Antique shop earrings

[calexandre]

Hi pearl experts, I am mostly a lurker who soaks in the terrific pearl info here, but I wanted to get your opinions on a pair of earrings I bought in an antique jewelry store in Europe. I'm fairly certain the pearls in them are real, but anything is possible, and I bought them knowing that! I did the tooth test, and also rubbed them together gently-- they do feel gritty in the same way my PP tahitians feel gritty, but not as gritty as my PP freshwaters. At any rate, if they are fakes, they are amazing fakes-- except for a few very very tiny pinprick size blemishes, they look just like my PP Freshadamas. They have beautiful luster, and the play of colors on them is even more incredible than the Freshadamas-- depending on which way the earrings are rotated, they shift from pink to violet to green to blue. Of course, you can't see any of that in the photos, unfortunately.

As for other details....
Size: approximately 9mm. I find it hard to get an exact measurement! One appears to be just the tiniest fraction larger, and one also appears to be slightly more intensely iridescent-- though I could be imagining things.

Weight: heavy-- slightly heavier than the 10mm tahitian baroque earrings shown in the photos with them.

Mounting: unmarked, and not sure of the metal. The backs are like little fluted champagne cups, and there's some amber discoloration where the mounting meets the pearl (can't tell whether the metal has oxidized a bit, or whether there's glue there-- it's something sitting atop the surface of the pearl, not on the pearl itself).

Photos below, with the PP Tahitians and Freshadamas to serve as a "control"-- any guesses as to what they might be (freshwater or saltwater? real or the best fakes ever?) are appreciated!

 

[calexandre]

(One addendum: the backs that secure the earrings are marked 585 for 14k white gold, but of course the backs could have been switched at some point.)

 

[pattye]

Hi Calexandre,

Welcome! Just an educated guess, of course, but probably akoya earrings, because of luster, roundness and size, plus passing the tooth test. Very lovely find, and beautiful with the PP necklace! Not certain why the metal wouldn't be marked.

 

[calexandre]

Hi pattye,

Thanks! That makes lots of sense-- they are definitely very round; even the Freshadamas, which look round alone, look slightly egg-shaped next to these pearls.

 

[Unusual Pearls]

i am pretty sure they are pearls, probably akoya as they are very round. they match well with the PP necklace.

 

[calexandre]

Thanks, Unusual Pearls! I am enjoying wearing them with the PP necklace. I feel lucky to have chanced on a good match for the Freshadamas-- I had thought I'd have to send them back to PP if I ever wanted to find matching earrings, so this was serendipitous!