[PearlPoor]

In this photo you can compare the color to the white paper underneath and the white A- pearls. I ran out of paper towels and money (the dimes) but I will do a photograph like that.


I think this photo is probably the best representation of the color.

Honestly, these pearls really are chameleons. A couple weeks ago I put the necklace in an HP scanner (on red paper - sorry ). Here again, I can say that this is their color.




I found this pictures on the web: Mikimoto 1940 Fugi Ginza Akoyas. My pearls are never white like these, but they do glow colors like these.


Is that where MM's home base was in Japan?

Here is an interesting picture described as: AAA Akoyas (7.5 to 8 mm) from Vietnam.


Also, a picture described as "black pearls"from the Phillipines.


and . . . baroque cultured blue pearls from 1950.


Over the past 2 months (my 300 hours), I found lots of Tahitian pearl pictures, some with similar colors, but I think I understand that Tahitian pearls are much larger.

Since the restringing job, the largest pearl and the next largest pearls graduating away from center, are gone. So, next to the 7.5+ center are pearls slightly over 5 mm, and near each end, they go down to 4 mm, and finally about 3.8. Before restringing the center and neighboring pearls were all dark- actually a combination of black, silver, blue & green. Hard to explain. They were very dramatic looking and would be described as closer to black than silver if they were not in the light. I remember that a lighter color pearl sort of stood out, but it was at least 3rd away, probably 4th , from center pearl. Now it really stands out, because it is the center pearl and the neighbors are suddenly (and not gradually) smaller.

Arrrrrraaaggghhh ! Everytime I think about what this jeweler did, I just get sick to my stomach. I just can't imagine a professional jeweler doing such a terrible thing. That's why I keep thinking that there must be an incredible value here, in terms of dollars or possession of museum type (unique/extinct) pearls for one's private collection. When I say "here" I may be talking mostly about the pearls that are missing.

I guess the necklace could have shrunk some, but he measured it carefully laying it down on his glass counter with a yardstick-type thing permanently affixed. He put the two pieces of the necklace and the few loose ones all in a line against the measuring stick. I don't think there was much space between them, certainly no more than the knew knots take up.

That was when he pointed out to me there was a good sized pearl missing. It was EASY to see, because the pearls on each side of the center were big and beautiful and were very slightly graduated (tapered) for some distance - about one inch along each side of center pearl.

I told him I was worried that I might have missed one when the necklace broke, and that maybe I could find it. He said I could never replace it with "these colors"now.

Got to go find kleenex - crying.

PearlPoor

[Valeria101]

Hey, everyone Is anyone else thinking that these are not Akoya and possibly not cultured at all?


PearlPoor (not!), did you question the jeweler who did the restringing yet? Don't leave them time.

From the pictures, it looks like if you needed to replace the larger pearl, then the best matching replacement might not be Akoya, after all, the matching is what counts and mixed necklaces have been done since always. Hopefully it wouldn't get to that...

[pattye]

PearlPoor,

You HAVE to take a good friend to stand by your side and go back to that jeweler, no matter how painful, and get information from him. If not a female friend, then perhaps a big burly guy that looks like a body guard????? Even write out your questions ahead of time, because you are emotional, and rightfully so. Perhaps you could check about taking him to small claims court? Is he a member of BBB? (Better Business Bureau) Don't let any more time pass, as Ana says.

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

[Sueki]

What did the jeweller say when you went back to complain about the missing pearls?

2 months, 300 hours ?

[PearlPoor]

If these pearls would have cost a lot of money, my mother could not have afforded to buy them back in the 40's or '50's. It is possible that her older sister by 20 plus years, my Auntie Alma, could have given them to her, because she loved pearls, too, and was rather extravagant and flamboyant.

In her (my Auntie Alma) younger days she was the "Girl in the Fishbowl"at Bimbo's nightclub in San Francisco - - also she traveled to Hawaii and other Polynesian Islands (maybe Bora Bora) to learn the hula and bring it back to the U.S. because she was a dance teacher.

Here is a photo of her:



She always brought things back to give away. I have an original ocean liner menu she brought back from one of her trips back then. I have it framed, so this is an exact copy found on the internet:
In her travels as a dancer Alma met famous people (back then . . . 1925-1940) always collected exotic things, like ostrich plumes, native masks, rare sculptures, perfumes, and, yes, jewelry. In her later years - 1950's through 1970's, she invested in real estate and bought several mansions, one on Telegraph Hill in S.F. and one in Marin County. She was always going broke and would lose the houses to foreclosure. It didn't seem to phase her. She just kept being Äuntie Alma" always with an optimistic attitude and flair for anything artistic and passionate.

My sister brought Alma (about 200 miles) to visit me two years ago, when I was riding my Lipizzaner stallion, Maestoso II Sabrina (Smokey). My husband wanted to call me up from the trail in our creek, but she insisted on walking down there and seeing me ride. Don took a picture of us. She was 94 at the time. I could not believe she walked down the steep dirt trail to the creek area and that she was not afraid to stand next to Smokey and pet him. She was amazingly spry and balanced - - maybe from all the ballet she did. Sadly, she passed away last year.


This is a picture of my Mom when she married my Dad on August 18, 1946. Alma is on the right. My Mom was 21, so Alma was at least 41 years old. She always looked very young for her age - her chin was always tilted up a little as though she was doing her ballet.


Well, I have rambled on enough about my family.

PearlPoor

[PearlPoor]

Valeria, when you say "not cultured at all" do you mean . . . the N word? Could that be possible? Here is a picture of pearl x-rays I found on the internet. The webpage says the pearls are, from left to right,

. . . . . . . . . natural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . bead nucleated . . . . . . . . . . . . .tissue nucleated



I saved this photo of x-rays because I wanted to compare it with the photopseudo x-ray pictures I took, like the ones below.

The first photo is untouched - just as it came out of my digital camera. The second photo is with Photoshop's "Äuto Level" which corrects distortions in contrast, exposure, and color. I didn't add color or modify anything - - just let PhotoShop's eye "fix"the photo.



I can't find any other photos on the internet of pearl x-rays. Do any of you have some that I could compare with?

A natural pearl has no bead in it, right? Then what is the center "thingy"in the x-rays of the natural pearls above ?

PearlPoor

[pattye]

Hi PearlPoor,

Love the story about your family. Your auntie was an amazing person! Like Auntie Mame of the movies, sort of! And your Smokey is gorgeous! I can't imagine having such a glorious and famous horse as a Lipizzaner-----------there is another store or two, no doubt??

Natural pearls are usually caused by a parasite boring through the shell, and then becoming coated in nacre. What's left of the critter often shows up as a dark spot, sometimes a fairly large dark spot in the middle of the pearl. Naturals are going to be more off round also, as compared with bead nucleated.

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

[PearlPoor]

I forgot to say, the x-ray photo I previously posted is from GIA.



Here is some text about it:

X-radiography separates natural pearls (left) from bead-nucleated cultured pearls (center) and tissue-nucleated cultured pearls (right).

Materials that are transparent to X-rays leave a black image on the film, whereas materials that are opaque to X-rays block them and leave a nearly colorless area on the film.

Natural pearls display concentric and other natural structures.

Well, I have a lot more to learn about this.

PearlPoor

Cultured pearls show either distinct mother-of-pearl beads under the nacre layers or dark structures produced as a result of mantle tissue nucleation.

X-rays are useful in other ways as well, since many materials luminesce in response to them. When gemologists use the word fluorescence, they usually mean the visible light that is emitted when a material is stimulated by ultraviolet radiation.

When used with X-rays, this type of reaction is called X-ray luminescence.

Natural saltwater pearls luminesce very weakly or not at all to X-rays.

Natural and cultured freshwater pearls generally luminesce strongly due to their higher manganese content.

Most bead-nucleated saltwater cultured pearls luminesce to varying degrees because the freshwater mollusk beads typically used as nuclei luminesce through the overlying nacre.

However, if the nacre layer is thick enough – as with some South Sea cultured pearls – or if there is a sufficiently thick conchiolin layer (which can block the luminescence), they might not show any visible luminescence at all.

[Casey.R]

I love the photos and the story about your family too. Alma was so glamorous! I live in S.F. and I know Bimbos.

[Valeria101]

Originally Posted by PearlPoor

I saved this photo of x-rays because I wanted to compare it with the photopseudo x-ray pictures I took...

I can't convince myself that the artistic photos (beautiful look of pearls, by the way!) really show the inside of pearls... and as such, wouldn't compare them with pearl Xray images. A gemology lab could do this properly

The pearls look almost too good... like most cultured do. But I've got that wrong once already ...

[jerin]

It probably would be best to send them to a gem-lab for testing, then you would know with absolute certainty what kind of pearls they are. If they weren´t that small it could well be Tahitian pearls from where your aunt was, but they could also be irradiated Akoyas as Ashley suggests.. nice pictures, interesting story of you aunt and she certainly does not look as 94 in the photo with you lovely horse... thanks for sharing.

[Kaywal]

I love your old photos and the story of your aunt.

I think those photoshop filters show where the light is bouncing off the pearls--that inner circle you see--that is light reflection. I'd send those cool pearls to a lab for sure!

[PearlPoor]

Is there a gem lab in central California that I could hand carry my necklace to?

I emailed the Mikimoto New York in May w/ questions and photos. They didn't answer any of my itemized questions, but graciously offered to "take a look" at them. I am just afraid to send them across country without me.

Do any of you have an idea of the time period for my necklace clasp and what the Z or S means? Some people say S for silver, but others say Mikimoto never used silver. I cannot find a guide to Mikimoto clasps anywhere.

The front of my clasp looks exactly like the one below which is on a 20.5 inch pre-1960 Mikimoto necklace with white graduated pearls([u].



Also, the back side looks like my clasp:



The necklace is on Tildenwood dot com (Tildenwood Antiques), is listed as "sold" and described as follows:

Pre 1960 - This is a lovely strand of vintage Mikimoto pearls with silver clasp. The necklace measures 20 1/2" and has recently been professionally restrung. The pearls graduate from 3 1/2 mm near the clasp to 7 1/2 mm at the center and have good luster, nice round shape and few, if any, blemishes. The clasp is fully signed with the Mikimoto mark and S for silver.



This necklace is 20.5 inches ("recently restrung") and has 49 pearls on each side of the 7.5 center, so 99 + the little one on the clasp.

My necklace was 22 inches, but came back at 19.5 inches. If I lay it down and pull each end as much as I can, it will measure 20 inches -- so maybe when it "loosens up" it will be 20 inches. Now it has 48 pearls on one side of center and 46 on the other side + the one in the middle (95 pearls total + the little one on the clasp).

I am estimating my center pearl was 9.5 mm, then 8.5 on each side; then 7.5 (one of which is still on the necklace, but now it is the center pearl) and finally 6.5 and let's assume the one I lost was a 6.5,

how many inches would that be? 9.5+8.5+8.5+7.5+6.5 = 40.5 mm ???

I know how to convert 40.5 mm to inches, of course, but I don't know how that converts in terms of pearls knotted on a strand. Would it be about 2 inches?

Do you ever see Mikimotos that graduate with 4 mm near the clasp (there are two 3.8 mm at the clasp on each side)to 9.5 mm? In a 22 or 21 1/3 inch length?

Have graduated pearl strands gone out of style? Is there a difference between graduated and tapered?

You are all so knowledgeable. I really appreciate your answers, best guesses, and knowledge - - and the compliment about my Lipizzan stallion, Smokey. He was my most true and faithful friend - I lived with him for 25 years -- more years than I lived with my parents, more years than my children lived at home, and . . . well, more years than I have ever been married. I had to put him down last September 18, when he was 31 years old - not because he was aged. He was very handsome and sturdy at age 31. Except for losing my mother 33 yrs ago, it was the saddest day of my life. I will get big tears in my eyes if I keep writing about him; plus, you guys probably aren't interested in white dressage ("ballet") stallions. I once took Smokey in a local, small town parade, and he wore a strand of big white, glowing pearls (fake) across his brow band (part of the bridle)
and a red rose behind his ear. He was stunning! You can see him at Lipizzan dot c o m .

PearlPoor

[Valeria101]

Oh... I can understand why you wouldn't ship your pearls anywhere after all that...

Not sure if any laboratory, even a small independent establishment, would analyze pearls on the spot. Even if you deliver them in person instead of insured shipping, the pearls would still stay at the lap a while and they may want to ship them back to you anyway. Dealing with a large, premier institution (say, GIA or AGTA) is reputedly bulletproof.

Here are their sites:


GIA-GTC

http://www.gia.edu/gemtradelab/31508...ing_stones.cfm


AGTA

http://www.agta-gtc.org/


their outlets are listed and you can see if there is any within reasonable distance.


The alternative would be to call on an independent appraiser and it remains up to you to decide whether they do have the expertise... Apparently, there aren't that any pearl experts around. There are some referrals scattered throughout the forum, including THIS...


Is there still any chance that you might recuperate the center pearl ?

[PearlPoor]

Lauren, thank you for you kind words about Smokey !!!

And, dear Valeria, for the gem lab resources and understanding why I am afraid to mail away my mother's necklace.

I have been overloaded with learning about pearls and, now, photography.

Here is a pix of my pearls next to a DIME on a white paper towel - in afternoon natural light through window - no Photoshop corrections -- just as it came out of my digital camera operated by a photography- challenged person.


first pix as it came from camera/ 2nd pix w/ PhotoShop's auto levels:







I think their hybernation "color" is silver grey, but when they come out into light they have an orient of many colors - changing all the time. The jeweler said I could find pearls to match the colors any more. Is that because the nacre is so thick as in the old days when Mikimoto allowed his oysters to keep the pearl for two years or so?

I sure hope this helps identify what they are and if any of them are natural. Did Mikimoto pearls pre 1960 or 1935-1950 include any pearls cultivated in Palau, Australia, etc? I keep reading about a pearl farm on an island, not in Japan, where he cultured the black and silver -lipped oysters, and that the pearl farm was shut down during WWII when the U.S. took over the island.

I took a lot of pix, tried using Macro, and shooting with a mixture of flourescent and UV light. I think I took the photo below using only UV light - the pearls look gold.



I put a lot of the photos on this website:
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/564140043rSLLMa

This is an album of photos I collected from websites looking for pearls like mine (a few photos of mine are at the end of the album):
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/564141793muQgXg

If you follow the link to the albums, you can click on pictures one at a time and also view enlargements. I think it is faster to just click on the particular album (3 so far) and on the right hand side of the screen, choose SLIDE SHOW (but then you don't see any descriptions . . . the few that are there).

I labeled this photo with a fun title because I thought it looked like a parade of pearls in a victory march holding up their Champ the Clasp. (looks like the pearl next to the "Champ" must have sustained some injuries in the game. (just for fun)