[sciguy77]

I'm making a face for a wrist watch I'm building, and I want to do something in terms of a pearl coating on the dial. However, I don't have the means to melt a pearl, that would require some 6800 degrees celsius. From my understanding, calcium carbonate reacts to different chemicals in different ways, for instance it will become soluble in vinegar. What chemical could I use to make the pearl soluble while maintaining its glossy look?

The idea is to either paint or spray the solution onto the face layer by layer over a period of 1-2 weeks. Hopefully the vinegar would evaporate in this time leaving the calcium carbonate.

[Borek]

Pearl looks like it looks because of a specific crystal structure of the carbonate deposited by the mollusk's mantle, combined with the presence of conchiolin. You will be not able reproduce look of the pearl using neither melting nor chemical deposition of calcium carbonate.

[renge ishyo]

When you add calcium carbonate to vinegar (which is a weak acid or H⁺) you are not just dispersing it in the water, you are decomposing the calcium carbonate which will destroy the pearl:

2H⁺ + CaCO₃ --> Ca²⁺ + H₂O + CO₂ ( CO₂ leaves the solution and drives the reaction forward)

This is the reason why websites tell you not to use acidic solutions to clean your pearls.

[sciguy77]

Then how does Rolex make their pearl watch faces?

[Borek]

They either cut faces from the real clam shells and polish them to get flat piece, or they use some material that just looks similar (like fake pearls).