Inherited Pearls from (Great?) Grandmother

[greenjudy]

Hello Pearl-Guide folks,

My mother passed away a few years ago, and I received most of her jewelry. Her death hit me hard and I have not looked at the jewelry much, but recently started thinking it would be nice to have a pearl choker, and I vaguely remembered some family pearls I had not seen in many years. They were in her jewelry box.

I remember being told that these pearls had been my great-grandmother's; certainly my grandmother wore them. She was born in 1915 or so, and came, I understand, from a fairly wealthy New York railroad family. I hope the pictures will be clear enough to give you an idea. I apologize for the paper towel backdrop...! They were taken with an iPad camera indoors, at night, using my full-spectrum desk lamp. I can try to get better shots if they are needed.

I'm also sorry I have so little info about their provenance. I can't even tell you what the barrel clasp is made of (Sterling?). Note that the rosy tones you see in the photo aren't as pronounced in real life; I actually wonder if the pearls picked up the color of my shirt. They are creamy in real life and look translucent in some lights, with overtones of pink and green. There are 49 pearls on this graduated strand, btw, which runs about 17 3/4" long.

No matter what they are, I love these guys to pieces, and I want to wear them as often as I can--both because I find them beautiful and because they remind me of beloved family members I won't see again in this life.

Thanks in advance for any light you can shed. I look forward to hearing from you. I have been reading threads on this forum for a few days, and have been really impressed by the knowledge here (and the wonderful, wonderful photos!).

Regards,
Julia

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Welcome greenjudy! Lucky you to have inherited these lovely pearls!

First off, they look like real pearls, not imitations.
It's possible that the clasp is not original; they may have been restrung at some point and the clasp replaced.

Have you tried "candling" them with a strong light behind them? I'm wondering if you can see the shadow of a bead inside.

 

[Pareltje]

My gut feeling says they are baroque akoyas....

 

[greenjudy]

Welcome greenjudy! Lucky you to have inherited these lovely pearls!

First off, they look like real pearls, not imitations.
It's possible that the clasp is not original; they may have been restrung at some point and the clasp replaced.

Have you tried "candling" them with a strong light behind them? I'm wondering if you can see the shadow of a bead inside.

Hi Pearl Dreams, thank you for your quick reply. I haven't tried candling them yet. I'll have to see if I can find a strong enough light. It's entirely possible that they've been restrung at some point.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Pareltje,
That was my thought as well, but a lot of baroque akoyas have a more wrinkly skin or a "tail" where the nacre is thin and pinched looking. If off-round/baroque akoyas, these are nicer than many I've seen.

 

[Marianne]

Welcome Judy.
I am sorry for the loss of your mom and know what a hole that can leave in your heart.
Your beautiful pearls appear to be cultured baroque akoyas. I hope you will restring and wear them often.

 

[greenjudy]

For what it's worth, my mother told me (when I was a kid) that these are "real" - i.e., not cultured. But much lore is passed down in families...

I didn't realize that baroque Akoyas were to be had that early on--were they used in vintage necklaces?

 

[Marianne]

Hi PD, The nacre appears to be really thick. Probably much better quality than we are used to seeing today.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Many of the older akoyas had quite thick nacre. They should be durable.

I agree with Marianne about restringing them. Even if they were restrung at some point, the thread of necklaces that are worn regularly gets dirty, absorbs body oils and environmental grime, and weakens as a result. You don't want to take a chance on the thread breaking and losing the necklace. If you wish to, you can select a new clasp for them; if you like that clasp you can use the opportunity to clean it and polish it with a jewelry polishing cloth before restringing the pearls.

If you've looked around the forum you many have noticed that many of us string our own necklaces. It isn't hard, and it does save money to do it oneself. See the Lowly Beaders Club for tutorials.

Edit-- we are thinking along similar lines, Marianne.

 

[greenjudy]

Marianne, thanks so much for your kind words. I miss her a lot.

Pareltje, I really appreciate your assessment. I actually love baroque Akoyas, and wouldn't be disappointed if that's what they turn out to be.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

greenjudy,
In your second photo, see the 6th pearl from the clasp on the left side? The little ridge is something I see in baroque akoyas.

Although the farmers' goal is round pearls, I'm sure there were many pearls that were not completely round in the earlier days of culturing. I would expect them to have been strung up into necklaces.

If you think they are natural pearls you could get them x-rayed by GIA for a fee, but the consensus so far is that they are probably cultured akoyas.
Cultured pearls are real pearls, too.

It's true that families often don't know what they have. Both my mother and my husband's mother owned imitation pearls that they were told were real by the people who gave them the pearls. The givers also thought they were buying real pearls! And my mother and grandmother had "aquamarines" that turned out to be glass and synthetic spinel-- in 18K gold settings.

 

[greenjudy]

That is highly cool to know, Pearl Dreams. I would love to learn more about the early history of akoya culturing.

I'd also be curious to know what people thought would be an appropriate clasp for this particular strand, if I felt like upgrading...?

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Do you want something simple or fancy?
Diamonds or no diamonds?
Do you have any limitations in your dexterity, need an easy to open clasp?

There are many kinds of clasps out there.

If you would like to learn more about pearls, you might also enjoy taking the PEARLSASONE course put out by the CPAA last year. There is a lot of info about the history of perliculture.
See: https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/s...ew-CPAA-Pearl-Specialist-Certification-Course
There is a code to take the course for free-- I think CPAAFREE might still work.

 

[greenjudy]

Pearl Dreams, thanks so much for the link! I'll give it a look tomorrow.

I want to wear these pearls a lot, so I think a simple clasp might be what I need, but maybe in gold. Something to consider.

Thanks again.

 

[BWeaves]

I wonder if these are natural akoya pearls, and not cultured. I think they are worth being checked by GIA, too. If they are naturals, you have a very expensive strand of pearls.

Also, count them, and then have them restrung. Or, you can restring them yourself.

Enjoy wearing them. They are gorgeous.

 

[greenjudy]

BWeaves, thank you for your comment. I will mull that over. I admit it's kind of an exciting prospect, but I'm thinking the main difference it would make to me is whether I need to insure them, I guess...?

I'm interested to know - are the surface characteristics of natural akoyas and cultured baroque akoyas more or less the same? I love the not-quite-round, old-school feeling of baroque akoyas. Seems like a good way to get the "vibe" of an antique strand without a stratospheric price tag.

Am I right in assuming that a piece of this vintage, if it were cultured pearls, would never be marketed as a "baroque" strand, but more be marketed as "almost round and nice enough to wear"?

I guess I should really look into that course. I had no idea pearls were such a deep subject.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I don't recall reading about natural akoyas. Certainly there are plenty of natural pearls, but akoyas specifically?
I just looked at Strack's book Pearls but didn't see anything about that.

Off to re-read that section in the CPAA course....

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Okay, I've been reading Pearls: A Natural History to see what I could find about the history of natural pearl harvesting in the area of Japan specifically.

Japan does not appear on the map of historical pearl harvesting areas of the world. (p. 132)

On p. 140, there is this:

"The Japanese, Polynesians, Australian aboriginals,, and pre-Columbian peoples of Middle and South America all used pearls more or less extensively. However, they showed very little interest in actual pearls."

And this:
"As late as the 1880s, Tavernier wrote 'There are, finally, on the coast of Japan pearls of very beautiful water and quite large size, but they are very irregular (baroque); in any event, they are not fished for, because...the Japanese do not esteem them as jewels.' "

I find it fascinating and ironic that Japanese historically did not view pearls as jewels, given the fact that the modern cultured pearl industry began there and is still going strong in Japan.

So I think we maybe should move away from thinking your pearls could be natural akoyas, specifically.

I would think your strand would have been sold as baroque, semi-round or near-round but I don't really know how pearls were described by sellers many years ago.

 

[greenjudy]

Thank you, Pearl Dreams - wonderful detailed info. I'm so glad I asked the people of Pearl Guide for your thoughts on these pearls...!

If I decide to get them assessed by GIA I will update this thread with what I learn.

 

[KaySD]

Welcome to the forum, greenjudy. I am sorry for your loss. My mother passed away last August, and I still find it difficult to go through her things.

Your pearls have a lovely glow. You might want to send them to Pearl Paradise to be re-strung. I believe the cost to have a strand that length re-strung would be around $27. I love their small orbit clasps, but they have many other choices, and they might be able to identify what type of pearls you have.