This is freshwater instead of southsea pearls isnt it?

[asurazzy]

OMG 120 INCH Strand of White South Sea Pearls
https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/558...ery=baroque south sea pearl&ref=sr_gallery_40

Saw this at etsy. It look like circled button freshwater? Advertised as southsea pearls with a price tag of 3082 US$.

Here are some pics of it. Whats the experts think?

 

[Lugana]

I wouldn't rule them out as freshwater just because of the shape - this button circled shape does come in south sea pearls.. but the overall condition of those pearls, plus the fact that they are "vintage" (how old I wonder?), and the blemishes, and no clasp.. whatever they are, they don't look attractive (to me) or worth the price. But I quite assume they can be south sea indeed.

 

[Pareltje]

I think they are freshwater pearls.

 

[annie]

I'm no expert and I've never seen a South Sea pearl in person. But I feel compelled to say these look just like the freshwater pearls I've seen sold on the television jewelry shows.

 

[Haylea23]

The size of the pearls are 12.5mm and around that mark so I would say a low grade south sea or a large circle freshwater. Its hard to tell without asking the supplier more questions and seeing them in natural light.

 

[asurazzy]

Well the vendor said she is GIA graduate gemologist and she have GIA pearls certificate and she said its southsea when I sent her a message asking if the pearls. are freshwater instead of SS. I replied ohh those are SS, looked like freshwater. And she replied candling with a picture of a candle...not sure what it meant...

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I would have said freshwaters from the look of them, but they are quite large for tissue nucleated freshwaters.

Re: the candling I assume the seller meant that candling shows a nucleus, in order to support her assertion that they are SSP.

 

[asurazzy]

Aahhh yaaa this are the photo of the candling.

It didnt say how old it is. The material said its pearls and shells. What does that mean?? I thought the materials would be pearls and ummnn strings?? Wheres the shells came in?

 

[Lugana]

The material said its pearls and shells. What does that mean?? I thought the materials would be pearls and ummnn strings?? Wheres the shells came in?

These are all the questions for the seller I'm afraid... and as always, just remember the main rule in pearl buying - don't buy from vendors you don't trust

 

[asurazzy]

Ok! Beside I dont have 3000$.

 

[cmd2014]

Are they “shell pearls” (aka faux)? They don’t look like south sea to me, but they don’t look like freshwater either. They look faux. Is the seller from China?

 

[Katbran]

This is a 11.5 - 12mm freshwater circled bracelet . You can see that Freshwater come in a similar shape. To me they are underwhelming and overpriced.

 

[jshepherd]

Those are freshwater pearls, not South Sea. One easy giveaway is the way they are drilled.

 

[jshepherd]

We are in Bangkok this week for the CIBJO jewelry congress and today was ruby and diamond so Hisano and I just walked around. There are a lot of jewelry companies here and one we visited had pearls similar to the strand on Etsy - 11.5-12.5 mm freshwater, side-drilled, heavy circle.

 

[GemGeek]

Jeremy is right. No SSP strand would be drilled sideways. Also, even if they were SSPs, they look kind of sad. It would be way more fun (and cheaper) to have a frisky new freshwater rope.

 

[Lugana]

one we visited had pearls similar to the strand on Etsy - 11.5-12.5 mm freshwater, side-drilled, heavy circle.

Terrible. Just terrible. I suppose saying it's "vintage" is also a con from the seller then - to imitate that the pearls are from the era when freshwaters were tissue-nucleated only.. Terrible and sad. Thanks for the input Jeremy! Do you think such cases should be reported to etsy or it's useless to fight with it?..

 

[asurazzy]

We are in Bangkok this week for the CIBJO jewelry congress and today was ruby and diamond so Hisano and I just walked around. There are a lot of jewelry companies here and one we visited had pearls similar to the strand on Etsy - 11.5-12.5 mm freshwater, side-drilled, heavy circle.

Woowww so the seller is lying?? Or simply didnt know?? When I asked her have she taken it to the jeweller, she said to me she is GIA graduated and got her GIA pearls cert. Guess being GIA graduated n have their pearls cert doesnt mean you know anything bout pearls hey?? Or she was saying things that are not true. So...the price of the necklace is...30$ instead of 3000$?

 

[asurazzy]

Terrible. Just terrible. I suppose saying it's "vintage" is also a con from the seller then - to imitate that the pearls are from the era when freshwaters were tissue-nucleated only.. Terrible and sad. Thanks for the input Jeremy! Do you think such cases should be reported to etsy or it's useless to fight with it?..

Well yaa imagine that a person dropped 3000$ for that kind of necklace mmmmmm!!! With 3000$ you can get the real thing! You think there will be a person who will drop that amount of money for that necklace?

 

[Red]

Yep, most on-line sellers are lying. Take a look at GemGeek's slides here:

https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/c...-the-Reputation-and-Value-of-Saltwater-Pearls

Most of the pearl listings on eBay are fraudulent. That's one reason for Pearl-Guide. To educate people so they don't fall victim.

Glad you came and asked about those pearls.

 

[jshepherd]

I glanced over the vendor's listings and there are pearl pieces correctly described as freshwater and akoya, and then two pieces that are freshwater pearls but listed as akoya, so it may just be a unintentional identification issue.