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When I visited Vietnam I only saw Chinese freshwater pearls being sold at shops, and the sellers were almost all claiming the pearls were Vietnamese Akoya.

I think that's pretty good for what you have!

It was Barbara!

They look like Tahitians

This looks like an older strand of Chinese freshwater fireballs.

Beautiful!!!

It isn't mine. I just got to hold it :) Here is one that came across my desk in 2008. It has more of the horn shape too.

It's really a curiosity as you put it, or a collector's piece. It's thoroughly attached to the shell, and you can see through the layers that are already cracked and peeled, so there isn't a fine colorful piece that can be peeled out.

This is an interesting pearl. If it potentially has provenance, you might want to get it tested.

You got a steal!

These are baroque to semi-baroque akoya pearls. The color appears to be natural, but it's difficult to tell with certainty from the photos. If the color is natural, it's caused by organic material deposited on the nuclei during the recuperation stage after the grafting procedure. The color of...

And a bunch of blister pearls from the Pintada mazatlanica, AKA madre perla, AKA Panama pearl oyster

Abalone blister pearls!

And the Spondylus - spiny oyster blister pearl

Enjoy a bit of natural blister pearl eye candy! These shells were with us for a few weeks and I decided to take some iPhone shots to post. Enjoy! Beginning with Pteria sterna - rainbow lip!

They are both baroque Chinese freshwater pearl strands. The first strand is a second-generation necklace. In other words, a pearl was harvested and the shell returned to the water to grow another pearl, which is gives it this unique shape. The second strand is baroque. The style of shape is...

You have an older strand of cultured akoya pearls. The nacre has sustained some aging and damage, and it does appear brittle. I'd recommend wiping it down every time it is worn and getting it restrung.

They are both akoya. The pearls in the bracelet are higher quality than the necklace. There is some nacre peeling, but it still appears to be thick.

If the nucleus is dark, it's been treated with radiation - not dyed. The cobalt radiation interacts with the manganese in the freshwater mussel shell bead, turning it dark. If the color of the pearl is natural, the bead will be white.

Welcome, Yes, these are blue akoya pearls. They don't appear to be naturally blue, however. The bead appears to be darkened in some of the close ups, which would indicate it's been treated with Cobalt-60, darkening the nucleus. to create the blue coloration. The damage you see is peeling...