The jeweler switched pearls and removed pearls from my miki strand

[Caitlin]

HI Knotty!

This quote is from post 47 or so.

She may also know if the clasp is genuine. Knotty has commented on at least one other miki clasp that was a knock off and explained it quite well.

I am SO glad you came on with your opinion! I had a feeling it was a knockoff so I told PearlPoor to get it ruled out that it is a knockoff. Then I waffled after all the photos... I should not have because I had previously made it very clear that I know nothing about Miki clasps. So now I am back to my first opinion- get an expert to look at it. Though I am sure you are right.

 

[Caitlin]

Hi Pearl Poor
(May I change your name to "PearlRich"?)

When I took them to the jeweler, I guess I revealed my ignorance because when I asked if he could restring them, I asked him if they were real or fake cultured pearls. (So, so stupid/uninformed I was.) He looked at me strangely, and then I said: It doesn't matter - - the value of these pearls to me is that my mother gave them to me.

That what many people will tell you instead of saying they are of low value, but you said it for him.

 

[PearlPoor]

Fake Mikimoto pearls and clasps

Fake Mikimoto pearls and clasps

Okay, Pearl CSI staff, I am totally confused now. First, I didn't see a followup post from Jas932 or pictures of his dyed pearls that look like mine (Jas932's message #63).

Also, I don't know what KnottyPanda means (post #75) when referring to "hats" on the Mikimoto logo.

Almost all of the logos I have seen have the S and very few have Sil. Here is a photo of a very old 1930's Mikimoto hallmark):

Here is another old hallmark:

And another:

I uploaded some photos of mm hallmarks if you want to look at them:

http://community.webshots.com/album/565490469LiEywD?vhost=community

Please please explain to me about the "sorry looking M" on my clasp and what about the "hat" - - maybe a photo of what it looks like. And, Caitlin, I like it, but why "PearlRich"?

PearlPoor

 

[xeresana]

I *think* Knotty might mean that the font is different. I *think* Mikimoto uses a serif font. This page has an example. There are little lines under the two "legs" of the M. http://www.mikimotoamerica.com/contact_us/faqs/ I don't know if they've changed their mark over the years. But, that's something you could research.

I know *nothing* about mikis, but as a consumer, if I were determining whether any vintage/antique piece of anything I owned had a genuine hallmark, I would choose my references *very* carefully. I don't know where your photos came from, and they may be from reputable sources, but I would be very wary of using hallmarks from pieces for sale from online auctions or online vendors unless I were *certain* that I was dealing with someone who was *extensively* experienced and trustworthy. Writing "genuine" in an auction title doesn't make it so.

If you really believe your pearls may be valuable, maybe you want to have them looked at by someone who appraises pearls. You'll have to pay, but they'll give you a more thorough and definitive answer.

 

[Caitlin]

We have been going around in circles for a over a month and it still keeps coming back to one answer: Get that necklace looked at by an expert.

We have given you recommendations of people with impeccable reputations. Or send it to Mikimoto. It takes a real expert to rule on the authenticity of the clasp., which is why I keep saying to rule it out as a fake, or discover that it is.

Good luck, but I am through with this subject until the necklace has been examined by an expert.

I looked at your growing photo collection. I would like to see the fronts too.

 

[PearlPoor]

thanks for all advice; doing research

thanks for all advice; doing research

Hi All,
I truly thank you all for your advice and opinions. I am doing more research, including the Mikimoto hallmarks, and trying to decide where to send or maybe personally take (Las Vegas Mikimoto store) my pearls to for an evaluation. Also, still investigating the use of various types of infrared UV lighting.

Will report back soon.

PearlPoor

 

[aggiep]

Infrared photography done with film, will go through synthetics, but not organic materials. A digigizmo will not do anything more than show the variences of the light striking the surface. Infrared uv lighting will do nothing for you other than give interesting light patterns.

O read this whole thread. I agree...get thee to an appraiser. Vegas is not the hot bed of reputable appraisers either. I live about an hour away from the town, and have perused the jewelry stores there many times. I have only met two people who know there stuff. Most are good at selling, and repair, but fail when it vcomes to real appraisals. My experiences go to my wedding ring. It is a VVS1 F color 1 3/4 carat diamond. I've been told all sorts of things about it from many jewelers in Vegas. I have the GIA cert papers on it. Funny I had one person tell me it was a cz and he would replace it with a real diamond for me. Being Danish born, he found out the wrath of the vikings when I stormed out. GO to the reputable places. Vegas is not reputable in my books.

 

[Valeria101]

2c observation: 5 years of mollusk rearing does not equal five years for one pearl inside the shell amassing nacre (critters have to grow a few years before first nucleation, much as I know, which makes the animals at first harvest a few years older then the pearls in them). Five-year cultured pearls... sounds more like a game of words to me.

Does this mean anything? 'Guess not. I am also guessing that there are more folks out there with an instinctive disbelief of brand value, just not the majority apparently (otherwise, branding would not be in the dictionary at all).

Blessed be! (both sides).

 

[Slraep]

...... I am also guessing that there are more folks out there with an instinctive disbelief of brand value, just not the majority apparently (otherwise, branding would not be in the dictionary at all).

Blessed be! (both sides).

Ahmen! And I'd be one more of them folk out there that's not very impressed with brand value. I'm also one of them folk that think the global majority is quite different from the P-G majority. I would not be surprised if the majority's thinking is the reverse here on P-G. Otherwise how would one explain these fond nicknames: Shmikis, hackoyas, Mikimouse, Mikoyas, Miksters...etc..

Slraep

 

[Valeria101]

Ahmen! And I'd be one of more of them folk out there that's not very impressed with brand value.

Ya! See... sometime I wonder if we're not just the 'early adopters' (to use the proper, dreaded lingo) of who-knows-what [now, where's that special smiley for conspiracy theories? - other then ]

 

[Slraep]

now, where's that special smiley for conspiracy theories? - other then

I'm not sure we could see the details in this one if we made it smiley size. Seems like a good contender.

 

[Valeria101]

Good one, but we've got the Euro here (almost). The darn ECB is so dull, I can't imagine anyone smiling abut it

If intuition serves, a certain patch of the $1 bill (that pyramid thinghie) already is a reputable conspiracy-theory hot spot ...

[backing of from the digression, unless anyone else dares a thread on branding & pearls]

 

[aggiep]

For giggles and grins yesterday while in Vegas for the Harvest Festival at Cashman Convention Center, I did a fast run over to the Venetian. I checked out the Mikimoto store there. Granted I'm not a pearl expert, but I do know gem stones and jewelry techniques. They need to train their staff. From what little I garned about miki's from this thread, telling people that come in that miki's were developed in the late mid 1800's didn't inspire me. She went on to say that they had several strands in house that dated to the 1850's that Mikimoto himself had left his mark on. Yep and my Grandmother was the queen of Denmark as well..... NOT! Like a lot of B&M stores, the staff in general are not always knowledgable. There may have been others in house that would know more, but the ones on the floor yesterday were not part of them. After that experience, I would send those pearls in question to GIA and have them evaluated.

 

[knotty panda]

Re: Miki evaluation. None of the stores will evaluate the pearls so you need not worry about personnel who lack knowledge. Every store WILL accept the pearls and guarantee their safety in getting them to the person who can evaluate them. Then they will guarantee you receive your pearls back to you.

Conspiracy theory: Lots of little icons are needed.

9+11 = 20 (or so I've been told) which is why you can only see this folded image in an old $20 bill.
It must be folded into the shape of an airplane.
When done properly, the other side reveals a depiction of the Pentagon in flames.
The word "America" and "United" shown when the bill is folded are the airlines which struck the towers.

Conspiracy? Nah. Freaky? Yeah.

If intuition serves, a certain patch of the $1 bill (that pyramid thinghie) already is a reputable conspiracy-theory hot spot ... [backing of from the digression, unless anyone else dares a thread on branding & pearls]

I thought that was the Masonic symbol and the reason it was put there was to represent the large number of founding fathers who were masons and supposedly Masonry has its roots in Judeo-Christian beliefs.

I guess it could mean the eye of King Tut is upon me, though.

 

[xeresana]

And will you be displaying the Land O' Lakes butter girl - naughty folding trick? That's certainly amused me more than it should....even as an adult.

 

[knotty panda]

P.S. Welcome back, Slraep! Glad to see you! Land O' Lakes butter girl? I missed this one. But if it's naughty, I have to know!

 

[Slraep]

9+11 = 20 (or so I've been told) which is why you can only see this folded image in an old $20 bill.
It must be folded into the shape of an airplane.
When done properly, the other side reveals a depiction of the Pentagon in flames.
The word "America" and "United" shown when the bill is folded are the airlines which struck the towers.

Conspiracy? Nah. Freaky? Yeah.

Are you serious?? Freaky indeed!!! Really, really freaky. I didn't know that.

Back to the Mikis; if someone did find a strand in their great aunt's attic, what would constitute a rare find of the "windfall" type? I was never interested in akoyas, so in having ignored them, am not up on any Mikilore or Mikivalues.

Slraep

 

[knotty panda]

LOL, so I had to go Google "folding Land O' Lakes" and there's a whole Snopes article of everything plus more.

A very successful thread hijacking!

 

[Valeria101]

That's a new one (of 9-11). Isn't 911 the emergency number in the US? (hope that doesn't serve as a permanent reminder to everyone, LOL!) It never occurred to second guess those numbers

Turning to Akoya...

Anyone knows why/how the species of bivalve was chosen for Mikimoto's operation in the first place? Was it simply because the animal was plentiful, well known / evaluated for perliculture by others? Something about the resulting pearls? Or no particular reason was ever mentioned?

 

[xeresana]

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/20bill.asp

This one covers both the bill and the Land o Lakes girl. You can also fold her up and get a simliar effect.