My husband gave me a strand of pearls for Christmas which he bought from a friend of his. He was told they are Tahitian pearls and they are "natural," not cultured. They are whitish in color and are I think he said 5.5-6.5 in size, and there are 99 pearls on the strand, tied between each pearl, with an 18 karat gold clasp. I have done the "tooth test" and they appear to be real.

First, how can I tell if they truly are "natural" pearls and not cultured? I've tried peering down in the hole but can't see down there, these strand is in perfect shape and the silk isn't stretched at all.

Secondly can anyone give me an approximate value if they are natural and also a value if they would turn out to be cultured?

They were bought by this friend of his back in the early 1980s and this friend did jewelry reselling at that time to the upper crust, doctors, lawyers, etc.

I don't know how much my husband paid for them but I'd like to know an approximate value (before I go to the jeweler to have them appraised).

Thank you for any help you can give me.

[jshepherd]

Can I ask you a few questions about the strand first?

Are the pearls round, or of very odd shapes? When you say 'whitish' in color, do you mean the pearls have a white body color? Do they have any overtone?
There are 99 pearls in the strand, so how long is the strand? The strand must be longer than 18-inches if it is 5.5-6.5mm.
Lastly, if you have a photograph of the strand it would be very easy to give you an idea of what you have.

If you can answer these questions I would appreciate it. I have a couple of strong assumptions regarding this strand, but I do not want to jump to conclusions just yet.

Thanks for your quick response. The strand is about 30" long. The pearls all look pretty round to me but they are not all perfectly the same size but are very close.

As far as color, when I put them on a white piece of paper they look creamy colored kind of and the hue or tone almost looks silverish or copperish colored.

Oh and I forgot to say that the clasp, it kind of inserts itself into the last pearl so that you can't see the clasp very much when it's totally closed. There is one pearl that has a type of hook tied to it on one end, and then on the other end is a pearl that has a hole through it and the gold piece on both ends of that pearl. The "hook" part goes through "eye" part, then it pinches together and is inserted back into that pearl. If that makes any sense!!!

[jshepherd]

It actually sounds to me like you have a strand of freshwater pearls from your description.
If the pearls were Tahitian they would most likely not be white. White Tahitians are quite rare. Natural Tahitians are even rarer. I have personally never seen a full strand of naturals.
There was the possibility that you are in possession of a strand of Keishi pearls. These are considered to be natural by some as they have no nucleus. But they are actually a bi-product of the culturing process, so they are not actual 'natural pearls'. Your pearls, however, do not sound anything like Tahitian Keishi. Keishi pearls are in very odd shapes - never near round.

Tahitian pearls are produced by the Pinctada Margaritifera, or Black Lipped Oyster. These pearls are typically very large. The smallest lot I have ever seen was 7-8mm - all cultured, of course.

So based on your description I am about 99% certain you have a freshwater pearl necklace. And based on the shape and the dating of the strand it is certainly cultured. The reason you would not see a nucleus by peering down the holes is that freshwater mussels are mantle tissue nucleated, and the pearls are solid nacre.

If my assumptions are correct the value of the strand would be more in the design and age of the pearls. The clasp does sound very interesting, and this would, of course, add value. But other than this the pearls are, unfortunately, of little value. A loose hank of 5.5-6.5mm round pearls with a good luster would wholesale for about $10-$15 per strand.

If you do have a picture of the strand I would love to see it. You can also send the pearls to a gem-lab where you would get an absolute answer. I suggest Northwest Gem Labs in Boise Idaho. Sharon Wakefield is the proprietor and the best pearl appraiser I know of in the United States. Her email is sharon@gem-science.com. Her rates are very reasonable, and she would be able to give you an absolute definitive answer. I would strongly advise against taking them to a jeweler as very, very few jewelers have a good knowledge of pearls.

[jshepherd]

The only other option I have just thought of is that the pearls may be from the Bahrain. Is this a possibility? Could they have meant Bahrain pearls, not Tahitian pearls? If this is the case it is possible that the pearls are natural and very valuable...

Okay, after getting your last post I called my husband again and told him what you said. He said they are "deep water" pearls by divers. They are 6.5-7 (which I was wrong about) and they are completely natural. We are in the Midwest and he said NO ONE, even Borsheim's in Omaha, would have these.

I am going to try to attach a photo but they're taken with my camera phone as I don't have a digital camera so not the best quality. Hopefully it will upload!

Evidently my husband saw a book showing them that listed them at $1,500 in 1980.

Thank you very much. After we get done speculating I will take them to an appraiser and see how close we are!

Another attempt at a photo.

Here's another photo.

[jshepherd]

It is a little difficult to see the pearls in the picture, but from what I can see they definitely do not appear to be Tahitian pearls.

As natural pearls, or 'deep water' pearls they would either come from the Bahrain, or from the early 1900's or late 1800's from Asia. Pearl divers have not been around for nearly 100 years in any area other than the Bahrain. but $1500 seems much too low for a strand of natural pearls. These are typically much, much more expensive.

The best way to make an absolute determination is with an x-ray. This can be done at a good gem-lab, or at the GIA. This would be the only true way to make a determination. Please do not take them to a jeweler, no matter what their credentials. You need a pearl expert and a lab for these.

Do you happen to know when the pearls were harvested? I know the strand is from the 1980's, but this puts the strand in a date range of near certain 'cultured pearls'. But if the pearls themselves are much older than there are other possiblities.

[jshepherd]

PS

Would you mind emailing a picture of the pearls to me? I may be able to zoom in on the image this way. You can send them to:
jershepherd@yahoo.com

I only know that the strand was going to be resold by this friend of my husband's in the 1980s. He is a lifelong friend so I don't think would knowingly deceive us. I don't know when they would have been harvested I'm afraid.

Well now that I know they're not Tahitian that helps somewhat. I can kind of see into the center of the last pearl which is where the clasp can be inserted, and I do not see a center per se, but there is a little tiny bit of what looks like gray in there. But I'm not sure whether that's just from the clasp being inserted and it is a little dirty or if it's a coloration of the pearl. But it could be that I just can't see it either, I'm not sure. I unfortunately don't even have a magnifying glass really to look at this very well.

I have emailed you the photos, feel free to respond to me that way instead if it's easier. Thanks again.

[jshepherd]

I am sure he would not knowingly deceive you either. But he may have been deceived himself. I find this thread very interesting and I am very interested in hearing the conclusion as well after you have had a chance to get the pearls examined. I will check my email to take a look at the photos.

I found this website and made some comparisons:

http://www.gemjewel.com/learn/pearl_find.asp

I would say that the pearls that I have are pretty good lustre (I can easily see my face in them), round, clean surface (a couple of them have a couple little marks on them but not many), silvery white to cream in color, and about 6.5-7 mm.