| Vintage pearls is very OK for all-nacre pearls. Otherwise, I am not sure if there is a way to maintain them and wear them often. Things about the pearls and thing about their up-keep seem just as important. And I have yet to see decades old nucleated pearls that have survived without any nucleus showing around the holes... and many are worse then that.
Some inexpensive new akoya are really not enduring at all. In that sense the older might be better... but 'better' doesn't mean 'best choice'. Given the choice, I'd go for untreated all-nacre.
I would imagine that there are degrees of 'endurance' and the thicker the nacre, the less temper with it ... the closer the pearls are to the natural product that is known to endure through historic time-frames. Other then this hunch, I have never found data about pearls and wear. Just a collection of stories, clues...
That's all I known for myself. |