What the heck is a "Mayoka" pearl?

[as919]

One necklace I found on a website describes the pearls as "Mayoka" pearls - it goes on to say that "Mayoka pearls are made from genuine mayoka shell found in the south seas." I ran across a strand of pearls a while back with the same name - they were fairly cheap ($20) and am now curious as to just what the heck they are. The necklace is consists of the pearls and silver & is listed as $160 USD.
Any ideas?
Thanks!

Here's the link to the necklace if it will help.
http://stores.thesweetest-thing.com/Detail.bok?no=622

 

[mikehrz]

one of the experts will probably know for sure, but i doubt these are actually pearls of any kind. you'll never see akoya pearls described as being made from "genuine akoya shell." these are probably man-made items carved from some form of mollusk or oyster.

 

[jshepherd]

Not a pearl, not an oyster, just a name dreamed up by the seller! It is a South African term for their currency - or according to Google, a Japanese religious sect!

 

[as919]

Thanks!

Thanks!

Thank you for your replies.
I actually found another string of these beads on ebay & asked the seller what they were - the reply I got was that they were "freshwater pearls" - obviously, this guy either doesn't know what he's selling or is trying to pass his product off as something it's not....glad I didn't listen!
I guess you just never know unless you ask (the experts) - thanks again for your replies!
Alicia

 

[PearlsAndJade.com]

I'm communicating with this lady. She apparently is a new seller, and said she knows absolutely nothing about pearls. She is not trying to pass something off, its just that she does not know, and has gotten some bad info.

Her invoice says Mayoka freshwater pearls. She is going to pull the listing until she finds out more. The photo shows the pearls to have a consistant roundness and high luster throughout the strand. The luster alone is too high for that price on eBay.

I suggested the tooth test. She said she felt the grittiness on her own pearls, but could not determine a grittines on the strand in question. So I suggested she have a friend verify the test.

I also suggested she find out more about the "rubies" because rubies are expensive. I suspect the vendor will tell her that what he meant was they are shell pearls that look like freshwater pearls, and colored glass that looks like rubies.

Bill

 

[canphu]

Majorca Pearls (Mayoca)

Majorca Pearls (Mayoca)

Hi,

This is probably a misspell of 'Majorca' - These are imitation pearls made of shell or glass base and coated with special dyeing materials to make them look like real pearls. This is a technique that was invented around more than 100 years ago in France and is now used in many parts of the world, among which Majorca island in Spain is very famous.

We have a factory in Vietnam who is producing these pearls, you can read more about them in our web site

Hope I helped

Thanks

Oren Dashti

Can Phu Simulated Pearls Manufacturers
www.canphu.com
canphu@yahoo.com