Help me! What kind of pearls are these? Estate find!

[Confusedaboutpearls]

Hi everyone! Just found this place, awesome forum! So, I found these pearls at an estate sale, and I am wondering what they are? Kind of thinking Chinese freshwater after viewing some other questions, but the clasp is marked 585 which is a european 14k gold mark. There are a couple other marks on the clasp, one that says CN and another that is some sort of symbol. The pearls measure 4mm by 5mm and they are slightly oval. They don't all match perfectly so I'm thinking they aren't cultured. What do you all think? Thanks for the help, and if you need any more pics just let me know!

 

[GemGeek]

They have nice luster, but are definitely cultured Chinese freshwater pearls.

 

[pattye]

Welcome, Confused! Cool find! Triple strands are right in style! Or you could restring into one long necklace. They have been cultured with a tiny piece of mantle tissue and have no round bead inside; that is why they aren't more round. But it makes them very wearable and these certainly are pretty.

 

[JerseyPearl]

Very pretty, and a triple strand is a wardrobe staple. I would love to see a neck shot.

 

[Confusedaboutpearls]

Thanks everyone for the help! I'm still not sure what I am going to do with them. What do you all think they might be worth? You may be shocked, but I only payed a quarter for them, yes 25?! If they aren't worth much, I will probably keep them and restring them. I like the knotted look much better, and I wore them last night and they kept pulling my hair in between the pearls I will post a neck picture when I have some good lighting for a pic! Thanks again everyone!

 

[ckrickett]

25 cents is a killer price!!!

 

[Jacques]

25 cents!! ? Whoa you did well!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

The gold clasp is a large part of the value, but you did very well!

 

[pattye]

Very difficult to put a value~but probably new at retail with 14k clasp, maybe $100, but as 2nd hand vintage, maybe $50. The pearls have nice luster, with no apparent rings or blemishes to reduce the value. Good eye there!! Congratulations!

 

[Confusedaboutpearls]

Thanks again everyone! I'm actually kind of happy they aren't incredibly valuable. I'm keeping them! Now, I just need to teach myself how to restring them. I think I am going to make one really long strand out of them. If I did my math right, it will be more than 52 inches when finished.. I think I have my work cut out for me!

 

[Confusedaboutpearls]

Thanks! Pearl Dream, I just finished reading through your post about restringing - WOW! You gave a great tutorial there! You said in there for an endless strand see post #42... where do I find that? I'm new, and there is so much stuff here, it can be a little hard to find things!

 

[Katbran]

That was a really good find! Good luck with the knotting..don't give up lol It does take a bit of practice! The Lowly Beaders Club, at the bottom of the page, will be very helpful if you run into trouble ! Good luck !

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Thanks! Pearl Dream, I just finished reading through your post about restringing - WOW! You gave a great tutorial there! You said in there for an endless strand see post #42... where do I find that? I'm new, and there is so much stuff here, it can be a little hard to find things!

Post 42 is on page 3 of the Restringing thread, if you scroll down a bit.
The number of each post is in the upper right hand corner of the post. This post, for example, is #13.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Also, confusedaboutpearls, I recommend you try using Patye's Serafil thread or Beader's Secret thread as it is very slippery and you can knot without using tweezers; the knot just slides into place when you pull the two threads apart.

Pattye sells her Serafil thread on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PatriciaS...r=date_desc&view_type=gallery&ref=shop_search

and Beaders Secret may be bought from the Etsy shop of the same name.

She also has the twisted wire needles if you can't get them locally. I use Beadsmith needles in the Fine size. I find them more durable than the ones I used to buy from Artbeads.

You will also need some Fine gauge gimp. Lately I've been using the vermeil kind from Firemountaingems.

You will need wire cutters to cut off the right length of gimp. You can get inexpensive wire cutters at Michaels' in the beading section if you don't have a bead store nearby. They are useful things to have on hand anyway.

 

[Confusedaboutpearls]

Well, I've finished the restringing project. Wow, what a lot of work that was! But it has all paid off in the end. I decided to do the endless strand and it measures a very nice 70 inches long! And I saved a couple pearls to make a pair of earrings as well. I did order the beaders secret... what a great product to work with! I Ended up starting with way too much, because I wasn't entirely sure how much I would need, but even with all the extra thread I rarely had to deal with tangles, and when I did they came right out. Thank you all for all the help (sorry it took me so long to get back to the thread.) But, for the wait here is the neck shot! Sorry for the poor lighting.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Fantastic job!! And how satisfying to know you did it yourself, at minimal cost.

 

[Tucs]

Wow, great job, I take my hat off to you! I love the earrings, too. And it looks terrific on you, congratulations!!

 

[CathyKeshi]

Oooh, that's wonderful ... congratulations!

 

[JerseyPearl]

Love the pearls tripled...they came out very well! And your earrings are also very sweet.

 

[pattye]

Wow and congratulations! You look terrific and your knotting also! So pleased Beader's Secret worked well for you! What a versatile piece you have, with earrings to match! Is this the start of a new hobby?