Akoya or FWP's?.2 100" rope

[massrog]

This just arrived also weeks late (not their fault). I think I know what they are but the bead nucleated Chinese have me confused. They are 7-7.5mm. Boy did the bath take a while!

 

[BWeaves]

I can't tell. They look nice, though.

 

[massrog]

A closer shot before the bath...

 

[massrog]

Can anything be inferred by the lack of knots between the pearls?

 

[pattye]

A good question, whether knotted or not, isn't a major consideration. One needs to look at the pearls themselves: shape, color, roundness, lack of faint rings, type of blemish, faint pink like akoya, etc. Pearls rolled up like this are hard to evaluate. Highly recommend restringing before wearing! These will make a great long rope!

So how about you tell us what you think?

Is this a temporary or finished strand?
What is it strung on?
Describe the roundness of the pearls?
What kind of blemishes? There may be some closer to the drill holes.
Do you see slight rings?
Do you see faint pink coloration?
How sharp is the reflection?
What do you observe when you roll the pearls on a flat surface?

 

[amti]

They look freshwater to me.

 

[massrog]

A good question, whether knotted or not, isn't a major consideration. One needs to look at the pearls themselves: shape, color, roundness, lack of faint rings, type of blemish, faint pink like akoya, etc. Pearls rolled up like this are hard to evaluate. Highly recommend restringing before wearing! These will make a great long rope!

So how about you tell us what you think?

Is this a temporary or finished strand?
What is it strung on?
Describe the roundness of the pearls?
What kind of blemishes? There may be some closer to the drill holes.
Do you see slight rings?
Do you see faint pink coloration?
How sharp is the reflection?
What do you observe when you roll the pearls on a flat surface?

In order as best I can:
1: As these are pre-owned and show wear I guess finished strand
2: The thread is doubled and has no sheen so it looks cotton? to me.
3: The roundness varies (will show in pics)
4: the blemishes vary as well from orange peel on a few to some slight bumpiness on others, to smooth on most.
5: I found no evidence of rings on any (looked at most not quite all).
6: If any pink tones very faint but under lights next to Mikimoto strand was evident.
7: Reflection not as sharp as the Mikimoto's but as good or better than others we believe are Akoya.
8: Difficult to accomplish with 100" but varied degree of wobble from none to slight depending on number attempted at one time.
Please excuse the lighting in most pics I turned on the overheads to get more detail of surface.
In photos 1-3 the pearl with the damage/black spot is the same pearl the fourth photo is one other with same type of spot on the nucleus. the last shot shows what seems to be the roughest "orange peel" it is SLIGHTLY worse than it appears in the shot.
All that said and shown I am still not sure. The surface and luster seemed Akoya to me. The shape Pretty much said the same with less certainty because of the 30% or so oblong but the black spots have me stumped because they seem to indicate tissue nucleated FWP.

PS please excuse the Mikimotos we hadn't noticed the grime so hadn't restrung them yet.

 

[BWeaves]

After seeing the extra photos, I agree with Amti. Freshwaters. Some of the pearls aren't so great, but could be left out if restrung.

 

[massrog]

After seeing the extra photos, I agree with Amti. Freshwaters. Some of the pearls aren't so great, but could be left out if restrung.

They certainly have lived a life. If re-strung the damaged ones could certainly be deleted. There aren't many so the overall presentation is still quite nice. May be a good project for the shut in to come.

 

[pattye]

Thanks for sharing, massrog!
If/when you restring, put one/two of the rejected pearls in a plastic bag and gently tap it with a hammer. What you observe inside when the pearl breaks apart will be interesting and I hope you will share it with us.

 

[massrog]

Thanks for sharing, massrog!
If/when you restring, put one/two of the rejected pearls in a plastic bag and gently tap it with a hammer. What you observe inside when the pearl breaks apart will be interesting and I hope you will share it with us.

This may be a question for another subject but if I re-string knotting every pearl how much length will I gain say every 50 pearls @7.2mm ea? If I can project that gain I can cull the worst ones including non-damaged but lesser quality pearls

 

[pattye]

Good question! You'll gain approximately 3/4 inch. Without knots you're talking about approximately 14.25 inches of pearls ( 7.2 mm x 50 = 36 mm or just less than 14.25 inches). You might want to look through the strand and mark the worst pearls with a small piece of blue painter's masking tape. Probably about 7-8 or so pearls could be culled (25 mm = 1 inch). (Please check my math, lol!)