A huge natural pearl pendant, 19th century

[kyratango]

Hi all pearls folks!
I'm new to pearl-guide, French from France
I wanted to share my beautiful pearl I bought from an antique jewellery seller in 1992.
Hope you'll enjoy

 

[GemGeek]

Beautiful! You are very lucky.

 

[Caitlin]

Spectacular. It is a mini-La Peregrina!! I'd wear it everyday!

 

[Tucs]

Welcome to the forum!

Beautiful pearl. Do you know anything about it? You say it's from the 19th century, where is it from?

 

[pattye]

Very lovely! Thank you for sharing! Vintage pieces are a always treat to see!

 

[CathyKeshi]

Welcome, Kyratango! What a lovely treat to see that beautiful pearl, and its' gorgeous setting ... I too would love to know more about it if you have additional information

 

[BWeaves]

Beautiful. I'd love to see a neck shot of you wearing it.

It's so big it deserves its own name.

 

[ckrickett]

What a way to introduce yourself!!!

 

[DavidL]

Very impressive. That pearl has such personality.

 

[hbyrne]

A gorgeous piece. Really pretty setting too, with cute little antique-cut diamonds. Very nice!!

 

[kyratango]

Thanks all for your welcoming!
Caitlin, I wore it daily for 20 years, but I'm in the countryside since 2002, so... not convenient since ;-)

Tucs and CathyKeshi thank you, I can say it is end of 19th century from the original mount. It probably was born as a hat pin, there was at the time wonderful made from "soufflures de perles" adorned with rosecut diamonds!
I'm an antique jewellery collector since my 18 and am now 57.

I'm French, and bought it in 1992 in an antique mail in Paris. Seller thought it was too big to be true and sold it for the mount price! As it was Xmas time, I even got a bottle of Champagne with it :-D

BWeaves, thank you, she has a name! I call her Mazda (French brand of light bulbs) ;-)

 

[Oh Them Gems]

"Mazda": excellent!

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Wow, I love it! The setting is perfect as well. I am so glad you wore and loved it. I hate jewelry just sitting in a safe.

 

[CathyKeshi]

Kyratango, I love your pearl even more now! The LIGHT BULB, sold for the price of the mount AND a bottle of champagne thrown in for good measure ... what a wonderful story! Welcome to Pearl-Guide

 

[BWeaves]

Mazda! Perfect. I love your story of the purchase.

"soufflures de perles" I didn't realize souffle' pearls went back that far, but I guess they did occur naturally on rare occasions.

 

[dkan 168]

Lovely pendant, nice find, thanks for sharing!

DK

 

[Tucs]

Tucs and CathyKeshi thank you, I can say it is end of 19th century from the original mount. It probably was born as a hat pin, there was at the time wonderful made from "soufflures de perles" adorned with rosecut diamonds!
I'm an antique jewellery collector since my 18 and am now 57.

Very interesting, so Mazda is a souffl? pearl, or are you just talking about the period jewelry? [I have an old pin with a pearl on it that belonged to my grandfather (who passed away in 1970), I think it is an old akoya pearl, though; I wonder if it is a hat pin.]

 

[kyratango]

For BWEAVES who asked, here is Mazda in situation :-D

 

[Happy Huku]

How beautiful, love it with the orange colours.
Thank you for sharing.

 

[kyratango]

Very interesting, so Mazda is a souffl? pearl, or are you just talking about the period jewelry? [I have an old pin with a pearl on it that belonged to my grandfather (who passed away in 1970), I think it is an old akoya pearl, though; I wonder if it is a hat pin.]

No Tucs, Mazda is a "solid" pearl, total weight with mount is 15 grams.
Soufflures de perle were natural, quite big and generally in the shape of the one in the link below!
Still don't know what mollusc produced them...

http://www.tajan.auction.fr/_fr/lot...-fine-il-est-en-forme-de-6285599#.Vo5LLbVKHqA