Recently Acquired from an Estate Sale - Was told these are natural, please confirm

[NaturalPearlFan]

Hello,

I recently bought this pearl strand from an estate sale. What pearl are these?

Thank you.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

My guess is low quality cultured freshwater pearls, and here is why: I bought some very low quality cultured freshwater pearls a few years back that were solid nacre but had pieces of outer layers missing-- photos below. You can see the concentric circles of nacre showing there is no bead nucleus. I think I can dig up a few more more really bad pearls from this batch with missing nacre.
* off to look*

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I looked but didn't find more damaged pearls; I must have thrown them out already.

It is not unusual for people who don't know pearls to use the term "natural" to mean "not fake." However, when it comes to pearls, "natural" refers specifically to wild pearls, as opposed to farmed pearls (cultured pearls).

Your pearls have colors and shapes found in baroque cultured freshwater pearls. However, I am not by any means an expert on natural pearls. I look forward to reading other opinions.

 

[pattye]

My thought is the same as Pearl Dreams; these are cultured freshwater pearls. The pinky-brownish color indicates freshwater. They don't have a bead nucleus. The person who spent several hours wire wrapping these obviously enjoyed pearls with a distinctly organic appearance.

 

[Simply adorned]

Well said Pattye! “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. And they look like cfwp to me too.

 

[Katbran]

Yes, very low quality Freshwater pearls. And the use of natural is very common - people are just trying to say they are 'real' pearls. I seriously wish the industry would drop natural and switch to 'wild' or something similar.

 

[NaturalPearlFan]

Thanks so much for your valuable responses. Now that this is not all that great it makes me want to share the image of another one I bought from the same person. It looked very natural to me and I paid quite a bit for it.

 

[NaturalPearlFan]

Thanks so much for taking the time out to respond. I also bought another necklace from the same source, I was quite sure they are natural but not anymore Attaching a few picts.

 

[pearlescence]

Cultured sounds posher than farmed Katbran.

 

[lilliefuzzysocks]

You may have found someone's wire tying practice strand. . I taught two little grade school girls to knot pearl necklaces using commercial quality pearls.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Sadly, they are all low quality cultured freshwater pearls from China.

Don't feel too badly. We have all made purchases we regretted. I suppose they are part of the learning process.