What kind of Pearls do I have? Keshi or Baroque?

[RJene]

Hello All!

I am new here so I will introduce myself. My name is Rachel and I live in the beautiful mountains of Colorado. I have a pearl necklace which I am unsure of what type of pearls they are so any help in identifying them and/or a possible insurance value would be greatly appreciated. The filigree clasp is marked 14K on the fish hook portion though it appears the tip of the insert has broken off. I am unsure if I inherited these from my mother's mother or my father in laws mother or even possibly purchased at auction or an estate. I am attaching photos. Please feel free to ask questions!

 

[pattye]

Hi Rachel,

Welcome! I'm wondering how long this lovely necklace is? These pearls would correctly be called baroque. They are quite consistent in size, too. They show extremely high luster and rose' even against the wooden background. Do you think they are from the 70's or 80's? They are tissue nucleated (no bead inside). These pearls seem to be higher quality than we see in the early "rice krispie" freshwater pearls from China. It's possible they could be freshwater pearls from Lake Biwa in Japan.

Could you please give us an approx measurement of the pearls, length and width, using the millimeter side of a tape measure? Thanks very much!

Are you considering restringing these and keeping them?

GemGeek, did you have a look at these?

 

[GemGeek]

Yes. They look more recent to me. High quality baroque freshwater pearls. Look at the orient!

 

[RJene]

Hi Pattye,

Thank you for the response! The length of the necklace (without including clasp), is approximately 450 mm and most all of each individual pearls length is approximately 7mm (a few may be around 5 to 6 mm in length), the width of each is approximately 5mm.

I took some more photos of three other necklaces I have posted on another thread and included this one in the photos as well. I took them on paper towels by the window per GemGeek request. I will be posting them shortly.

Thanks again.

Rachel

 

[GemGeek]

Sorry, the smaller pearl size could indicate that they are pearls from Laki Biwa, but you would need costly tests to prove it. I'm sure someone would want to purchase them from you because they are lovely. Is that what you want to do, or are you just curious?

 

[RJene]

What would you recommend? Any idea on value? I may consider selling this one though not 100% sure as I have not worn them due to the gold clasp being broke at the tip of the fish hook.

Rachel.

 

[GemGeek]

Personally, I would keep them as you are not likely to run across them again and they are very sweet. This is the second time lately that I have got confused about the size of the pearls in a photo - sorry about that. Sarah from Kojima Pearl had some small biwa pearls that had been overlooked for a couple of decades and she sold them for around 85 dollars a strand. You could get a new clasp - gold-filled is less expensive - and replace the hook side by opening a larger jump ring and carefully putting it where the old one was removed - through the thread loop and through the ring on the hook, then twisting it closed.

It can be difficult to sell used jewelry - another reason to keep and enjoy them for yourself or a loved one. Or learn to knot and make them into new pieces of jewelry! Stick around and check out some of the things people have made.

 

[RJene]

Personally, I would keep them as you are not likely to run across them again and they are very sweet. This is the second time lately that I have got confused about the size of the pearls in a photo - sorry about that. Sarah from Kojima Pearl had some small biwa pearls that had been overlooked for a couple of decades and she sold them for around 85 dollars a strand. You could get a new clasp - gold-filled is less expensive - and replace the hook side by opening a larger jump ring and carefully putting it where the old one was removed - through the thread loop and through the ring on the hook, then twisting it closed.

It can be difficult to sell used jewelry - another reason to keep and enjoy them for yourself or a loved one. Or learn to knot and make them into new pieces of jewelry! Stick around and check out some of the things people have made.

Thank you GemGeek,

I have a lot of talents though sewing and jewelry making are not one of my best qualities. I will stick around and learn more about what others do. If you see a post you feel will be helpful, do not hesitate to let me know. Smile

Rachel