• Issuing computerized receipts on submitted pearls.
• X-raying pearls using various techniques.
• Examining the radiographs.
• Examining the pearls.
• Issuing reports.

Pearls comprise the majority of the laboratory's workload, which is not surprising given the close association Bahrain has with the natural pearl industry. Despite the fact that pearling is no longer an important source of income for the country, its influence and importance to the economy prior to the mid 1930's has not been forgotten and pearls, although on a much smaller scale, still play an important role. However, instead of a purely monetary role, pearls now provide Bahrain with a means of promoting the island itself and its associated heritage. 

                                               
                                                Placing pearls into the X-ray machine

Pearls submitted to the laboratory take many forms, but most customers submit them as necklaces, rows or individual/lots of loose pearls. Mounted pearls can be tested, however, experience shows that most of the time it is less problematic to test pearls that are not mounted in rings, pendants, brooches or fancy necklaces, since the metal mounts of such items can prevent accurate X-radiography of the pearls. The laboratory staff usually advise customers whether X-radiography of an item is likely to be successful or not at the time of submission. 

              
                                                  Pearl testing

All pearls submitted are examined by direct X-radiography, and where necessary X-ray diffraction and fluorescence techniques are also used. These three techniques provide the main tests used on all the pearls that pass through the laboratory. The tests will ultimately confirm whether the pearls are natural, cultured, non-nucleated (also referred to as tissue nucleated cultured pearls) or imitation in origin. Most imitation pearls do not need to be X-radiographed, however every now and again the odd one can show up in items containing other types of pearl that do require X-radiographic work.

Natural Pearl strucrure	Non natural Pearl strucrure

The time it takes to complete a pearl testing job depends on a number of factors including:

• The laboratory's workload at the time of submission.
• The laboratory's other commitments.
• The difficulty level of the particular job.
• The quantity of pearls to be tested (i.e. one loose pearl will usually be quicker to test than six loose pearls, one necklace will be quicker to test than three, etc….)
• The number of urgent or priority jobs in the laboratory at the time.
• Staff commitments (i.e. courses, additional Ministry work, holidays, etc…)