Recent content by barbaradilek

Patty’s,thankyou so much. I think of Pearl Guide as my go to University of experts,Iv learnt so much,and continue to do so.Originally I was drawn to spherical reflective ball bearings,elegant and sophisticated,but my pearl journey has led me to love the quirky wonky antique pearls that often...

Took the strand to be looked at by the jewelry appraiser.It felt like taking your child to the doctors! She spent a quite a lot of time examining them using a loupe and microscope,and said she thought they were natural turn of the century probably Mississippi pearls,but she also had never seen...

Pearldreams thank you for doing that research.Iv been fortunate to meet a lady who was an antique jewellry appraiser for one of the big London Auctioneers,and is a pearl fanatic.Im going to take the necklace to her tomorrow,and get her opinion to add to the mix and I will report back.

PS.should add that the silver is quite tarnished,so not made last week!

Thanks so much for both your replies.Now I come to the thorny question.The vendor,who sells multiple kinds of vintage/ antique goods,and had a100% feed back over a lengthy time,advertised these as “ Unusual Victorian baroque Pearl necklace”I originally thought that no one would put the amount of...

Just bought these on line,metal not marked but tests as silver.Have never seen pearls joined like this before.Pass tooth test,cold to handle,and show no obvious nucleus when I candled them.Freshwater? Saltwater?mother of Pearl? The strand is 44cm long and each larger “ pearl is approximately 12...

Thanks for your input.I think it’s possibly Indian,the very tiny natural pearls surrounding the centre pearl would seem to date to an earlier time rather than recent,and the gilt overlay on the reverse side is worn away where the clasp would touch the skin,which would have taken quite a few...

I have noticed that many older strings of pearls from Europe are only knotted at each end of the strand and are finished off with bead tips instead of French wire.The pearls are often quite good quality inspite of what is usually considered an inferior finish.

So sorry,Iv only just looked on site and seen your helpful comments.So glad you like my peanuts,the orient is very strong,they look like soap bubbles in sunlight.I had them restrung by a lovely Japanese lady who made sure the pearls were in the same order.The clasp was missing when I got them,so...

I have a strand of “peanut” or twin pearls with a very strong orient which date back to pre WW2.They came from a garage sale in Hawaii,and the lady selling them who was Japanese said her father who had been in the pearl business had left her some beautiful pearls,but the peanuts were...

Thought a couple” might” be naturals as the bore hole is minuscule compared to all the others,and slight undefinable difference to the nacre.I know that naturals were drilled with very small holes to minimise weight loss as they were sold by weight,at least that’s what Iv read!

The seller said they knew nothing about pearls but thought they looked pretty.The strand is 26” long,with really tiny knots between each pearl,good orient,thou it doesn’t show up in the images,but the clasp is beautifully set with tiny natural pearls,with a blue tinged half pearl in the...

Shells were a wedding gift of an elderly friend,clock( still chimes every quarter!) husbands great grandfathers,made in 1830.It’s been ticking through history ever since!.This months pearls are mostly the big early mistakes,but even they deserve their 15 minutes of fame!

Changing show monthly….

Sent a couple of images of the chain linked pearl necklace with pendant to Kari Anderson,and she has emailed back to say she is pretty sure they are Mississippi freshwater pearls….Iv seen single pearls for sale,or groups of 5 ,taken from old jewelry,but I havnt seen a similar design necklace as...