Search results

It's a shell with blister pearls. Pearls are cultured this way-- a form is attached to the inside of the shell, and the oyster is returned to the water. The oyster then lays down nacre over the form. At harvest, the shell can be cut away a small distance from the pearl and sold as a blister...

No doubt about it, they are cultured freshwater pearls from China. Those are natural colors.

Now I'm noticing a few eggy pearls on the right side near the clasp in #1, which we'd expect with FWP. Also the pearls are all too close to being the same size. Tahitian strands usually graduate at least a little bit. So I'm changing my guess for #1 to being FWP. @StarryPearl, they are as...

I agree. But I do have dyed FW with those circles, which I bought loose from a Chinese seller at the Eastern States Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show back around 2006. Most dyed FWP don't look like these nowadays. I wore them for years before I could afford Tahitians, and there are still a few shirts...

Cultured saltwater pearls do have a bead nucleus inserted along with the bit of donor mantle tissue. This is generally true for cultured saltwater pearls, including Akoya pearls, Tahitians, South Sea pearls, Sea of Cortez pearls, Fijian pearls etc. Why? Because roundness is such a highly...

Clasps can be reused, so the clasp may not be original to the strand. It's pretty hard to tell much about that necklace without better photos. Ideally it should be photographed against a white background, no flash, with closeups of some of the pearls, including any blemishes. Perhaps the...

It is very hard to evaluate pearls photographed against a dark background, in not very good focus and with lack of closeups. Please take more photos and we'll give it a go. White background (paper towel is good) no flash, sharp focus and lots of close ups of any flaws. Check especially near the...

They are cultured Chinese freshwater pearls (not natural pearls, but naturally colored, which is what I think you meant).

Base metal end cones I think, and these often have a bar or ring inside the cone that the needle and thread or wire can be passed through. Cones are often used when stringing multiple small strands together; not sure why there were used for this necklace.

Also sold here: https://goldschmiedebedarf.de/en/product_info.php?products_id=23865

They all appear to be as stated.

I don't think we can know from those photos. Could be SSP, could be FWP, could be "shell pearls" (fake) or other fakes. When taking photos it is well to use a white or light neutral background. Close ups of any flaws help. Knowing the metal of the findings helps also, though it's not...

I am no longer buying loose strands-- nor finished strands, actually. After a few decades of collecting I think I have enough pearls and other jewelry, and at this point and am using my hobby budget for art supplies. And the last necklace I restrung was my vintage ivory beads! :) But I...

You paid retail and it's a finished necklace (albeit without a clasp) so you would expect to pay more than for unknotted, unfinished strands. It's been years since I attended gem shows where hanks of loose FWP were sold. However, on Etsy I see 10-11mm gray FWP unstrung hanks for about $22 for...

They look like dyed freshwater pearls to me. But it looks like a nice comfortable necklace -- 10mm, 34".

Nice tight knots-- great stringing! Serafil is a wonderful thread --- Pattye is a treasure!

Yes, just mantle tissue, no bead.

Today I am wearing exotics from PP's February 2008 sale. I restrung them as a single necklace a few years ago, with a large silver 2-strand interlocking ovals clasp.

I like and own various Tahitian strands. Some have more color contrast, some have less, some are darker overall, some are lighter overall. Some larger, some smaller. The one thing they have in common is that they are not uniformly anything. None are perfectly round, and none are perfectly...

How nice of your grandfather to bring you back jewelry gifts! They are cultured baroque freshwater pearls from China with a gold filled clasp. Pearls of this shape were pretty common in the mid-1990s to early 2000s. The Chinese have been improving their techniques and much better freshwater...