What are these pearls?
- Thread starter step
- Start date
Pearl Dreams
Pearl Enthusiast
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2007
- Messages
- 9,714
More FWP, like your other strand. 
I would like to recommend the following book which is full of up-to-date information on pearls and tips for buyers. The Chinese have made a lot of progress in freshwater pearls cultivation in the past 15-20 years!
Pearl Buying Guide: How to Identify and Evaluate Pearls by Renee Newman (6th edition).
https://www.amazon.com/Pearl-Buying...=1-1&keywords=renee+newman+pearl+buying+guide
I would like to recommend the following book which is full of up-to-date information on pearls and tips for buyers. The Chinese have made a lot of progress in freshwater pearls cultivation in the past 15-20 years!
Pearl Buying Guide: How to Identify and Evaluate Pearls by Renee Newman (6th edition).
https://www.amazon.com/Pearl-Buying...=1-1&keywords=renee+newman+pearl+buying+guide
Last edited:
More FWP, like your other strand.
I would like to recommend the following book which is full of up-to-date information on pearls and tips for buyers. The Chinese have made a lot of progress in freshwater pearls cultivation in the past 15-20 years!
Pearl Buying Guide: How to Identify and Evaluate Pearls by Renee Newman (6th edition).
https://www.amazon.com/Pearl-Buying...=1-1&keywords=renee+newman+pearl+buying+guide
The pink sizes are 12-15mm, the black is 15-18mm they are huge pearls. I thought FWP are smaller. Well, the Chinese has found a way to make them bigger.
I will look it up on amazon.
Pearl Dreams
Pearl Enthusiast
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2007
- Messages
- 9,714
Yes, they have learned to place a bead inside the body of the freshwater mussel, thus being able to achieve larger sizes and rounder shapes.
Being able to get a large pearl faster has several advantages. The pearls don't have to stay in the water for many years to grow large-- and as FWP are farmed, this saves the farmer money. The longer a mussel remains in the water, the greater the risk of loss from storms etc.
The black ones are dyed, as Pareltje said. That is not a naturally occurring color for freshwater pearls. The pink/peach color is natural, as are various shades of lavender.
Bead-nucleated FWP come in a range of quality. The best have smooth clean surfaces, high luster and are fully round.
FWP that are dyed are typically lower quality pearls.
Being able to get a large pearl faster has several advantages. The pearls don't have to stay in the water for many years to grow large-- and as FWP are farmed, this saves the farmer money. The longer a mussel remains in the water, the greater the risk of loss from storms etc.
The black ones are dyed, as Pareltje said. That is not a naturally occurring color for freshwater pearls. The pink/peach color is natural, as are various shades of lavender.
Bead-nucleated FWP come in a range of quality. The best have smooth clean surfaces, high luster and are fully round.
FWP that are dyed are typically lower quality pearls.
Last edited:
