Q about pearl necklace worn in North by Northwest

[Casey.R]

I just watched the film North by Northwest with Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint the other night. I loved the jewelry she wore and noticed a very pretty pearl necklace she had on towards the end of the film. It was almost a chocker style and made with delicate sized pearls. Kind of reminded me of jackie Kennedy's wedding pearls. I haven't been able to find a photo. My question is what size pearls did they generally use in this style ( if you know the style, I'd call it 1950s style pearls), and would they probably have been graduated?


BTW That ruby necklace she wears isn't so bad either!

 

[Casey.R]

wrong place....

 

[Mitsucats]

I love that movie, and Hitchcock always did pick the prettiest blond femme fatales for his movies didn't he? Kim Novak, Grace Kelly, really beautiful, classy women. We could do a whole thread on the jewels in those movies, like what jewels were worn by the "Carlotta" character in "Vertigo" with Jimmy Stewart? I know what you mean about 1950s pearls, so beautiful and classic. Graduated pearls no? Not sure about the actual sizes. I'm sure someone here will know. You should try local action houses in your area, I'm sure some come up now and then, or maybe one of the vendors here could replicate the style.

ps. the pearls, turquoise, and diamonds worn by Doris Day in her movies weren't so bad either! I have a whole book called "hollywood jewels" with lots of lovely photos....my hubby calls it my "*****graphy"!

 

[pattye]

Fascinating, I agree! I have heard that stars often wore jewelry from their own personal collection in movies. But likely many of the large pearls were the high quality alabaster glass faux imitation "pearls" made by Chanel and Kenneth Jay Lane, among others.

 

[barbie biggs]

You are so right Patty:
In "High Society", the Grace Kelly version of "Philadelphia Story", Grace wore her own new engagement ring. She had just gotten engaged to her Prince and was so excited that she asked the movie director if she could wear her own ring for the part in the movie. It is enormous. She also wore a lot of her own pearls for "Rear Window" with Jimmy Stewart. Don't you love directors cuts?
barbie

 

[Casey.R]

I must check out the book Hollywood jewels! I didn't know they wore there own jewels sometimes. Very interesting.

 

[GemGeek]

Pearlnography? Hmmm... will it let me post this word? Would I be a pearlnographer?

 

[pattye]

Oh, I certainly hope so!

 

[waimeamomi]

I found this pic of Eve Marie Saint from the movie. It looks like 7mm/8mm, but it looks like there might be something in between.
You can see it better here:

http://filmfanatic.org/reviews/?p=2412

I also found a website where they are selling a faux version of the ruby pendant.
http://thehollywoodcollection.stores.yahoo.net/hcp019.html

 

[Johanna]

Well, if they're fakes, they're very pretty fakes! Looks like the pearls are all the same size, though. Wish people felt they could wear pearls as often as women did in the 50s. Pearls can an important part of grooming for both women and men. They make a statement, and are meant to be worn and enjoyed for their beauty...

 

[barbie biggs]

You are so right Johanna:
In addition, a size 6-7 or 7-8mm white pearl necklace is lovely and when of good quality people stop and say, "Ohh, Ahh".
I have heard a number of people make comments like, "Oh, how classic".

 

[waimeamomi]

A lot of the pics I saw of Eve Marie Saint showed her in pearls. I'm betting those were real, and maybe even hers.

 

[Casey.R]

Thank you for finding and posting that photo! I think they look like they could be real too. Very simple and elegant.

 

[Caitlin]

What do you mean by real? They look like cultured akoyas from that time period. Akoyas are not real pearls, they are pearl-plated beads, though those those look to be high quality- could be Mikis. That same size bead style was starting to be used in that time period, by pearl people like Miki who had enough pearls by then to use the same size pearls for a necklace.
IMO, if thay were fakes, they would have been Hollywood fakes, so they would have been much larger.

 

[Caitlin]

Real is not the proper term, cultured is the correct term. My guess, akoyas, and likely Miki's. That was about the time the same size necklaces were getting around.

Her she is in a personal publicity photo: LINK TO EBAY $6.50 buy it now price.

 

[Casey.R]

I'm sure you understood that I meant from a sea creature as opposed to glass( or similar ).

 

[Caitlin]

Of course I knew that, Casey. No reflection on you guys who know the difference.

It is just my inner editor making it clear to newbies reading this down the line.

That's good for this statement too: Real pearls are actually natural pearls, the rest are cultured or fake.

I want us to be sticklers for correct pearl terminology, because so many newbies read this forum and learn what terms people are using and follow suit- and that one is a biggie.

Sorry if I offend, I totally appreciate your posts and pearl knowledge and taste.

I end sentences with prepositions all the time and take all kinds of liberties with English, but when it comes to pearls, on this forum, my hands just reach for the red pencil.

I also jump in whenever someone is lazy about describing the formation of pearls, because most people do not understand how pearl sacks are formed.

 

[knotty panda]

Getting back to the question at hand, what size are they. My guess would be they are 5 or 6MM. She is a petite woman and the necklace drapes at her collarbone so it's probably 16". If you count the pearls on half the necklace allowing for the shadow in front, you have 5MM or 6MM pearls.

 

[CopperLyne]

My first inclination is 6mm, but that's a best guess. She was an elegantly petite person. I do a lot of restringing of the vintage glass pearls for folks and even in the black and white photos, there is a different luster to the fakes... guess it's kind of a 'deadness' that obsorbs the light rather than reflecting the depth of the natural or cultured pearl.

 

[Caitlin]

I think they are more like 7mm but I am terrible at math. I do recall that era seemed to regard 6.5-7.5 mm pearls to be the perfect size for good "traditional" taste.

400mm (16") divided by 7mm = 57 pearls minus 3-4 for clasp and knots= 53 pearls. where is that handy-dandy bead counter?