SS Pearls - are they ??

[Pearling Technologies]

I should have mentioned they are semi-baroque!

 

[jshepherd]

I have a strand of Australian SSP's currently in stock; 11.3-12.5mm; mix colour; AAA grade with a 33 pc count. At retail it would be around AUD$7,000. So I'm thinking not SSP's also.

I'm quite certain they are South Sea pearls. If you look carefully at the photo you can see some slight yellowish coloration concentrated in some areas. This is not something you see in beaded freshwater but it's something very commonly found with Indonesian South Sea pearls. The Indonesian strands of that size and shape will typically range in price from as little as $200 to more than $1000 in Hong Kong. The size range 9 - 12 mm is more or less standard for Indonesian goods as well.

The tassels would not be indicative of company but could be of source. They are most often used in Hong Kong and Japan. This would indicate to me that the strand was assembled in China (for Hong Kong) or Japan.

I am still curious about the mention of auction. The strand is not one I'd expect to see at any auction and the price range isn't such that it would be a debate. Unless the seller is Cogent I think they're pulling your leg. A single $500 strand is not something one sees at auction. 250 of those strands sold in a lot maybe. But not a single strand.

Btw, when I was in Hong Kong in February I met with a friend of mine at Man Sang. She had just had a baby and we had not visited in quite some time. While there she showed me two large lots of Indonesian SSP that looked very much like the strand in the photo. There were about 200 strands and I was offered the entire lot at $250 per strand. I thought it was a good deal but I did turn it down, primarily because of the slight yellowish colorations that were concentrated on ridges and in valleys of the pearls' surfaces. Having this in a few strands would not have been a problem. Some people are going to love it. Having it in 200 strands and not having a true white or a true golden out of all of them ... that would have been a problem.

 

[Pearling Technologies]

Price does seem too cheap for Australian SSP's hence my query. When living in (and during my travels to) Indonesia, I did not see many baroques although there are one or two farmers with the production capacity to potentially produce that many baroques. The size also seems large for Indo SSP's.

 

[Mka4972]

You must be talking about Cora at Man Sang she's a great person, haven't seen her since she had the baby.

 

[Caitlin]

Bo
When you made your comment about gold, I had a sudden flash of gold getting as unreachable for the average consumer as natural pearls! <moment of fear> If the prices keep spiraling up, I bet a lot more gold-plated silver, aka vermeil, will hit the market.


I made silver my metal of choice many years ago because of personal preference, but I am having flashes that many others could be forced into it by cost.

 

[pattye]

Hi,

I'm a bit late to the party, but I think they are SS, something about the shape and lustre and color. I find them very appealing, as baroques are a favorite of mine.

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

 

[perlas]

I'm quite certain they are South Sea pearls. If you look carefully at the photo you can see some slight yellowish coloration concentrated in some areas. This is not something you see in beaded freshwater but it's something very commonly found with Indonesian South Sea pearls.

I've seen the sligthly yellowish to brownish concentrated coloration in unpolished, untreated fwps, non-beaded though. Wouldn't this be possible in the beaded ones?

 

[Bodecia]

Hi All,

Thanks for all your opinions. I will consider them most likely SS but possible Fireballs. I will compare them to the SS pearls and the Fireballs I have already when they arrive which should be in a week or so.

I had server problems last night and today which now seem to have cleared up so finally I can thank you all.

The did have a similar strand but the pearls were a little larger and it was twice the price. They were white SS pearls.

The auction started at $499 with a buy it now price of $539 so I went the the BIN price to secure them. The site was in Holululu (spelling) but going from the name once I emailed I am sure the owners are Chinese.

Will let you know when I get them.

Dawn

 

[Mka4972]

So you bought them on an Ebay type auction?

 

[jshepherd]

I've seen the sligthly yellowish to brownish concentrated coloration in unpolished, untreated fwps, non-beaded though. Wouldn't this be possible in the beaded ones?

I think what you are referring to is the "copper rust".
(https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/12958-post14.html)
That is more of a surface discoloration and tends to be more brown and looks like stains. The yellow/gold in the Indonesian strands is very soft and has no edges. The colors blend together.

 

[Bodecia]

Hi All,

Great lot of opinions or what we call on ebay feedback :0 What I do gather from all the feedback is that none of us is that very few on the PF know more than I do. We all agree to disagree. We all have our own opinions and experts disagree as much as the rest of us do. Maybe it is the photos. That is why I on my own ebay site try to give the best photos I can. But even then it is all up to the eye of the beholder and what they want to interpret. Myself, I have this need to interpret possible lurking naturals. When I receive a bunch of old crap, often not even cultured I do realise it way me that was at fault at least some of the time. Sometimes sellers try to indicate that they are naturals but can't say that because they haven't been tested. Now I am wise to them. But thanks to Caitlin I am really getting my eye in. And when I see a natural now I am almost positive, sometimes I actually know. There are at lot of natural pearls out there in eBay land but of course there are a lot that are not too.

You opened my eyes Caitlin and I do thank you. Sincerely.

Dawn - Jerin what about a private email. thought we were mates already ))
you silly, funny Chinese/Swedish lady.

 

[Caitlin]

Thank you Dawn, for the special mention. I would be amazed at how much you have learned about eyeing photos of pearls, but many do learn that from this forum- as I did. Jerin and pattye, both on this forum for years, have excellent eyes too. Well I could make quite a list of pearl experts on this forum, many of whom bring their extensive knowledge with them but I would hate to leave anyone out.

I don't think there is a better place to learn just about anything concerning pearls. Maybe we should add "university" somewhere in the title, like "Pearl-Guide Unversity" Now that has a ring to it. <wink, wink>

 

[jerin]

Hi All,

Great lot of opinions or what we call on ebay feedback :0 What I do gather from all the feedback is that none of us is that very few on the PF know more than I do. We all agree to disagree. We all have our own opinions and experts disagree as much as the rest of us do. Maybe it is the photos. That is why I on my own ebay site try to give the best photos I can. But even then it is all up to the eye of the beholder and what they want to interpret. Myself, I have this need to interpret possible lurking naturals. When I receive a bunch of old crap, often not even cultured I do realise it way me that was at fault at least some of the time. Sometimes sellers try to indicate that they are naturals but can't say that because they haven't been tested. Now I am wise to them. But thanks to Caitlin I am really getting my eye in. And when I see a natural now I am almost positive, sometimes I actually know. There are at lot of natural pearls out there in eBay land but of course there are a lot that are not too.

You opened my eyes Caitlin and I do thank you. Sincerely.

Dawn - Jerin what about a private email. thought we were mates already ))
you silly, funny Chinese/Swedish lady.

Dawn,

I am no more expert than the real ones on this forum but my first thoughts were that this strand consists of white South Sea pearls. For the rest: I am still waiting for an answer from You

 

[The Pearl Outlet]

Well, here's an interesting idea I just have to throw in there... The strand may be a combination of Fireball FW and South Sea. I've seen several done that way (and sold as thus) here at the JCK show in Las Vegas.

Most of the pearls on the strand look like SS, but one or two look like fireballs.

 

[Nerida]

I'm not going to wade in here with a definitive "I think these pearls are x, y or z", but I am going to say that we need to acknowledge that fireball is simply a name currently given to a tailed bead nucleated freshwater pearl. Over time, the Chinese are going to get MUCH better at growing these pearls, and they won't be fireballs any longer. In other words, we are going to see many FW bead nucleated pearls that don't have tails.

To my eye, there are some pearls in Dawn's strand that look a lot like some bead nukes that I have in my stock. Here are a couple of photos of my strands... first is up to 16.6mm in size, second and third up to 18.4. In the smaller strand, there is still more of a "tail" on the pearls, albeit diminishing from many of the fireballs we are starting to get used to seeing. In the larger strand, there are several pearls with no discernable tail at all - have a look at the third pearl from the clasp on the right side of the photo.

Here is the smaller strand:


Here is the larger strand:




It is going to get harder and harder to distinguish between SS and FW bead nucleated pearls!

 

[pearlescence]

Still trying to work out what my light-weight-for-their-mass peach baroques are ..are these bead nucleated light or heavy for mass?

 

[pattye]

Hi Wendy,

Do we have a photo and size measurements for these lightweight pearls of yours?

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

 

[pearlescence]

yes, in another thread

 

[Nerida]

Wendy, I just pm'd you to say that I can no longer see the photo in that thread..