Feeling kinda dumb here

[VTLightingLady]

Hi all -- I'm a real newbie when it comes to pearls and boy am I confused! The ones in the pix pass the gritty test, and have darker centers when held to the light. The clasp is nuttin' fancy but is stamped 14k. I inherited this 18" strand from my MIL along with a pearl ring. The leather case they came to me in is stamped "Perry's Jewelry."

Any one help me out to identify what I have inherited please? I sure would appreciate it.

 

[lisa c]

Hi, VT, tempting photos (ie the clasp is intriguing me) but not really clear enough to give us a leg up. Thanks for the light background, it helps.

does your camera have a macro/ close-up setting?

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Even though the photos are fuzzy, I'm seeing variations in the color of the overtones, so my vote goes (tentatively) to akoya pearls. But closeups especially of any flaws would be helpful.

Does your camera have a macro or closeup icon?

 

[VTLightingLady]

Errr... sorry, the photos looked much better on the iphone. It'll take a couple of days to post macro shots. I have them, but had to order a new cable to download

Question: I have held these up to the light. The have definite dark yet uneven centers. Some have larger dark centers than others. When I turn the strand in front of the light, in some of the pearls, the dark center gets smaller then larger as I roll. Other pearls appear to have a large dark center, but as I turn a little bit -- it appears as if it flat! One pearl has a particularly large center, has greath debth and better shine. The drilled holes are tiny! Some of the holes have little chips around them, but the hole itself is no larger than the string. Does this help?
Question: I don't understand what 'blinking' means. Could someone explain it please?

I will post the new pix as soon as Ammy gets the new camera cable to me. Warm regards for this holiday season!

 

[lisa c]

Please dont feel dumb! We're all newbies at sometime/something.

Can you get a magnifying glass or loup, and peek inside a drill hole? If the pearl looks like layers around a bead, that narrows down the Field. I liken it to looking at a peanut M&M. The chocolate layer is the nacre, the peanut is the bead.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Small holes are typical of real pearls (whether natural or cultured) rather than imitation pearls-- this is because pearls are sold by weight, and large holes would reduce the weight.
Chips around the holes are areas where the nacre has peeled away from wear over time.

The dark centers are a sign of luster. The sharper the contrast between the light and the dark areas, the better the luster. It wouldn't be surprising if there were some variation in the luster from pearl to pearl, although the better the matching in the strand, the less the variation there would be.

Blinking is a term that refers to the pearl seeming to have lighter areas when the pearl is rolled. It's caused by areas of thinner nacre through which the bead nucleus can be seen. Either the nacre was always thinner there or there has been wearing away of the nacre over the years. Pearls are soft and the nacre does wear away over time, even from contact with the skin.

I still say you have cultured akoya pearls. They are rather round for freshwaters.

 

[VTLightingLady]

You folks are pretty patient!!

There is no looking inside the drilled holes of these pearls (maybe this is a good thing?). The pearls roll around the string, but whomever did the knotting job between the pearls had some serious practice and patience!! Only a few of the pearls have slight 'flaking' around the holes. Under the luster are some very minor imperfections, meaning the surface of the pearls are not 100% perfect smooth.

I'm guessing my MIL's high society parents purchased these for her as a high school grad. gift. She was a hippie at heart and went of to academic hippy college -- likely leaving the pearls in their case for a good long time. I'm sure these have seen almost no daylight -- I knew her for 20 years, saw her weekly and never knew she had them.

Another reason I think these are not terribly old is because the clasp isn't ornate or intricate. It is understated and functional!

What has me baffled is that I read that the culturing process of Akoyo pearls involves placing a round bead as a starter for the pearl. When I backlight these pearls, the inner dark spot on most are anything but round, but the pearls are very round indeed. It appears like they ran outta beads and used a scrap of something else to get by! What do you all make of this?

I'll post pix on Turkey day. You all have brought out my curiosity to say the least.