cloudy
> >under magnification. In the retouch specimen, the pigment was applied
along
> >a single surface rather than built up in three dimensions.  The glaze of
> the
> >surface was also too perfect.  In a real specimen, the growth lines of
the
> >shell give a slightly wavy reflection of light, but in the retouched
one,
> >lights were reflected too exactly.  The fake is certainly worth the
price,
> >and I wouldn't try to test it with solvents if you can tell by
microscopic
> >inspection that it is fake.
> >
> >Gary
> >---------------------------------------------------------------------
> >Gary Rosenberg, Ph.D.                     [log in to unmask]
> >Malacology & Invertebrate Paleontology    gopher://erato.acnatsci.org
> >Academy of Natural Sciences               http://www.acnatsci.org
> >1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway            Phone 215-299-1033
> >Philadelphia, PA 19103-1195 USA           Fax   215-299-1170