OutOfObscurity
Member
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2025
- Messages
- 4
Hello all,
Long time listener, first time caller! I started collecting pearls a few years ago, learning as much as I can through places like these forums, and I've found some really interesting gems scouring thrift stores and online auctions.
I recently bought these for not very much money online from Goodwill. The colors and shapes intrigued me as I didnt have anything quite like them in my collection yet. They appeared much less iridescent in the original photos, which I've attached as reference, but that just made opening them for the first time that much more magical. They were also much smaller that I had pictured, but they had not been photographed with anything to show scale. I photographed them in purely natural sunlight on a windowsill.
As you can see there are many colors, levels of lustre, and shapes, from abstractly baroque to quite round, and measuring approximately 2-4 mm. To my eye they are natural colors, no signs of dyes or treatments. They are humbly strung on a doubled thread and tied off in a crude knot, the thread of which appears to have some age. In fact I haven't cleaned them yet because the thread seems quite fragile, and I don't want to risk breaking it.
I have read though every post in this thread, and I'm relatively sure they are most likely Chinese freshwater pearls, but I would love any thought or opinions on where or when they originated. I'm not particularly interested in their value, I just want to know about their history and purpose. Was this someone's collection curated over several years, a crafter's supply, or maybe simply a necklace hastily strung together? Who knows, they may appear to be altogether rarer and more exotic than I'm assuming they are. I would love to hear any theories, more for my own amusement than anything else! I've had so much fun learning through these forums, and I would like to be more involved. Thank you to everyone for sharing their knowledge and passion!
Kindly,
Pat
Long time listener, first time caller! I started collecting pearls a few years ago, learning as much as I can through places like these forums, and I've found some really interesting gems scouring thrift stores and online auctions.
I recently bought these for not very much money online from Goodwill. The colors and shapes intrigued me as I didnt have anything quite like them in my collection yet. They appeared much less iridescent in the original photos, which I've attached as reference, but that just made opening them for the first time that much more magical. They were also much smaller that I had pictured, but they had not been photographed with anything to show scale. I photographed them in purely natural sunlight on a windowsill.
As you can see there are many colors, levels of lustre, and shapes, from abstractly baroque to quite round, and measuring approximately 2-4 mm. To my eye they are natural colors, no signs of dyes or treatments. They are humbly strung on a doubled thread and tied off in a crude knot, the thread of which appears to have some age. In fact I haven't cleaned them yet because the thread seems quite fragile, and I don't want to risk breaking it.
I have read though every post in this thread, and I'm relatively sure they are most likely Chinese freshwater pearls, but I would love any thought or opinions on where or when they originated. I'm not particularly interested in their value, I just want to know about their history and purpose. Was this someone's collection curated over several years, a crafter's supply, or maybe simply a necklace hastily strung together? Who knows, they may appear to be altogether rarer and more exotic than I'm assuming they are. I would love to hear any theories, more for my own amusement than anything else! I've had so much fun learning through these forums, and I would like to be more involved. Thank you to everyone for sharing their knowledge and passion!
Kindly,
Pat
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