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Haha...eggplant it is!!! Thank you for your appreciation...I love the mauvey, greenly iridescence...it's good to know you agree its American. Does thar mean Mississippi? They're pretty rarely seen in jewellery in the UK.

Hello Pearlers...I haven't been around much lately as life has been v busy, but I thought I'd share my latest find. I don't know, but it looks to me as though it is a US freshwater pearl. The pearl itself is just under 3cm long and 1.5 wide, and the mount custom made and is gold (I haven't...

It's finally arrived! Just as lovely as I had anticipated...in 10k gold. It's an American piece. Natural pearls, but no idea where from...I had thought they might be FW? They each measure 7-8mm in length and are slightly flat backed. What d'you think of it?

A really lovely design...are there any marks on it...it may be just the photos, but the gold looks quite matte. Also pics from the back to show the construction would be good :-)

Thanks GemGeek....I might've also celebrated by treating myself to a couple of new pearls...pics to follow!

MeIT, I've just finished my course too...and am going to leave the lab grading course for now. For me, I don't feel it's something I would use very often in my work. Definitely seeing, touching a wide variety of pearls is the way to go...now we know what to look out for ;-)

Oh no...my poor bank balance! Can anyone with more experience tell me....how much is too much to spend on pearls in any given month?!

What a great way to celebrate passing my GIA pearls yesterday....visiting the V&A exhibition today!! Amazing...only a few days left....get there if you can :-)

Paul, that is very interesting...thank you for taking the time to answer so fully. I suppose the links between the UK and NZ were strong at the time and so jewellers used what punches they could. We've got a bracelet in the shop at the moment that I could do with your help on...would it be ok to...

Paul that is a wonderful piece, what a delightful little treasure! I'm curious as to how NZ marks work...we've had a couple of pieces in the shop...but I've not been able to find much online about it. To me (in the UK) the crown is the mark that the Sheffield assay office uses, (a full...

Annette...now you say, it does look a little thistly...the stalk portion is twisted like a spiky stem! It's a tempting idea too, that they could be scottish pearls...I'm forever on the look-out ;-)

Really? That is so interesting...thank you for that...maybe I'll go down to the rock pools with a whole different purpose now ;-) I just did a search and found this interesting link.... http://bluemusselpearls.blogspot.co.uk/

They look just like the local blue mussels which we find on the beaches here on the Sussex Coast...but sadly I've never heard of pearls being found..

Pretty! These pieces are American? These kind of designs with seed pearl swallows, stars, crescent moons and hearts are circa 1890s...in the UK they were sometimes sold as 'fianc?e jewellery'. I love them :-)

How cool! What a variety of shapes, colours and lustres...what kind of molluscs are they? Mussels you say?

Also, Dave, too look forward to pics of your expedition :-)

Thank you Dave for your insights. As soon as you interpret the images, I can see what you mean. The goldy ones were what I thought were the stray cultureds...not to be disdainful of them, but although they look the most beautifully gleaming and pretty in the box, somehow I'm always drawn to...

...candled pics of those last goldy ones..

This is such an exciting thread, with a wealth of information. Dawn, I second your comment...I've benefitted greatly from Daves explanations, which are so clearly expressed. I can't thank you enough!...all of you! I feel I'm actually beginning to be able to 'read' pearls a little :-) However...

What a lovely piece! I think it was quite fashionable to wear seed pearls choker length as I've seen a few Georgian pearl necklaces quite short by our standards. Cute pearls and great price :-)