House Break In - Pearls Stolen

[William]

I am seeking some assistance. We had a home break in last week and among a number of items stolen was a pearl necklace.

The necklace was given to my wife by her mother when we were married. My wife wore the necklace at our wedding.

I have two questions

How can I find out what type of pearls they may be?

Although the necklace was principally of sentimental value is it possible to get a valuation on the necklace?

Desription of Pearls
Two strand necklace
Small pearls
Bought in New South Wales Australia in 1952
Photograph attached.

 

[morphius]

Based upon the photo, they appear to be about 4-5mm in size. But, I'm not sure how insurance claims works where you are and how it works if you don't have an appraisal certificate to prove authenticity and worth.

If you had better pictures, clearer that showed the pearls better and the clasp, that might be a start.

 

[jshepherd]

I'm sorry to hear about the robbery and I wish there were a way to really help, but the photos are too rough. Do you have anything with a bit more resolution? In 1952, the pearls would likely be akoya (because of the shape), but the pearls don't look graduated, which is what you would expect to see from the time period. Was there paperwork with the necklace?

 

[William]

Many thanks for taking time to respond. We have limited photos. If my wife can track down any we may post again. Again thanks!!

 

[lisa c]

Since you say the value was primarily sentimental, but Jeremy noted that the 'same size pearl' style was somewhat unusual for the time, I'll be nosy and ask was her family wealthy? Also, are the dangles of the earrings real pearl?

Is your MIL still living? Even without paperwork, she might remember the price (even if a gift, curiosity will often lead the recipient to find out), which could be a further clue to the kind of pearl. You'll still need more for insurance purposes, but every bit of info could help towards your goal.

 

[Mary Montpezat]

In Australia the replacement value for a double strand of small pearls like those would, if they are AAA, be maximum $1400 from a high-end dealer (retail); minimum probably $500 if lesser than AAA quality, assuming they are akoyas and have a silver clasp.

 

[Caitlin]

On Ebay, try this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Akoya-Cultu...S_Fine_Necklaces_Pendants&hash=item257089d90c . It is a seller with no feedback so I do not recommend it. I had a hard time finding 5mm necklaces, so I checked 4mm and 3mm sizes.

So, my guess is that it is 1. hard to find tiny akoya pearls and when you do, 2. they are not that expensive. Its finding them that will take the research!

 

[Caitlin]

Just for curiosity I went shopping for a necklace like this. Tis is the best I was able to do and I used Google and just got ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-Strand-4m...056?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item46039e80e8 it is a 6 strander for 425.00.

The seller has lots of sales 13k + 100% feedback. The store is call Norfolk museum and that seems to be a good name for them.and they are not in China. I thnk your pearls look more like 4 millimeter than 5. They really are dainty.

2 of these would run 72.00.
I thought this one was pretty, but it comes from China.2