Inherited La Tausca Pearls from my grandma, what year are they? What are they worth?

[raiderlove86]

I went to a jeweler with them and he told me that they were real and that each pearl was seperately strung on, its not one solid string going through all the pearls. I will post a few pictures here and I would really really appreciate it if you could tell me about them . I have the original case that they came in, certificate of authenticity and the clasp has a diamond in it. Thanks in advance for all your help!

 

[KAC]

Hi RaiderLove and welcome to Pearl Guide. My understanding of La Tausca Pearls is they are very high quality imitation pearls. I see the certificate of authenticity does claim they are cultured pearls but I think you'll find they are actually imitations. Just to be sure you can gently rub two pearls together, if they feel rough like sandpaper then they are real, smooth and they are faux.

 

[jshepherd]

Here is a bit more on them - http://www.pearls.com/about_us/articles/history/La Tausca.pdf

It looks like the thread has stretched between the knots, so it does need to be restrung.

... that each pearl was seperately strung on, its not one solid string going through all the pearls.

No, they are all on one string. They are individually knotted, which is a good thing, but they are indeed all on one string.

 

[Mary Montpezat]

Hi raiderlove,

I read that they are "semi-cultured" - so the blurb isn't exactly lying - very thin nacre on barely cultured pearls is supplemented with "pearlization". Could that be correct I wonder?

Did the jeweller authenticate the diamond in the clasp?

 

[CLICLASP]

Well, I read on the certificate "cultured pearls, guaranteed grown in the living oyster, product of the deep sea"
so if they are imitation, it is truly a false claim ?

 

[pearlescence]

not necessarily. The quote is correct...it may not apply to those pearls though
#cynical wendy

 

[Pearl Dreams]

If you search for current and completed eBay listings of La Tausca pearls, you'll see a number of interesting old ads. The bronze presentation boxes these imitation pearls came in seem to sell nicely.

 

[Bacca]

My first reaction was La Tausca = simulated and a Google search showed mostly the same thing. Still, your certificate says they're cultured pearls and I think you have to leave room for that possibility. In the ads for La Tausca imitation pearls they're described as "simulated." Even in the ads from the early 1900s, when advertisers could get away with calling a bead a pearl, they used the common term for fakes - "indestructible pearls." It doesn't seem like the company would call the same pearls "imitation" in one place and "cultured" in another.

I found this on WorthPoint from a seller: Even though La Tausca was know for faux pearls, at some point they merged with Heller-Deltah who then sold cultured pearls under the La Tausca name.

I found "A set of La Tausca cultured pearls with silver clasp," Item 4232, on this site.

There were also several older auctions/sales whose pages no longer exist (I didn't look for cached copies). Either people are making mistakes or La Tausca actually did sell cultured pearls at one time. Did you try the test KAC suggested? Also, have you checked the clasp for any trademarks that might confirm that these are the pearls that originally came in that case? Those two pieces of information could give you a date range and help an expert determine their worth.

 

[pearl guide]

This would be something Peter Bazar could probably clear up. He is now president of Deltah (now Imperial). He discussed them on the earlier mentioned thread.

https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3592&p=54289#post54289