Evaluation Forum.

A closer look. I doubt it is abalone. first because it is so oval. Second, they say there is worn spot on the top. Well, even abalone mabe would not ever get a worn spot. Abalone is one resilient pearl surface. BUT, you could put an abalone mabe from Roger in there or an oval mabe from Sea of Cortez!!! the ring itself it worth the money. IMO
 
Just catching up with this thread

Jodie - you are funny...... :)
 
Yeah, I got it. Will post more pictures when it traverses the oceans to the tropics; think it's a blister pearl too, hopefully not too shabby and worn :) Curious though, were blister pearls cultured in 1900's if the ring is what they claim?
 
Hand blown glass pearls?

Hand blown glass pearls?

I just bought a bunch of old beads and in it were bunches of these exquisite pearl-like ones...I wondered about them as they are very beautiful. A few of them must have gotten warm at some time because the wax had actually melted to one side and halfway out of the hole. I agree with you, though, they are just beautiful. I must have gotten enough to make 10 necklaces with them, so I'll have to give it a shot. Thanks for the helpful information
I have seen quite a few synthetics. 98% are junk. A majorica in the origonal box has some value. David, another line, has some also. Most of them are junk.
Stores like good will or st vinnies have tons of this stuff. The finest beaded necklace we have strung in the many decades were hand blown glass. 30 years ago my mother, company founder, said she strung quite a few but they pietered out over the years. The size was 4 mm to 9mm and usually wax filled. I was told they were made in france. I would take one, now, in a heart beat. Supurb color. They were quite light and the color was like an old christmas ornament, lots of color play .
 
Hello people!! I am new to this website, i have natural pearls but i am not convinced of their value, i mean they are fresh water pearls, natural, the deal is that their surface is not lustrous 100%. Are they still valuable?
 
Mrs Peruvian pearls!

Please post some photos.

I never knew they had freshwater pearls in Peru- or are they imports?

Either way we can't even guess without some photos. Natural freshwaters do have some value, but I have yet to see a natural one with dull spots on it. Not that that means anything, I haven't seen that many, maybe only in the hundreds compared to having seen a thousand abalone pearls or 100,000 freshwater pearls, LOL.

The photos should be very educational.
 
Hi everyone~

Merry Christmas to all!!!

I'm newbie in pearl jewelry, few days ago my hubby bought me a set of pearl bracelet and ear rings for Christmas gift and I love them so so so much! It would be great if you can help me to evaluate it, (grading luster etc) so I can learn and get more pearl jewelries in the future! The size of pearl is about 5mm, considering I'm a petite Asian lady I guess this size fit me just perfect (I'm 147cm in height) I would like to know if this pearl bracelet is a great quality piece of jewelry? Thanks ya!

Wishing all of you have a blessing holidays!

pearls.jpg
 
Mrs. Lai,

Welcome to P-G. What a lovely gift from your thoughtful husband! The photo is too out of focus to say anything specific about the quality, but the pearls do seem to be very shiny. Usually the store that sells the jewelry will provide the grade. I hope there will be more pearls in your future!

Thank you very much for the Holiday wishes!
 
Mrs. Lai,

Welcome to P-G. What a lovely gift from your thoughtful husband! The photo is too out of focus to say anything specific about the quality, but the pearls do seem to be very shiny. Usually the store that sells the jewelry will provide the grade. I hope there will be more pearls in your future!

Thank you very much for the Holiday wishes!


Hi Pattye,

Thank you so much for your reply! Yup I received a certificate from the jewelry shop however it is written grade "AB", I can't find much info on internet, I read in this forum there is no world-wide standard for pearl grading so is hard for me to understand which grading group "AB" is belong to... Hopefully by posting some photos here will give me more clues. The pearls are freshwater pearls from Borneo. I took another set of photos but it doesn't looks clear either.. might need to do something with the camera or lighting arrgghhh I'll try again next time! :)

pearls2.jpg
 
Hi Mrs. Lai,

How nice of your husband to get you a pearl set! Smart man! Pearls are always a nice gift.

The world tends to value round pearls because they are more rare (not necessarily more beautiful.) From this photo the earrings appear to be flattened, button shapes so these would be graded lower than round pearls, however many of us find that buttons are easier to wear, especially as the size goes up. Talking on the phone with a round pearl stud on one's ear can be hard, and button pearls don't sag the way round ones do.

It looks like the bracelet pearls are a little off round/egg-shaped but maybe that is just the lighting in the photo playing tricks on my eyes? Off-round pearls are graded lower than round ones. But if they have good luster, they are pretty nonetheless! In fact, I would be more concerned with luster than shape. A pearl is nothing if it isn't lustrous, and a lustrous pearl can be any shape and still be stunning!

Most of my earliest pearls were off-round, lower price pearls and they had lots of surface flaws. Although I have bought higher quality ones since then, I still enjoy wearing my first ones.

I think your appetite for pearls has been stimulated and that you and your husband will be shopping for more pearls in the future. :)
 
Welcome, Ladies! I like button pearls for earrings a lot, for all the reasons Pearl Dreams lists. I hope you enjoy them.
 
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Hi Mrs. Lai,

How nice of your husband to get you a pearl set! Smart man! Pearls are always a nice gift.

The world tends to value round pearls because they are more rare (not necessarily more beautiful.) From this photo the earrings appear to be flattened, button shapes so these would be graded lower than round pearls, however many of us find that buttons are easier to wear, especially as the size goes up. Talking on the phone with a round pearl stud on one's ear can be hard, and button pearls don't sag the way round ones do.

It looks like the bracelet pearls are a little off round/egg-shaped but maybe that is just the lighting in the photo playing tricks on my eyes? Off-round pearls are graded lower than round ones. But if they have good luster, they are pretty nonetheless! In fact, I would be more concerned with luster than shape. A pearl is nothing if it isn't lustrous, and a lustrous pearl can be any shape and still be stunning!

Most of my earliest pearls were off-round, lower price pearls and they had lots of surface flaws. Although I have bought higher quality ones since then, I still enjoy wearing my first ones.

I think your appetite for pearls has been stimulated and that you and your husband will be shopping for more pearls in the future. :)


Hi Pearl Dreams,

Thank you so much for your reply and valuable info! I really appreciate it :) I was discussing about your points with hubby and he agrees too :) I'm impressed with your sharp eyes, after reading your message I grabbed my jewelry and took a good look, yes the pearls looks a little flatten and some are "potato" shape like! I didn't notice it at the first glance, but with closer look, checking pieces by pieces and compare with some of the photos posted in this forum, I can see the differences in shapes and luster. Btw, I took some photos under sunlight today, hopefully the photo is clear enough to show the detail of the jewelries. Hubby bought this set (necklace, bracelet and ear rings) for US$40, is that a fair price? It is Borneo pearls and Borneo is part of my country so I don't expect it to be expensive. If the price is a good deal I'm planing to return to same store for better ones in the future :)

Metal - lobster clasp with 14k white gold plated on brass
Necklace - 422mm / 16.61 inches (without clasp), total 71 pearls
Bracelet - 158mm / 6.22inches (without clasp), total 26 pearls
Earrings - 6mm

Dark Worn 3

Sailing on my private junket...on Ha Long Bay, a beautiful array of karst formations, now a World He

So far I wore the pearls once to shopping mall with casual fashion and me and hubby just love it so much!! The pearls make me look so elegant!
 
Welcome, Ladies! I like button pearls for earrings a lot, for all the reasons Pearl Dreams lists. I hope you enjoy them.

Hi lisa c,

Thank you so much for doping message :) Yes I found the earrings are lovely and I love them so much, they make me look great even in casual fashion :)

Merry Christmas~
 
The bracelet looks charming on your wrist! I can see why you love them!

Whether $US40 is a fair price in Borneo depends on what else you could buy in your local economy with that amount of money, so I can't answer that. The price would be fair in the US for a retail setting, but I would have expected a solid sterling silver clasp.

The plating will wear off the clasp in time, especially if you wear them often, and then it will not look good, and the pearls will need to be restrung with a new clasp. Having it restrung could cost you as much as the set originally cost, or more-- so you might wish to learn how to string pearls (it isn't hard-- see my tutorial in the sticky note in the Lowly Beaders Club forum.)

Edit: Are there knots between the pearls? If not, then restringing them (eventually) will be even easier. And I think I see bead crimps at the ends, near the clasp-- definitely easy job to restring.

This topic continues on its own thread, here:

https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7031
 
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I know just how wearing pearls makes you feel! I am glad you have a bracelet so you can look at them, too. That is a nice set. Cultured freshwaterpearls wear well.They have tough skins and don't wear out, so yyou can wear them as much as you want to.

It is worth the retail value, but in the future do your pearl shopping here. We can send you to the best places for the next pearls you want. You need black pearls maybe (they are dyed) but pink, peach and lavender pearls are natural colored. The more you look at all the kinds of pearls for sale, the more likely you will be to find something else you love, too! For most of us the classic white pearls are just the beginning!
 
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