double strand 10mm natural pearls...

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Papatom,

Try the cut-out enlargement first. The main point of this forum is that everybody can see the process of how we arrive at our opinions based on publicly posted pictures and then (hopefully) sees what the official gemologist judgement is. We all know that just seeing pictures is not really sufficient to arrive at an expertise but it teaches all forum members how to read digital images of pearls. If we take this to the e-mail level, the rest of the community is excluded from the process and I still cannot give you a proper appraisal.

Zeide

 

[papatom]

ok...I don't email....
i'll keep working on a picture to post....it's just frustrating.
i'll keep trying.

 

[Satine De La Courcel]

I am going to have to have them looked at by the GIA now...not that I want to be rich and famous...i mean who wouldn't want to be...but that certainly wouldn't be my motivation....it would be quite a surprise indeed to find that they are faux...since my grandpa, the diamond setter, lavished my grandma with platinum and diamonds in ways most would be envious for...most of it designed and made by him..I'm fortunate to have a few pieces that my wife enjoys. If these are cultured pearls, I will be personally surprised but not devestated at all...although my whole life I heard how they were natural pearls...the fact is, the piece is too large and heavy for my wife to enjoy so I'll find what their value is and thank my relatives for passing them on to me. wether a nice vacation, some debt reduction or a life of riley...i'll be grateful to have had them.


Sounds like you have a plethera of Fun stuff to look through! I am really happy to see you are going ot have your pearls looked at by the GIA. The honesty, frankmess and respect here for one another ( even if people do not agree) is amazing. I hope you stay a while and beccome part of the Pearl Guide Family!

Cheers
Ash

 

[jshepherd]

Your camera should have a macro setting. This is the setting with the 'flower'. With most digitals you should be able to get a clear close-up with this setting. If you cannot get close enough, take the largest possible picture and then take just a slice of that.

Try to use a diffused natural light. Although the lighting on the resulting picture may appear to be a bit off, the detail resolution should be good.

 

[effisk]

Hi papatom,

I've just sent you an email. I can crop one of your original pics to only show 4-5 pearls as Zeide suggested.

I can't wait to have a better look at these pearls!

 

[nlerner]

Hi, hi !
What about the rest of us? We want to see them too.
Please?

 

[effisk]

Here's the pic Tom just sent me.

this picture maginifys the best of the 7 I took...the second pearl on the outside strand below the clasp shows
imperfection

 

[effisk]

They are not all the same diameter, some seem to be a bit offround, and a couple display a green overtone (or is it orient?)

 

[papatom]

thanks

thanks

thanks for the help ef
what is orient?
I sent some more pics that i took after finding what I hope is the close up button on my digital camera...if any of them will make things clearer post them if you wish...it is fine with me.

 

[Zeide Erskine]

I see some pink and green that may or may not be orient. I still need to see a close-up on a white background.

Zeide

 

[effisk]

ok got the pics.

give me just two minutes.

 

[effisk]

Here's one:

 

[effisk]

okay here's a large one. I just post the link to it:

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/8320/img0195tt0.jpg

 

[papatom]

ef

ef

Thanks so much for helping....wow...what a good picture does....it really makes a difference...now I want to learn how you did that...

thanks again for your help....these last two pictures posted really look a lot more like what I see when I am holding this strand...

 

[effisk]

link to a closeup of the clasp + last pearl and drill hole:

http://img320.imageshack.us/img320/8693/img0193hm8.jpg

The pearl seems a bit damaged by the contact with the clasp.

 

[effisk]

 

[papatom]

damage

damage

with magnification...there are a few of the pearls that show some damage near the drill holes, i guess from the years of use...
from the time she got them till her death...probably 40 years or so, my grandma wore these regularly...I always saw them on sundays...dinner at restarurants etc...then when she died...and my mom got them she wore them as well during the next 15 or 20 years...but not as much.
for the last 5 to 7 years they have just stayed in a velvet bag...

 

[effisk]

I can see a darker ring in the drill hole visible on the first picture. What is it? Conchiolin? That would mean they are cultured and the nacre is very thin, but the luster makes me think the opposite (thick nacre).

Thanks so much for helping....wow...what a good picture does....it really makes a difference...now I want to learn how you did that...

thanks again for your help....these last two pictures posted really look a lot more like what I see when I am holding this strand...

no problem. I just cropped the photos using mspaint and resized (some of) them and uploaded them using imageshack.us

Orient looks like a moving iridescence on or just below a pearl’s surface. (from the GIA value factors)

 

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi FX & Papatom,

In these pictures they look like cultured akoyas with some wear around the drill holes. However, they do not look like they are from the 1940s. Probably more something like late sixties to early seventies. I am saying that because there were not enough 10mm cultured akoyas around in the 1940s to match a whole strand let alone a double one. In the late 1940s, this size of cultured pearl was only available on a piece for piece basis. A single 10mm akoya cultured pearl cost US$200.00 retail at that time corresponding to US$ 23,000.00 for the whole double strand not including the clasp (approximated from: Antoinette Matlins, The Pearl Book 3. edition paperback, page 129 Maurice Shire in The Experts Speak). You may also check the size range. This ballpark is based on a 9.5-10.5mm range averaging 10mm.

Although there may be one or the other natural pearl in the strands, the pearls shown do not look like naturals. Even as cultured akoyas in this size and with decent nacre thickness they should get a high appraisal value. The current retail replacement value would probably be around US$ 50,000.00 but that is not the same as realizable hammer price.

If you really want to sell them, you will need a GIA appraisal anyway because that is giving the auction house a guideline for setting the opening bid and bidders an idea of how much to bid. Certs sell, as they say in the industry.

Zeide

 

[papatom]

on one or two pearls...there is something black...but in one spot it's on the nylon cord or the string...what ever it is so i think it's dirt of some sort...i don't know..

I don't know a safe way to clean the pearls so I havn't tried...i don't want to mess up anything...I'll look into the programs you mentioned...thanks for the info...and thanks for the picture help also.