Grey Natural Pearls?

[Tami]

I would appreciate any idea you can give me about these?
They are 6mm perfect rounds, cold and gritty. The original clasp was a 14kt ball clasp but it was broken and I preferred this vintage claw clasp. I cannot remember if they were originally strung with knots or not.





Thank you for looking.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

They are dyed cultured freshwater pearls from China. They are solid nacre and very durable for regular wear. The color should be stable. In the photos they seem a bit egg shaped, which is common for fwp without a bead inside.

 

[Tami]

Thanks...for some reason they came out looking banded too to my mind, but they aren't, that is just a shadow from the window behind me.

 

[Katbran]

Yes , dyed Cultured Freshwater , not expensive.

 

[starsinthesea]

I've got some similar pearls in a vintage silver necklace from Mexico (see picture).
Couldn't they be mexican pearls?

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Shine a UV light on them -- if Pteria sterna, they will glow bright red.

 

[parfaitelumiere]

Yes, pteria sterna glow RED under UV light.
I do't know if other pteria species pearls glow red too, I will find some shell specimens of whatever produces pearls, and make experiments, take pictures and share informations.
The most difficult is to find the shells, with clear identification, because there are many species.

 

[starsinthesea]

I didn't get any result with the UV light. I think it needs to have a certain wave length or so, which my lamp apparently doesn't have. No pearl showed anything, not even my SoC I bought from Ehret Design.
So is there any thread on how exactly to use UV light and what spectrum?

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Long-wave UV light is what is needed:

• YouTube video showing the fluorecence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7tkpeEALGg

• Interview with Douglas McLaurin:
"And just to keep it short I would only add that our Cortez Pearls are the only ones that glow (fluoresce) different under a long wave UV light: white pearls glow with a blue-green color, black (and dyed) pearls do not glow at all, but Cortez Pearls glow with a light pink color (for very light pearls) and all the way to a deep blood red (for the darkest pearls) under this very same light. It’s like having a 100% natural built-in identification method. This is way too cool."


• I can't see the photos in this article but it discusses UV light and other black pearls:
https://cortezpearls.wordpress.com/2...t-test-part-3/

 

[starsinthesea]

Thanks for the links! I probably need to find another lamp...

 

[pattye]

The UV light I have is a flashlight and one uses eye protection~mine is similar to this

 

[lilliefuzzysocks]

I'm not sure if this was Pattye's photo or someone elses from last years ruckus. This was taken outside in the shade of the bag of sea of cortez pearls. I believe the flash light Pattye just showed you was used on the pearls.

 

[pattye]

Thank you, LFS! Yes, my glowing pearls and Douglas holding the flash light, I recall! Not sure who took the pic.

 

[lilliefuzzysocks]

It was a very dramatic demonstration. Pattye, can you post a photo of the pearls in the sack please?

 

[starsinthesea]

Is it possible that it didn't work because I used a UV/blacklight bulb and not a flashlight?

 

[Pearl Dreams]

It probably depends on what the purpose of the UV bulb is. According to this ad there are different kinds of UV bulbs with different wavelength ranges depending on the use of bulb:
https://www.topbulb.com/specialty-bulbs/ultraviolet

 

[SunSeeker]

Thank you, LFS! Yes, my glowing pearls and Douglas holding the flash light, I recall! Not sure who took the pic.

I believe that was me that took the photo ..what a cool sight that was to see your pearls gloooowing!

 

[pattye]

Thank you, SunSeeker! I'm was shocked to see how intensely pink they are, even here in daylight as opposed to a completely dark room!

 

[lilliefuzzysocks]

Thank you SunSeeker. I knew it came from the ruckus but didn't know who took it.

 

[starsinthesea]

Hi everyone,
You were right, the necklace I have contains definitely no Pteria Sterna pearls. I ordered a blacklight flashlight (a very cheap one) which worked. I was completely amazed how my SoC glowed. I wish they'd glow like this in natural light. The black pearls on the necklace didn't glow, though.